By Timothy S. Collins
Flavored coffee is not a modern invention. The origins of flavored coffee are almost as old as the original brew itself. Historical records from the Middle East report how people enjoyed drinking coffee blended with nuts and spices. This was a tradition passed on from one generation to the next.
Over the years, flavored coffee has become more popular and more readily available. What is happening is improvements in food science and technology are opening more opportunities to test and introduce new flavoring agents into coffee. Flavored coffee has come a long way and will undoubtedly will continue to go through many changes in the future to satisfy consumer demand for more and newer flavors.
- Flavored syrups have been used to spike brewed coffee with a touch of a particular flavor.�
- You can certainly do the same today with flavored syrups available at natural stores, specialty gourmet shops or other outlets.�
- However, food scientists have introduced complex flavors directly onto the beans as part of a post-roasting process that is efficient and produces delicious flavors.
- Once flavors are introduced directly onto the beans, what happens during the brewing process is the flavor is extracted into the resulting beverage.
- The result is a very satisfying taste to the tongue and also a wonderful aroma to the nose.
For example, you can experience this when you brew coffee using coffee beans from categories such as chocolate, dessert, spice, fruit, cream, liqueur, plus nut and crunch with such flavors as "Chocolate Fudge," "Cinnamon Streudel Cake," Cherry Cream," Toasted Almond," "Hawaiian Hazelnut," and French Vanilla flavored coffees, to mention just a few.
Professional flavor chemists compound the flavoring oils that are combinations of natural and synthetic flavor chemicals. Natural oils used in flavored coffees come from vanilla beans, cocoa beans, nuts of many types and berries. Spices such as cinnamon, clove and chicory are also used for some coffee flavors.� In reality, any taste can be reproduced or created; it is a matter of trial and error. Generally, research and marketing studies have found that consumers prefer coffee flavors with sweet, creamy notes. However, one of the most important characteristics of a great flavored coffee is the masking of any harsh notes of the coffee while not interfering with its aromatic characteristics.
The type of bean used to make flavored coffee matters a great deal and will determine how good the taste of the finished product is. Coffee is really an amazing natural product. Coffee beans contain more than 800 different compounds that impact the flavor of the coffee. Such compounds include, for example, sugars, carbohydrates, mineral salts, organic acids, aromatic oils, and methylxanthine, the chemical class that includes caffeine.
In addition, the coffee flavor also is the result of where the coffee grows, how it was cultivated, harvested, processed, and finally roasted. From the bean to the cup is a very long journey and one with many important steps in between that determine the greatness of a bean and how good the coffee from it actually tastes.
With all this talk about delicious flavored coffee, what about trying a cup of "Rainforest Crunch Gourmet Coffee" or "Cinnamon Streudel Cake Gourmet Coffee"?
Timothy ("Tim") S. Collins, the author, is called by those who know him "The Gourmet Coffee Guy."
He is an expert in article writing who has done extensive research online and offline in his area of expertise, coffee marketing, as well as in other areas of personal and professional interest.
Come visit the author's website: http://www.ourgourmetcoffee.com
Also visit: http://www.squidoo.com/coffee-lensography-TheGourmetCoffeeGuy
� Copyright - Timothy S. Collins. All Rights Reserved Worldwide
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