Experiments with Seasoned Coffee

Store-bought flavored coffee is almost always flavored with natural or artificial flavors. Even when flavored with “natural” flavors, the flavorings are still highly processed and often taste “fake.”

What if we truly flavored our coffees naturally? What if we flavored French vanilla coffee with real vanilla beans (and egg, to make it “French”)? What if we flavored hazelnut coffee with with real hazelnuts? Or blueberry-flavored coffee with real blueberries?

We can flavor our coffees with juniper berries, course-ground ginger, roasted dried berries, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Google “seasoned coffee”, “coffee with dried fruit”, and “naturally flavored coffee” for ideas. Or try cacao nibs, culinary lavender, allspice, nutmeg, star anise, or anything else you can think of that has a nice flavor and won’t gunk up your coffee maker.

I use a single-cup Keurig machine with a special reusable brew cup where I can add my own coffee grounds. Here are a few experiments I tried so far:

• Clove coffee: I added 1/4 teaspoons of ground cloves to the coffee grounds. It gives the coffee an earthy, leather, and sandalwood aroma. It also adds some bitterness to the coffee.
• Pineapple coffee: I added 1/4 teaspoons of finely chopped dried pineapple. I didn’t taste much difference, but it seemed slightly more acidic. Maybe I need to increase the pineapple to 1/2 teaspoons.
• Turmeric and black pepper coffee: This is a classic antioxidant blend, where the black pepper “activates” the turmeric. I added 1/4 teaspoons each of turmeric and ground black pepper. The coffee turned out slightly spicy, with a mild earthy flavor.

As you can see, it can be quite fun to experiment with adding different ingredients to your coffee. Since coffee has such strong flavors already, anything you add probably won’t alter the taste of your coffee too much. Be creative and try some exciting and bizarre combinations. Have fun!