Why I Love Flavored Coffee!
I drank regular coffee (always black) for many years without a thought as to what else was out there. I ignorantly assumed that cappuccino, espresso and any type of flavored coffee was only created and consumed by yuppies and hipsters who didn’t know the meaning or taste of real coffee. Boy, what a fool I was! The first time I tried flavored coffee was while visiting with a friend, when I arrived the first thing she naturally asked was “Would you like a cup of coffee?”. 15 minutes and a little chit-chat later we were seated at the kitchen table, each with a cup of steaming hot coffee. Little did I know I was in for a wonderful surprise when I took my first sip and experienced for the first time the deliciously full flavor and aroma of chocolate flavored coffee! Since that day I’ve drank flavored coffee on a daily basis and never looked back! Since being introduced to chocolate initially, two of my favorite flavors these days are vanilla and hazelnut.
Lately I’ve been breaking away from the more traditional flavors and have enjoyed a number of different flavored coffees available in Black Mountain Gold’s “Flavored Gourmet Coffee Gift Sampler”. I bought this for myself as an early Christmas present and have enjoyed it immensely over the past few weeks. It’s basically a box of 30 packets with different flavors like: Cinnamon Crumb Cake (my favorite!), French Vanilla, Café Mocha Tiramisu, Swiss Chocolate Almond along with a few others. If you are a gourmet coffee lover this a great treat and I can promise you won’t be disappointed, the coffee you brew will be very smooth, with strong, distinctive flavors – absolutely delicious! It will have you coming back for a second cup every time! And for those who are socially conscious, Black Mountain Gold only sells fair trade coffee.
One of my favorite things about buying flavored coffee beans is the wide variety of flavors available, and with more and more suppliers coming into the market they’re each bringing their own unique flavors for gourmet coffee lovers everywhere! Coffeeam.com is one supplier I found a few months ago who offer a great list of over 120 different flavors! They have some truly unique flavors like “Apricot Cream”, “Almond Toffee”, “Black Velvet” and more!
Go Natural
When buying flavored coffee beans make check to see the ingredients and if you can find out about the processed used to flavor the beans. Ideally you want to buy flavored coffee that is created with natural flavorings, this is most likely your first choice but keep in mind many are flavored artificially so you may have to use some judgement here. Also check to make sure no additional sugar has been added to the flavored beans as this can affect the taste. By design, flavored coffee beans are coated with flavor compounds that help add to the coffee beans’ natural taste. The flavoring also plays a secondary role by extending the shelf life of the beans through disguising changes in their flavor caused by decaffeination and oxidation.
Funny Thai Coffee Commercial
A gut busting commercial from a coffee company in Thailand, check it out…