Flavour Combinations
Hey Guys,
i'm trying to expand my repertoire of flavour pairings with espresso away from the obvious orange, strawberry, chocolate, etc. Just looking for people's thoughts on the subject of espresso flavour pairings. I'm experimenting with herbs, but slow going so far.
Thoughts? Interesting ideas?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Karen Claunch on
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I admit that I don't know much about food pairings or anything on that level, however, I would suggest starting with a site that talks about some wine pairings. Wine is a much more established beverage than coffee and has a larger foundation with pairings. The two also have a lot of similarities. From that you could extrapolate based on the characteristics and notes of the coffee you're pairing. If that is too hard or doesn't work, it should at least give you some ideas to start :)
For the record, I've tried cream cheese (didn't work! yuck!) annnnd... maybe that was the only one? Haha! Go big or go home, though, right?
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Perrine on
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prunes/plums, licorice, ginger, juniper, curry, tobacco (no particular order)
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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Something you might try is to find the dominant flavors and aromas in the espresso, then look into flavors that have affinities for those flavors. Look at the sort of pairings that chefs and are making with those flavors. If you are looking at sweeter drinks, look to desserts, ice cream, progressive chocolates, etc. for inspiration. Fall back on your own instincts too... what sort of pairings would you make with chocolate-almond, orange, etc...
There are tons of food recipes available on sites like epicurious, etc. Pretend that main flavor is an ingredient that you are cooking with and research different things you could make and the flavors that go with it.
Hope this helps.
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Permalink Reply by zack burnett on
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Look up a book called The Flavor Bible. It's a flavor reference book that has some pretty interesting flavor pairings. It's an important resource for anyone in the culinary industry or just interested in how flavors work with each other.
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Permalink Reply by Chris on
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There are many things that will bring out many flavours in espresso. Very few that will bring out anything better than what is already there, unless it isn't that good to start with.
That said, I've been experimenting with keeping the garlic, onion, cilantro, (whatever) residue on the cutting board after cooking dinner, and using it to cut up fruit for dessert. Banana and cilantro, garlic and apple, green onion and mango, some of the combinations have knocked me out. Banana and garlic, not so good, but you may love it.
Cumin, cardamom, cayenne, coriander, and I'm not even out o the 'c's yet!
Try fruit flavours with spices that you'd not expect them to be compatible with. Contrasting flavours can be the more interesting flavours.
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Permalink Reply by Mitch Buckner - Bella Caffe on
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I know its close to the "usual suspects" but its still a good combination. I had a customer order a raspberry peanut butter mocha yesterday (frozen). I of course made it (& didnt make it too strong in any of the flavors so as not to be excessively sweet) and tasted it & it was great.
I once ordered a "mexican spice mocha" at a coffee shop that was basically a seafoam cappuccino with about a tablespoon of cayenne pepper in it. Absolutely horrible because it was over the top & just simply a badly made drink but I do like the cayenne background notes along with chocolate in a drink.
I once tried a buffalo cappuccino....didnt work :-)
I would actually love to experiment with bacon. Saw a coffee shop do this once but I dont remember exactly how they did it. Might have been bacon grease added to the milk when steaming or something like that. Whatever it was, at the time I saw it I thought it sounded awesome (now that I think about it...I must have been reading about it because I cant place ever tasting anything like that)
Monin has a great flavor called Spice Berry. Wonderful combination of spice & berry that goes very well in a mocha. Since its already mixed, you can manage to only add a little bit so as not to over sweeten the drink while still getting a strong enough flavor.
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Permalink Reply by Alex Stoffregen on
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Make a mocha with a darker chocolate, use double of SO Mexican for espresso (if you have it, whatever 'spro you've got will probably taste good), then infuse ROSEMARY with the milk (do this by taking a sprig of rosemary and steaming it with the milk, making sure to remove it afterwords) I read this somewhere online and LOVE IT, its a very unique cup of coffee and is delicious. Let me know what you think!
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Permalink Reply by Dominika on
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Hi Tristan,
In my opinion vanilla, almonds, coriander, nutmeg are spices which pair espresso well.
I have website about coffee and food combination. If you want, take a look.
http://www.yummy-coffee-and-food.com
Dominika
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Permalink Reply by Laura Heyda on
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I think it'd be fun to try your more exotic and complex herbs like cinnamon basil, thai basil, anise hyssop, bergamot, lemon balm - so that its not so obvious what you're working with. Its more fun when you cant quite recognize the herb in my opinion. And the flavors of espresso are so varied and complex maybe it would be a better match.
I'd love to try working with wormwood and sassafras.
I got to try out the Torani Bacon syrup recently and know of people who liked it in a mocha...
BBQ flavors with espresso are more interesting to me - since they are more complex than most bacons; sweet, sour, hot and fruity. Might be fun to make a spicy sweet bbq sauce and cook a piece of pork or turkey on the grill with it. Let one nice fatty piece of skin get really caramelized and dark with a lot of sauce on it, then try using that piece to infuse some milk.
I wouldn't make a latte with bbq infused milk, but it might be nice to try a small amount, maybe in a macchiato.
But weirdness aside, here are some not too far from standard flavors that have been popular among some of our customers this season: coconut, banana and salty caramel.
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Permalink Reply by Jared Lee Hamilton on
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Instead of trying to find unique flavor pairings alone with espresso add them with a flavor that ties in with espresso...So we know chocolate goes well with espresso and lavender goes well with chocolate so make a chocolate and lavender espresso. Use base flavors that you know and love and then suggest other flavor in addition to it.
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