Gourmet Coffee

After-dinner coffee has been a tradition for hundreds of years, and while coffee in itself is a luxury, many people opt to augment their brew with a potent potable. Liqueurs are the traditional favorite, as they have a sweet, unassuming flavor. These coffee hybrids tend to be rich and decadent, served by themselves are as an accompaniment to dessert. One of the mainstays in this ongoing relationship between coffee and liquor is the traditional Irish cream coffee.

While you can certainly embellish the recipe, a basic Irish cream coffee is simply one cup of coffee and a liberal shot of Irish cream. You can enhance the taste of your beverage by using gourmet coffee beans that have been infused with Irish cream.

During the dog days of summer, no one feels like a steaming hot cup of coffee. But that doesn’t mean one has to give up their favorite winter beverage during the summer. Many cold drinks can be made with coffee. For a frosty treat, try making an almond flavored coffee milkshake. Here’s a great recipe to try:

Ingredients
~ 3 cups coffee ice cream
~ ½ cup milk
~ ½ cup chilled almond-flavored coffee
~ ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in an electric blender; blend mixture until smooth. Serve immediately.

If you asked 10 different hosts the secret to pulling off a successful dinner party, you’d likely get 10 different answers. Still, the concepts of hospitality and accommodation would undoubtedly come up at some point. It’s up to a host to make her guests feel at home for the duration of the soiree, and that means always having scrumptious food and tasty beverages near at hand.

The hors d’oeuvres should be flavorful but not too exotic, as you don’t want to put anyone off. Always ask around to see if any special dietary restrictions need to be factored into the preparation of the main course. Don’t serve a vegetarian some beef bourguignon by mistake. It’s traditional in some households to serve coffee with dessert, but not all guests like a shot of caffeine just a few hours before bedtime. That’s why you should set aside some flavored decaf coffee just in case.

Chocolate lovers enjoy it when they find new ways to get pleasure from their favorite food. Give the delightful gift of chocolate flavored coffee to a chocoholic friend. If you’re a chocolate lover yourself, you’ll love these delicious gourmet coffees that are carefully mixed to balance the chocolate and coffee tastes for a most satisfying blend.

These fine coffees are packaged by the pound but are also available in 2 oz. samplers and pillow pacs. They are perfect for brewing 10-12 cup pots of exciting and aromatic beverages. All chocolate flavored coffee comes with no added sugar so you can fully indulge yourself without any guilt.

Remember those cold winter days spent in your family’s living room? Maybe you were playing board games with a warm fire burning in the hearth. You may have snacked on freshly-cracked hazelnuts or almonds opened by an old-fashioned nutcracker. Those days don’t have to stay a distant memory.

Why not remember those good times by indulging in a steaming cup of hazelnut flavored coffee. Flavored coffees are an easy way to combine your favorite flavors with your morning caffeine fix. These coffees can also come in decaffeinated versions and are available in a variety of flavors.

Many people associate the word mocha with a cafe mocha, a drink that includes espresso, steamed milk and chocolate. However, the word mocha has its roots in a time long before this drink was invented. It refers to a coffee bean with a chocolatey taste that is derived from the coffee species Coffee arabica, which is native to Ethiopia. Marco Polo first introduced the bean to Europe after he purchased it from a salesman in Yemen.

It was a salesman from Mocha, Yemen, that supplied Marco Polo, and the bean has been called this ever since. Mocha coffee can either refer to coffee brewed with mocha beans, or the coffee and chocolate drink. The Europeans invented the mocha drink, and there are many ways to make it. You can add the chocolate using sweet cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate or all of them at once! It is definitely the chocolate-lover’s favorite coffee drink.

Just as we can get in a rut with our work schedule, we can also get in a bit of a rut with the coffee we drink in the morning. Because we often wake up with our coffee, it’s important that we ensure that coffee gets us off on the right foot. Continuing with the same coffee routine day in and day out can cause boredom and even bad temperament in the morning. Instead, choose a new blend of coffee now and then and start off with a bounce instead of a bumble. Don’t feel limited to standard black coffee, choose vanilla, chocolate, caramel, hazelnut, or amaretto flavored coffee. Most of the time these blends can also be found in decaf for those who don’t want to experience the caffeine crash that often follows the morning coffee rush. With a new blend of coffee, getting up will no longer seem like a chore, and the prospect of starting the day will seem much more appealing.

People who start their day with a positive attitude often find themselves happier and even more confident in their daily lives. Don’t forget a good breakfast to accompany the coffee as well!

Let’s face it, just getting out of bed in the morning can be quite a difficult task. In order to feel less tired and even feel less dread getting out of bed in the morning, it’s important to treat yourself now and then. Drinking a cup of gourmet coffee in the morning is one simple way to make mornings more bearable. However, it’s also important to avoid treating yourself all the time, otherwise it will become a regular routine and you’ll be back in the same predicament! Now and then, head to a coffee stand or coffee shop and grab a hazelnut flavored coffee with caramel and cream, or even better, make it in the comfort of home.

Throughout the day, make little changes that don’t follow the regular routine. It’s these little changes that help us to feel more accomplished at the end of the day. For example, get a little extra exercise by taking the stairs, join a co-worker, spouse, or friend for lunch, or focus hard and rush through a difficult project. It’s these little changes that can make all the difference between happiness and dread throughout the weekdays!

I like to create very special brunches for my girlfriends every other week or so. That includes cooking a special meal, setting up a pretty table and providing some tasty beverages. My brunches are always a hit (some friends even call me and ask me if they can be invited!) I am really excited about the next brunch I will be hosting.

I plan to serve bacon and blue cheese quiche, maple chicken sausage patties, apple banana streusel muffins, and hazelnut flavored coffee. I am also going to try decorating the table with a new theme. Saint Patties Day is coming up, so I am doing all green with miniature leprechauns scattered about!

When it comes to waking up, everyone loves the jolt of caffeine that comes with a hot cup of coffee in the morning.  However, for some people, drinking caffeinated coffee is not an option, but they still love the flavor, taste, and aroma of coffee, and thus switch to decaffeinated.  But most who have tried it know, decaf coffee just isn’t the same as caffeinated coffee.  It lacks a certain punch and often it leaves you unsatisfied in the morning. 

Luckily, there is help with this predicament in the form of flavored decaf coffee.  Imagine combining coffee with those sensual flavors like hazelnut, almond, or even caramel.  You might start to drool just thinking about it!  Flavored decaf coffee, with its extra kick, tends to replace the missing flavor from regular caffeinated coffee.  It’s a great option for people who like coffee but don’t want that sudden jolt of caffeine and the inevitable crash afterwards.