More than a cup of coffee
With so many people just loving the flavor, the aroma, the taste of coffee, it was only a matter of time before they tried to extend that special something beyond the beverage to other foods. The first to be the victims were of course, the desserts. Of course, coffee ice-cream was a big, big hit. Coffee itself went through many ways of being served with coffee shops vying with each other to serve up the cappuccinos, the whipped coffees, the chocolate-flavored coffees, the black, the white, the creamy coffees. You even have coffee gelatos and coffee sorbets. In most of these coffee shops, you’ll find coffee served up with a whole lot of new things just to keep the interest in the coffee and the coffee shop alive.
Coffee flavored candy and sweets are all-time favorites. You can find them in candy stores in every shape and size. Then of course, you have the coffee cookies – yum – and the coffee cakes. Why you even have coffee flavored bread!
The great thing about coffee is that it goes with most sweet foods. That slightly bitter taste offsets the sweet, giving it a lovely taste and flavor when it combines with the other food.
Of course, there were disastrous attempts along the way. Steak and tuna that were coffee flavored, beer with a hint of coffee and many more. But some coffee experiments have stood the test of time. Take Kahlua and Tia Maria for example. They are among the most sold coffee liqueurs. Of course the one right on top when it comes to mixing coffee and liquor is Irish coffee or Caife Gaelach. This is made with Irish whisky, sugar, coffee and cream and whipped into a stiff drink.
Strange that coffee should be used almost as a flavoring agent when a whole lot of other beverages are not. There’s something about coffee that enthralls, excites and challenges. Maybe that’s why we try to see how we can extend it so it becomes even more a part of our daily life. Coffee today even goes to being touted as a great bathing scrub, promising to leave the skin soft and clean. Who would have ever thought that a little bean discovered by a goatherd a very long time ago would travel so far? It’s been a long and eventful journey for the coffee bean but it’s made it right to the top.