Sunday, September 30, 2012

3 Ways to Stop and Smell the Coffee

For many of us, October is the kick-off for a festive season leading into the wintry months.  As a celebration of all things orange, spiced and all things nice, I thought it would be nice to do one last short post leading into October.

This post has nothing technical, just a tip to make your coffee and guests a little more happy this season.  No fancy tricks, no formulas, no special ingredients.

Flavoring Your Joe.
Many people flavor their coffee, it really isn't anything new.  But how people flavor it will create a big difference from eh to AMAZING!


Instead of purchasing preflavored coffee, or sweetened syrups to add to your post-brew, try this instead.  Add a teaspoon of your favorite spices inside the coffee filter before you turn the coffee pot on.

Coffee is not only an experience of taste, but aromatics.  By adding ingredients to the top of the pot, people will be able to smell the freshness of the spices added.  It also creates a smooth final brew without unpleasant mystery spice specks for your guests.

Here are three suggestions: (each suggestion is based on a 5 cup brew, with 5 rounded Tbsp. of ground coffee beans)

Hazelnut Gingerbread Brew:
Start with hazelnut coffee, adding 1 tsp ground ginger, a pinch of cloves, a dash of cinnamon, and a twist of black pepper to the pre-brew.  Serve with turbinado sugar (Sugar-in-the-Raw) and heavy cream.

Bourbon Spice Brew

French Bourbon Spice
Start with French Roasted coffee beans, add 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp cardamom to the pre-brew.  Add 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. bourbon extract to post brew.  Serve lightly sweetened with a splash of light cream.

Orange Cocoa Espresso
Use Espresso Roasted coffee beans,  place 1/2 tsp. grated orange peel and 1 tsp. dark chocolate powder in the coffee filter prior to brewing.  If you like, you may also add a dash of cinnamon & nutmeg for a bit of spice.  Add 1/4 tsp. orange extract to post-brew.  Serve sweetened, preferably without cream.

Of course, you can experiment with all sorts of varieties to come up with your favorite combination.  These are just three of my favorites.

Finally, I'd like to thank all my readers and subscribers.  You have made this month the best since the conception of Smacznego: A Blog.  I hope your house will be filled with everything this season is meant to be.  What could be better than sipping your own European brew with all the memories of home on a chilly morning or evening.  Smacznego!

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