“Natural” flavors
Photo: Liz Clayton; The Dark Side of Flavored Coffee
Back when coffee was discovered we wonder, how was it first brewed?
I mean they didn’t have a Mr. Coffee in 11th century Ethiopia, so either the leaves were boiled or a pan with coffee fruit was shaken over a fire. Either way it would probably have taken a lot of experimentation, but the experimentation would most likely have included adding other things like nuts and spices; cinnamon, cardamon and even pepper.
After all, these ingredients were the pumpkin spices of their time - people couldn’t get enough of it, plus the trade route ran through the original coffee growing areas around the African Horn. Hence it was only natural to try adding them to "kaffe,” which wasn’t standardized (at that time) in any conventional way.
But when did the commercialization of coffee go into flavor overdrive?
Jump ahead many generations and somewhere around the 1970’s “professional flavor chemists” were able to synthesize many of the natural flavors into chemical compounds and introduce them to a flavor hungry market. Of course it’s totally possible to use natural oils like vanilla beans, cocoa beans or nuts and berries. Cinnamon, clove, and chicory are especially popular. But what about the flavors you see that can’t be traced to one natural flavor?
“SCIENCE!”
If you want to get a flavor like “Bananas Foster” (talking about adding the flavor not noting the natural sense of the flavor int he bean) then you will be needing some good ol’ fashion chemicals. Synthetic flavor agents are commercially made chemicals. For example, a nutty, woody, musty flavor can be produced with 2, 4-Dimethyl-5-acetylthiazole. Similarly, 2,5-Dimethylpyrazine is used to add an earthy, almost peanuty or potato-like flavor. The taste of cinnamon is Ethyl Cinnamate. These flavored coffees may require up to 80 different compounds to achieve the defining “flavor”.
The pure flavor compounds described above are highly concentrated and must be diluted in a solvent to allow the blending of multiple oils and easy application to the beans. Common solvents include water, alcohol, propylene glycol, and fractionated vegetable oils. Ok cool, water, yep we know that one, alcohol, or fine I get that, but wait, isn’t Propylene Glycol a thickening agent used in radiator fluid and airplane de-icing? Bingo!
Also keep in mind, some (not all) roasters will use flavor agents to mask old coffee. Say you had a bag of Kenya sitting around for 3 years - throw some Hazelnut flavor chemical on it and you just bought yourself another year or more. The flavoring is so intense it will mask any loss of character from staleness. That’s part of the reason the chemical compounds cost so much.
So the thing we recommend you try (if flavored coffee is your thing) is to use natural spices and oils to create the effect you want. You could start with cinnamon, clove, cardamom, vanilla or maybe peppermint oil. Try adding it to your coffee before grinding (but that flow or will be in your grinder) or you could add it on top of the ground coffee, or throw a stick of cinnamon into your pot as you brew.
Hopefully you will discover a coffee flavor you like without having to synthesize it.
Sources
Clayton, L. (2018, August 9). The Dark Side of Flavored Coffee. Retrieved November 18, 2019, from https://drinks.seriouseats.com/2013/02/the-dark-side-of-flavored-coffee-how-flavored-coffee-is-made.html.
Flavored Coffee Bean. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15, 2019, from http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Flavored-Coffee-Bean.html#ixzz65jh5kt1i.
