International Coffee Day

International Coffee Day is the sort of occasion that needs no convincing, just a reason to look at what's in the bag. So today, six ways to refill the grinder.

Lavazza Qualità Oro sits at intensity 5 out of 10, which in coffee marketing is the equivalent of a shrug: not timid, not punishing, just arabica doing arabica things. A kilo of beans that asks nothing of you.

Starbucks, in the meantime, has sent four roasts to the same party. Blonde Espresso Roast is the lighter one, for people who want espresso without the usual scorched-earth finish.

Pike Place Roast is the one named after the original Seattle store, smooth and round in the way default settings often are. It's been the brand's standard pour for a while now, in bean form.

Then there's Espresso Roast, the dark end of the lineup, built for the bitterness people either chase or avoid. No middle ground implied.

Starbucks Colombia narrows things to a single origin, which mostly means the box tells you where the beans grew instead of how they were burned. Make of that what you will.

And if indecision is the actual problem, the five-flavour coffee tasting set solves it by refusing to choose: Illy, Den Leeuw, Il Leone, Roasta, all in one box, 3.25kg total, which is either a gift or a six-month supply depending on how seriously you take the day.