Coffee Flavored Food Ideas

Coffee doesn't have to come in a cup. If you're a coffee lover, you can get your brew flavor from a number of tasty sources.

Candy and Treats

Coffee-flavored ice cream, jelly beans, cookies and other baked and confectionery treats are all popular choices for those who love their dark drink.

Chupa Chups, the popular lollipop manufacturer, makes a fantastic coffee-flavored lollipop, including Cafe Mocha, Espresso, and Cappuccino flavors. While these tasty pops don't contain any of the real drink or caffeine, they are a great way to get a burst of its smooth flavor.

Chocolate

Chocolate combined with a cup of coffee is one of life's greatest combinations. And now, thanks to the high antioxidant levels found in both, it's good for you too! Most of these combinations contain actual grounds or fragments of their beans right inside the chocolate.

You can even purchase chocolate covered roasted coffee beans. Shock-A-Lots and Chargers are two popular brands of chocolate-covered espresso beans that are known for their high caffeine concentration and taste. Eating the chocolate-covered beans will deliver more caffeine to the system than drinking a brewed cup of java, so be careful and eat these in moderation.

Seasoning for Meat

Did you know you can season your steak with coffee grounds? Often referred to as a Chuck Wagon Steak Rub, this popular method takes pepper, salt, onion powder and fresh grounds to season a good steak.

It can be used whether you're broiling, grilling, frying or baking your meat and even stored for up to 6 months in a reusable shaker. You can also find java varieties of steak rubs in many fine grocery stores.

Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is a great treat when combined in a cup of coffee. Whether you're stirring a spoonful of peanut butter into your hot drink or adding a few fresh grounds to your peanut butter sandwich, the flavor combo is phenomenal.

Cake

Any cake served with this delightful flavoring is technically a coffee cake. However, you can make a fantastic sponge cake that has the flavor simply by adding some fresh grounds or instant Sanka to your cake mix before baking.

Cherries

Coffee beans actually grow inside java treat cherries. While such a cherry isn't technically a widely eaten food, it can be consumed and even brewed into a parchment tea. True aficionados of the great morning brew like to make a berry jam to enjoy with their brew, turning a casual cup of joe into something exciting.

For additional informative details on coffee and enticing flavors that explode your taste buds, please visit http://www.coffeetryst.com, a popular site providing great insights on coffee options, such as organic flavored coffee, Kona blend coffee, and many more!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wesley_Johnson

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How to Make the Perfect Cup of Coffee

Whichever blend of coffee you prefer or whatever type of equipment you are using to prepare the coffee the objective is the same. To release the coffee oils and soluble coffee compounds into solution in the final beverage.

Not all the soluble compounds are desirable particularly tannin so it is important to brew the coffee is just the right manner to produce the perfect cup.

Although it is possible to extract as much as a third of the mass of coffee from the grounds the optimum amount is about 20%

There are six important factors to consider when making fresh coffee.

1. The coffee grind - By this we mean the particle size of the coffee grounds. This varies typically from largest to smallest thus: coarse, medium, fine and espresso (or very fine)

Over-extraction can occur if the grind size is too small for the method and equipment used resulting in a coffee being bitter and too strong. If the size is too large then under-extraction will occur resulting in a weak wishy-washy coffee.

Typically one would use a coarse grind for a coffee pot, medium grind for a cafeteria (French Press), medium to fine for a typical filter drip machine and espresso grind for an espresso machine.

2. Freshness and quantity of coffee - Coffee beans should be stored in a cool dry place out of direct sunlight and ideally kept in an airtight container. The coffee should be ground to order as ground coffee will lose some of its subtle flavors and aromas if is left exposed to the atmosphere for very long.

It is vital to use the recommended dosage of coffee depending on the equipment being used. Using less coffee but increasing the brewing time will not result in a standard brew but create an over-extracted drink. Using more coffee than recommended but a quicker infusion time will result in an under-extracted coffee.

3. Temperature and water quality of the water - Always use fresh cold water to start off the brewing process. Ideally the water should be filtered to remove unwanted taints and odors and be very slightly hard.

Water should be used that has just come off the boil and be approximately 95-98 degrees Celsius for optimum extraction of coffee. Too hot can scald the coffee and too cool will result in under-extraction.

4. The infusion time - The length of time that the hot water is in direct contact with the coffee grounds is crucial in producing the perfect cup. In reality this is determined by the equipment being used to brew it, so always follow the manufacturers guidelines.

As a rough guide however consider the following.

10-30 seconds for espresso grind 3-6 minutes for fine grind 6-8 minutes for medium grind 8-10 minutes for coarse grind

5. Brewing method employed - Basically there are three different methods employed to make coffee. These are steep & strain, filter infusion and pressure infusion.

Steep and strain simply involves putting hot water in contact with coffee grounds in a pot or container until under extraction has occurred. The resulting brew is strained to isolate the coffee liquor.

Filter infusion is common in many applications and uses a filter basket filled with coffee grounds that has hot water added from above. The infusion time is relatively short as the water infuses briefly with the coffee until the liquor passes thought the basket into a flask or container below.

Pressure infusion - Hot water is forced under high pressure though a small tablet of compacted grounds to produce an individual serving of coffee. This is the standard method of producing espresso.

Again it is imperative to use the right method with the correct type and grind of coffee.

6. Cleanliness - Coffee contains oils that will leave a tarry residue on equipment that can contaminate and spoil the taste of subsequent brews. Daily washing and cleaning of equipment is an absolutely vital part in producing the perfect cup.

Have fun - producing a great tasting cup of your favorite coffee should be an easy and enjoyable task.

For more information about coffee and coffee making equipment visit http://www.cafebar.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fenton_Wayne

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