Choose whole beans if you have a bean-to-cup machine or a grinder and compatible brewing equipment; buy them by weight, not by an assumed number of servings. If you need 80 individually portioned drinks made with mugs and boiled water, the Taylors Rich Italian case listed by Staples UK contains 80 ground-coffee bags, not whole beans. For a bean-based plan, Waitrose & Partners’ stated doses work out to about 1.20 kg for 80 filter or cafetière cups, or 1.28–1.36 kg for 80 double espressos; your recipe and drink count may differ.
Decide whether 80 means individually portioned drinks or a quantity of whole beans. Staples UK lists 80 individually wrapped Taylors Rich Italian coffee bags; a whole-bean purchase needs a separate calculation based on the amount used per drink.
Whole beans fit a setup that can grind and brew them. Match the grind to your brewing method, then calculate the quantity for the drinks you intend to make. Waitrose & Partners gives doses of 15 g for a 250 ml filter or cafetière cup and 16–17 g for a double espresso.
Coffee bags avoid the need to bring a grinder or cafetière. Taylors of Harrogate describes them as ground coffee brewed directly in a mug; check that an 80-count case is the format you intend to serve.
Choose when: You have a bean-to-cup machine or a grinder and want to prepare coffee with your chosen brewing method.
Trade-off: Beans need compatible equipment, and pack weight does not tell you how many drinks your recipe will make.
Choose when: You need 80 portions for a station equipped with mugs and boiled water.
Trade-off: These contain ground coffee and cannot be used as whole beans in a machine’s bean hopper.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Format and quantity | Confirm whether the pack contains whole beans sold by weight or individual coffee bags. For beans, calculate weight from your planned dose: Waitrose & Partners’ guidance gives 15 g per 250 ml filter or cafetière cup, or 16–17 g per double espresso. | I need enough for around 80 drinks without mistaking an 80-count bag case for beans. At those Waitrose & Partners doses, 80 drinks require about 1.20 kg or 1.28–1.36 kg respectively, before any allowance for a different recipe or additional drinks. |
| Brewing equipment | Check for a bean-to-cup machine or a grinder and compatible brewer if buying beans. Taylors of Harrogate says its coffee bags brew directly in a mug without a cafetière. | If the drinks station has only mugs and boiled water, I need a format that does not rely on grinding beans there. |
| Roast and flavour | Read the stated roast, blend and tasting notes for the specific product. Lavazza describes Qualità Rossa as an Arabica-and-Robusta blend; Waitrose & Partners lists Taylors Rich Italian Beans as 100% Arabica. | I want to choose a stated flavour profile for the group rather than assume all beans, or all products with “Italian” in the name, taste alike. |
| Pack size and storage | Compare the pack weight with your event plan and likely use afterwards. Check the current pack’s opened-storage instructions; Waitrose & Partners advises airtight storage and use within two weeks of opening for its 1 kg Espresso Beans for best taste. | Any beans left after Bonfire Night need a storage plan that follows the instructions for the pack I buy. |
The 80-count Taylors Rich Italian case listed by Staples UK contains individually wrapped ground-coffee bags, not beans for a machine hopper.
Choose the format after checking the drinks station: beans for suitable grinding and brewing equipment, or coffee bags for mug-and-boiled-water service.
Yield changes with the dose and drink type. Waitrose & Partners’ guidance gives 15 g for a filter or cafetière cup and 16–17 g for a double espresso, putting 80 drinks above 1 kg under either recipe.
Multiply the planned dose by the number of drinks: about 1.20 kg for 80 cups at 15 g, or 1.28–1.36 kg for 80 doubles at 16–17 g. Adjust the plan if your recipe or expected drink count differs.
Opened-pack instructions differ by product. Waitrose & Partners advises airtight storage and use within two weeks of opening for best taste for its 1 kg Espresso Beans.
Choose a pack size with your event and subsequent use in mind, and follow the current storage instructions on the beans you purchase.
A reference for comparing named whole-bean blends rather than looking for a fixed 80-count bean box.
A whole-bean range to consider when choosing a named roast or a decaffeinated option.
The name appears on two different formats relevant to this decision: whole beans and coffee bags.
A whole-bean option where pack weight and the intended brewing method both matter.
An own-brand reference for shoppers comparing a specific bean pack’s roast and composition.
Its own-label Espresso Beans provide product-specific serving guidance for planning a group brew.
These are weight-based whole-bean options for a Bonfire Night setup with suitable grinding and brewing equipment. Work out the total quantity from the drinks you plan to make; none of these pack weights denotes 80 individual portions.
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A whole-bean option if your event setup can grind and brew beans. This 1 kg pack is less than the quantity calculated for 80 drinks using Waitrose & Partners’ stated filter, cafetière or double-espresso doses; check your own recipe before ordering.
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Consider this whole-bean pack for a setup with a grinder or compatible machine. Lavazza describes Qualità Rossa as an Arabica-and-Robusta blend. At Waitrose & Partners’ stated doses, 1000 g alone is short of the calculated quantity for 80 filter or cafetière cups or 80 double espressos.
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A whole-bean pack to consider if the Bonfire Night setup can grind and brew beans. Plan the amount separately: Waitrose & Partners’ stated doses calculate to more than 1 kg for 80 filter or cafetière cups or 80 double espressos.
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This whole-bean pack calls for a grinder or compatible machine. If you are serving around 80 drinks, compare its 1 kg weight with the dose you will use; Waitrose & Partners’ stated filter, cafetière and double-espresso doses each calculate to more than 1 kg for 80 drinks.
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This is the whole-bean Rich Italian pack, not the separately listed 80-count coffee-bag case. Waitrose & Partners gives grind guidance for espresso, filter coffee and cafetière use. Its 700 g weight is below the quantity calculated for 80 drinks at Waitrose & Partners’ stated doses, so plan the total around your chosen recipe.
No: the Taylors Rich Italian 80-count case listed by Staples UK contains individually wrapped ground-coffee bags. Whole beans are sold by weight, so calculate how much you need from the dose and number of drinks you plan to make.
Using Waitrose & Partners’ guidance, 80 filter or cafetière cups at 15 g each require about 1.20 kg; 80 double espressos at 16–17 g each require about 1.28–1.36 kg. Adjust the quantity for your recipe and the number of drinks actually expected.
Not on their own: whole beans need grinding and a compatible way to brew them. For a mug-and-boiled-water setup, Taylors of Harrogate describes its coffee bags as ground coffee that brews directly in the mug without a cafetière.
Follow the storage instructions on the particular pack. Waitrose & Partners advises airtight storage and use within two weeks of opening for best taste for its 1 kg Espresso Beans; check other products’ labels rather than applying that instruction to every brand.