Flavoring coffee
How to flavour your recipes with coffee?
Flavoring savory or pastry recipes with coffee is often time-consuming, and the results can be inconsistent, even for experienced chefs. There are many ways of flavouring with coffee, but few of them are really satisfactory. Let’s take a look at some of the techniques available for flavouring your recipes. Preserve aromatic complexity and consistent intensity without wasting time in the lab!
Why flavour your recipes with coffee?
In desserts, coffee intensifies the taste of chocolate and sublimates vanilla, for combinations that have proved their worth in pastry-making. In savoury cuisine, it is intriguingly bold, adding a tangy or roasted touch to sauces and marinades. Coffee awakens your creations, whether in a creamy ganache, a refreshing ice cream or a chocolate fondant.
Its power lies in its ability to adapt to all textures, from airy mousses to fluffy pastries. Play with its different intensities to give character to your creations, from the most classic to the most daring. The palette of flavors offered by coffee is as infinite as the number of terroirs and flavoring methods.
An overview of professional coffee flavoring methods
There are many techniques for flavouring your coffee recipes.
Coffee extract, favored by 56.3% of craftsmen according to the “Grande étude Boulangerie Pâtisserie Nationale 2022, CHD Expert”, remains the most widely used method. Other alternatives are preferred for economic reasons, such as coffee flavoring or soluble coffee.
Purists prefer bean infusion, coffee bean paste or the incorporation of espresso or percolated filter coffee.
Each method brings its own unique taste signature, from full-bodied coffee to more subtle notes. This quest for the perfect taste is not insignificant: 88% of bakers place flavour as the number one criterion in their choice of flavouring technique.
Coffee infusion: the art of gourmet immersion
Coffee infusion is the preferred method for purists who prefer to work with the raw material. The traditional method involves infusing freshly ground coffee for a few minutes in a hot liquid. To better capture the aromas, prefer a fatty substance such as cream or milk. This hot extraction releases the coffee’s essential oils, developing chocolaty, toasty notes that linger on the palate. To optimize aromas, select your coffee carefully, according to its terroir, species and organoleptic qualities.
However, this method takes time: grinding the beans, brewing, cooling, filtering… And what to do with the brewed coffee afterwards?
Coffee maceration or cold brew
For a more modern approach, the cold brew is coming into the kitchen. This technique requires infusion at room temperature (or maceration). It is ideal for cold preparations, such as ice cream. Its advantage lies in the subtlety of its taste, which is less bitter and sweeter. However, maceration takes a long time (12 to 24 hours).
Filter or espresso coffee
To flavor coffee recipes, over 3% of craftsmen use percolated coffee, also known as espresso or filter coffee.
However, for high-volume production, the percolation time for liters of coffee needs to be anticipated. In addition, the dry matter content is often disappointing, and the aroma can lose intensity as it is diluted with water. Another disadvantage of this method is the need to add a lot of water to the preparation, which is not suitable for all applications. While this solution is ideal for soaking, it should not be used for dry pasta.
Coffee bean paste
Some chefs and craftsmen opt for coffee bean paste to instantly flavour a recipe while staying as close as possible to the raw material. NOROHY organic coffee bean paste is made from 100% Arabica mocha beans. Hand-harvested on the high plateaus of Guji, these beans are selected for their tangy, fruity notes. Gentle roasting and dry processing preserve these specific notes. Finely ground, they are then blended with sunflower oil to form an intense, easy-to-incorporate paste.
Imagine a coffee crème brûlée or an intense éclair… What better way to wake up your taste buds? But NOROHY’s sugar-free coffee bean paste can also be used in savoury dishes! How about scallops in coffee with parsnips or Jerusalem artichokes?
While the use of coffee in savoury cooking is becoming more widespread, flavouring recipes with coffee extract remains a standard.
Coffee extract for simple flavouring
As we saw earlier, flavouring a recipe using coffee extract is the most widespread method. The NOROHY bottle, equipped with a pouring spout, makes dosing easy. What’s more, the time saved in the lab is significant: no percolation or infusion; flavouring is instantaneous.
Finally, NOROHYorganic liquid coffee extract has a very high dry matter content: over 44%! As this extract contains no flavor enhancers or texturizers, it is pure coffee solids. This is an important indicator of its aromatic intensity.
In addition, this 100% Arabica coffee from Colombia has been selected for its intense roasted notes of dried fruit.
The ingredients at Café Norohy
Coffee liqueur
Often used in mixology to make tasty cocktails, coffee liqueur is also used in pastry-making, ice-cream making and cooking. It offers instant coffee flavoring that’s also easy to dose. However, its alcoholic notes may bother some consumers. Coffee liqueur is made by infusing ground coffee beans in alcohol, often with added sugar. These additional ingredients can alter the balance of your recipe.
Coffee aroma
Finally, the most economical solution is to use coffee flavoring. If you choose this option, avoid synthetic flavors, which are often less rich from an organoleptic point of view. Instead, use natural coffee aromas to stay as close as possible to the raw material. NOROHY organic coffee extract, for example, is a natural flavor of gently roasted coffee. Its concentration in dry matter is indicative of its intensity. What’s more, this natural flavor contains only water and coffee: no additives, flavor enhancers or texturizers are added.
Whichever solution you choose to flavor your coffee recipes, be sure to read the list of ingredients carefully. This information can guide your choice, explain price differences and enable you to consume with a clear conscience. For more details, check out our article comparing coffee flavoring methods. You’ll discover the advantages and disadvantages of each technique, as well as recommended dosages and processing times. Enjoy your reading!
