Saturday, May 7, 2011

Adding Different Flavors to Your Favorite Cup of Coffee

By Damian Papworth


Coffee is something of an acquired taste, owing to the bitterness that most coffee drinkers experience when trying the drink for the first time. With some milk or sugar (or both), that bitterness quickly disappears and it is no surprise that coffee is popular all over the world, in some cases ranking in a consumption ratio of 1 to 3 when compared to water. After introducing new flavors to a favorite drink, it isn?t difficult to see why flavored coffees continue to increase in number and popularity.

In the past, the number one flavor added to coffee was chocolate, or mocha. With origins in European espresso-based cafes -- most of which serve hot chocolate -- it was not much of a leap for coffee drinkers looking for a slight change to add some chocolate to an espresso drink, creating the ?caf? mocha? now served in coffee houses big and small all across the world. After that, the practice of adding syrup ?shots? to coffee became popular, mimicking the flavor of liqueurs (amaretto, hazelnut etc.) as well as supplying distinct flavors (orange, mint).

Coffee drinkers who love different flavors in coffee can also find different choices in whole bean or packaged form. By taking the bean and modifying the overall taste, coffee producers must introduce an unnatural element to the coffee. It simply cannot be done during the cultivation process. However, the flavors themselves can be entirely natural. Getting a package of hazelnut or mocha-flavored coffee is possible these days in your favorite caf? or local store.

Among the most popular flavors being found today, almond, pistachio, orange and white chocolate have joined hazelnut and mocha at the top of the list. Whatever flavor or type of sweetener you love, you?ll probably be able to find it at a caf?. Even the syrups being used can be produced organically.

There is nothing artificial about chocolate in the hands of the right producer, of course, so enjoying a caf? mocha can have a more natural flavor than some of the syrups. The natural properties of both can blend together nicely.

Some of the more exotic flavors being marketed in coffee drinks are pumpkin spice and cinnamon varieties.

Adding a variety of different syrups or creams to a coffee drink will certainly make its nutritional properties vary widely from a typical cup off coffee with a spoon of sugar or ounce of milk. Coffee drinkers who grow accustomed to highly sweetened beverages that the fat and overall caloric content will be significant. Keeping it simple will allow a coffee beverage to retain its most beneficial qualities.

For daily coffee drinkers who see an espresso or black coffee as a staple of life, it is unlikely that a variety of flavors and embellishments on the classic form will be appealing. For others with a notable sweet tooth, the different flavors will add a new wrinkle to the idea of coffee.




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