But there is more to coffee pairing with chocolate than my little moment.
I was invited to an event with De'Longhi and Lindt and along with a Master Chocolatier and Master Coffee Blender we went through some of the aspects of how the coffee and chocolate go together. Most of the examples we tasted were really defined coffee from countries like Ethopia and Baku to name a few.
My problem with this way of tasting coffee was that they were too strong for my taste buds so what could I do with all the lovely chocolate I got to take home and how to describe them.
Well in the words if a certain meerkat "simples"! I would do a coffee-chocolate comparison of my own!!
I chose to compare with the Lindt Excellence range.
Firstly I used my De'Longhi Icona vintage espresso maker and made my self a latte. A latte is a very milky coffee and a sip of latte with a square of the dark (47% cocoa solids) especially Stawberry Intense from the Lindt Excellence range is simple a melting moment of summer and fresh strawberries.
Next I made a strongish coffee in my French press coffee maker and tried it with Lindt Excellence chocolate with chilli. A dark chocolate with 49% cocoa solids and a hint of chilli. The smooth richness of the coffee melted the dark chocolate leaving a tingle on the tongue from the chilli!
47% cocoa solids feature in the Lindt Excellence chocolate with A Touch of Sea Salt and with an Americano coffee (freshly made coffee from my De'Longhi machine with a touch of cold milk) left a haunting taste on the tongue in an interesting but still slightly dull background note of salt.
I followed on to the Lindt Excellence 70% chocolate which is smooth and velvety with slight undertones of vanilla, perfect with a hot steamy cappuccino and the chocolate with 85% cocoa solids which when melting in your mouth with a sip of hot coffee is just about as good as it gets!! This chocolate is neither bitter nor overpowering so neither should your coffee. These latter two coffees also melt exceedngly well and make a chocolate cake so much more chocolatey and delicious!
What this all boils down to is that coffee and chocolate are two universal pleasures and at the same time are very individual. A great way to find out your tasting pleasures is to try a up of coffee that you really enjoy with a square of fine chocolate and let it melt on your tongue from the warmth of the coffee.
So put the kettle on or switch your coffee maker on and get tasting!!
Next I made a strongish coffee in my French press coffee maker and tried it with Lindt Excellence chocolate with chilli. A dark chocolate with 49% cocoa solids and a hint of chilli. The smooth richness of the coffee melted the dark chocolate leaving a tingle on the tongue from the chilli!
47% cocoa solids feature in the Lindt Excellence chocolate with A Touch of Sea Salt and with an Americano coffee (freshly made coffee from my De'Longhi machine with a touch of cold milk) left a haunting taste on the tongue in an interesting but still slightly dull background note of salt.
I followed on to the Lindt Excellence 70% chocolate which is smooth and velvety with slight undertones of vanilla, perfect with a hot steamy cappuccino and the chocolate with 85% cocoa solids which when melting in your mouth with a sip of hot coffee is just about as good as it gets!! This chocolate is neither bitter nor overpowering so neither should your coffee. These latter two coffees also melt exceedngly well and make a chocolate cake so much more chocolatey and delicious!
What this all boils down to is that coffee and chocolate are two universal pleasures and at the same time are very individual. A great way to find out your tasting pleasures is to try a up of coffee that you really enjoy with a square of fine chocolate and let it melt on your tongue from the warmth of the coffee.
So put the kettle on or switch your coffee maker on and get tasting!!
Love to have coffee flavored with hot chocolate.Well if you love flavored coffee you can try vanilla and butterscotch flavors as well.Try them you will love them.
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Finn Felton
Kopi Luwak