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Author:
Dannielle Beardsley
Flavor your coffee beans? Yourself? At home? Without a barista supervising? What are you talking about? Calm down. We are here for you. We promise it is not as hard as it sounds. If you enjoy making your coffee at home but are finding things becoming a little stale, then listen up.
Adding some flavor to your coffee beans is an easy and cheap way to bring out new notes in your coffee. And not have to buy 37 different roasts. So get your coffee beans out and get ready to be a master of flavortown. Not the mayor, that job’s already taken.
If you didn’t know you could even do this, then we are your plus one. But how did you think all of those different coffees got all of those different flavors? They don’t come off the plant like that guys. Instead of searching the shelves for the roast you want, you can easily make it at home. Here are the ways you can do this.
Spices
This is going to be a fun one. You can add any spice you want to create any flavor you want. You add your spices to your beans, make sure they are sealed up tightly, and put them away for a bit. You’ll need at least an hour, but longer if you want a richer taste.
Oils
Same concept. Add whatever oil you want to however many beans you want. Shake, shake, shake until the beans are coated. Make sure they are sealed up. Set it and forget it. You’ll need at least an hour this way as well.
Once they are the way you want, you will need to make sure they dry out. Don’t try to grind them if they are still damp.
Alcohol
Yepp. We are not lying. You can infuse your coffee with alcohol. Have you had a coffee-infused beer? Just do it backwards. Put your desired amount of beans into a sealable container. Add beer, liquor, or whatever alcohol you want your coffee to be infused with.
This one is going to take longer. You’ll need about a day for the beans to be ready. You can let it sit longer if you want a bolder, richer flavor. Once they are where you want them, strain them and wait until they are dry before you grind them.
Okay, so what spices? What oils? Which alcohol? Let’s dig into that.
The spices
Go for whatever spice palate you like. Do you like cinnamon? Nutmeg? Crazy for clove? You can do whatever combination you want. Spices make the world go round honestly. If you like to experiment and want to try weird combinations, go for it. Maybe you could sell your creation to Starbucks one day.
If you like to play it safe with cinnamon, that’s where we’d stay. You can put the whole stick in there if you want. Or sprinkle ground spices. Whatever you have. It doesn’t matter if it’s the whole spice or ground. Either will work.
Oils or syrups
We aren’t saying to use regular household oils here. You can’t reach into your cabinet and use whatever. Think of what your coffee will taste like. Think of what you’d want to drink.
You are better off hitting up Amazon for coffee bean oil. There are also coffee bean syrups that you can add. Mint, mocha, or vanilla, you can find an oil or syrup to try.
Please remember to dry out your beans before you grind them. We have reminded you a few times now, so we will not be held responsible for any broken grinders.
Alcohol
Now, normal people use whiskey. Bourbon. If you use something like that you only need to let the beans sit for a handful of hours. You are always fine with going longer or shorter, depending on how strong you want that flavor to be.
You could do other alcohols. Pretty much whatever you want. Want to try rum? Sure. Think a porter would taste good? Go for it. Again, remember to dry out your beans before you grind.
So, we just throw however much in there and hope for the best? Okay, no. Sorry. You don’t want to pour a whole bottle of whiskey into a bag of coffee beans.
If you are adding to store-bought, that’s fine, but you will need a bit more flavor. If you are roasting them yourself, then you want to add the flavor when they are still warm.
But let’s be honest, most of us will be adding to store-bought. We are going to go with that metric. The general rule is 3% of the weight should be the flavor. Whatever amount of beans you are using, a pound, two pounds. Add 3% flavor of whatever the weight is.
Of course, you could add less if you only want a hint of flavor. If you like an underlying notion of nutmeg or don’t want it to be like you are drinking an actual cup of rum, then you can do less.
Don’t do more though. That will completely mess up how the coffee will taste after you grind it. You don’t want to drink a cup of vanilla. Start with less and experiment with adding more to find the amount that your taste buds don’t hate.
We should mention that you need to get good quality beans to use. The best beans are Arabica beans. They hold the flavor better than a Robusta bean. But with anything, the spices, the oils, or the beans, make sure they are quality. The cheapest ones will not get you the best flavor. You know that.
Have fun experimenting. By messing with the flavor of the beans, you could cut back on how much cream and sugar you need to use to make your coffee taste awesome. What are you waiting for? Why are you still reading? Go grab some awesome Arabian coffee beans and some nutmeg and vanilla and elevate your coffee game!ro