Flavoured... cough... Coffee Beans?

[Andy]

Has anyone ever had flavoured coffee beans?

You would have seen them... Vanilla, Hazelnut, Irish Cream, rum raisin etc.

Over the years I have been given them as presents and after the novelty of the first cup I think the rest get hidden in the pantry (never again to see the light of day)

Does anyone try them more than once?

[Framey]

Re: Flavoured... cough... Coffee Beans?

I bought some Kaluaha flavoured beans once :-[
I swear it was my fiances idea
Worst thing was my grinder smelled like Kaluaha for about a week...

MMM Kaluaha

[thomas_cho]

Re: Flavoured... cough... Coffee Beans?

I have had the same experience as sharkboy. I once had this grinder, which was impossible (or at least I did not know how to) to clear out the grinding chamber.

I put in some Vanilla coffee beans, and from that point on, all my coffee got "contaminated". I was really upset. (with my choice of grinder, and my choice of beans).

[Andy]

Re: Flavoured... cough... Coffee Beans?

I can see a pattern here....

Seems that the whole market for flavoured beans depends on each person buying them once. ;D

What about coffee syrups?

I put those into the same boat, as a bit of a novelty.

[AJzCafe]

Re: Flavoured... cough... Coffee Beans?

I must confess.......

My favorite beans in the initial stages of coffee were the GJs Mudslide blend..... :-[ :-[

Not a bad taste in a milk based drink and got the attention of the guests too......but did leave a shocking mess/smell in the grinder.

But this was all a long time ago......12 months at least!!!

Now I have got it off my conscience, I feel a better man

James

[fatboy_1999]

Re: Flavoured... cough... Coffee Beans?

My in-laws have a grinder and buy whole beans to grind for a plunger.

I used to accept a cup of coffee at their house.... until that fateful day... when they had gone out and bought Cointreau flavoured coffee beans.
Oh they were so proud of them. Cost a lot dont you know.
I had to leave the coffee virtually untouched and have never accepted a coffee at their place since.

Some people have asked me if I have thought of doing flavoured beans with my home roasting. I tell them it is on my list of things to try right after "Slam head in car door - repeatedly".

In summary - not a great fan of flavoured beans!

[Javaphile]

Re: Flavoured... cough... Coffee Beans?

I must admit <Javaphile hangs his head in shame> to having been a fan of some flavored coffees. There was a time when I drank them almost exclusively. Never as an espresso, but rather as a brewed cup. Once I got my commercial espresso machine and started roasting my own beans I have not bought any pre-roasted beans of any kind. In fact I have not made a cup of brewed coffee of any kind since I started doing my own roasting.

I really liked some of the flavored coffees out there, but it was the flavor I liked, not the coffee. Heck you couldnt even *taste the coffee beans in most of them. I have kept my cheapo ($30) burr grinder for use with flavored coffees should I ever buy any of them again which is a possibility for some of the seasonal ones like Pumpkin Pie or Blueberry (uuummm.....*nummy!). However, purchase and use of these will be few and far between. I mean come on, how can they even begin to compare to the taste of fresh roasted high-end beans? Especially when Im paying less for them than I was for the flavored coffees.

On the flavored syrups question Ive used quite a bit of them in the past but once again, since I aquired the commercial espresso machine and am roasting my own beans I rarely use them anymore. I do still keep a variety of syrups on hand along with a bottle of dark chocolate and caramel for making up some speciality drinks. Personally though the only thing I use them for anymore is making hot chocolate and maybe once a month making a latte with some dark chocolate and hazelnut in it. Otherwise the bottles just sit there and look pretty.

I have lately been toying with the idea of trying to make my own flavored espressos by adding spices to the portafilter along with the ground coffee. I have an extra portafilter and basket I can use to do this with so any flavor doesnt pass over to the pure expressos and would also exclusively use one of the 2 groups on my expresso machine for any flavored pulls while reserving the 2nd group only for use with the straight beans so as to make sure none of the flavors contaminate the straight bean pulls. I must say though that this has a very low priority for me as it would be purely a seasonal thing done for some special event or party and not for day to day drinking. I am enjoying my single origins and custom blends as espressos/lattes far too much to ever go back to drinking brewed or flavored coffee as my main drink. ;D

Java "Sip, sipping away...." phile

[garglebutt]

Re: Flavoured... cough... Coffee Beans?

Interesting idea.

I guess a pinch of cardamom, cinnamon or cayenne in the basket before adding the ground coffee (so it doesnt change the water/coffee interface) could be interesting.

Reminds me of a thread on alt.coffee where a guy swore that he got superior crema by adding instant coffee and sugar to the ground coffee in the basket. :-X

[Javaphile]

Re: Flavoured... cough... Coffee Beans?

Interesting idea.

I guess a pinch of cardamom, cinnamon or cayenne in the basket before adding the ground coffee (so it doesnt change the water/coffee interface) could be interesting.

Reminds me of a thread on alt.coffee where a guy swore that he got superior crema by adding instant coffee and sugar to the ground coffee in the basket. :-X

I plan on putting the spices in the middle of the puck. That way they dont get blasted out right away (if theyre put in the portafilter before the coffee) and theres less chance of them contaminating the inside of the brewhead (if they were put on top of the coffee) during the pressure relief part of the brew cycle.

Adding sugar to the portafilter is apparently how a Cuban Coffee is made. Ive not tried this yet but purportedly it gives the espresso a distinct flavor very different than youd get if you added sugar to the already brewed espresso.

Java "Experimentation is the spice of life" phile