5 Coffee Pairings you will love
Due to their organoleptic properties, such as aroma, flavor, and body notes, they give us many possibilities to experiment with flavors. Here we share how to enjoy your coffee better!
Bread, pastries, cheese, desserts, and breakfast seem to be classics and are excellent starting points for specialty coffees.
Here is the list of flavors that pair well with coffee:
- Chocolate
- Danish cookies
- Custard Pies and Fruit Tarts
- Almond cream croissant
- Cinnamon rolls, churros, or pancakes
The reason why sweet foods and pastries are the most common is due to their chemical structure. In bakery and coffee roasting, the Maillard reaction occurs, in which amino acids and sugar react. Also, there is a relationship with the aromatic compounds released.
1. Chocolate and coffee
Chocolate and coffee have a lot in common, from their smooth, palatable nature to the complexity they can have in flavor. (Whether it's 80% cocoa chocolate from Nicaragua or 60% cocoa milk chocolate from Ecuador, a fruity Coffee from Guatemala, or a high-acid one from Kenya, you know you'll savor the impact of origin, processing, roasting, and more. )
We recommend some of our favorite chocolate products:
- Brownies
- fudge
- Ice cream bombs
- Chocolate bar 70% cocoa
- Chocolate sandwich cookies
For these combinations, you can put the coffee into four categories: coffees with nutty notes (think coffees from Colombia and other South American origins), coffees with fruity and earthy notes (coffees from Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya, and more). , and last but not least, the espresso.
While milk chocolate can work well with black coffee, if you pair it with an espresso, drink it all at once, then taste the chocolate. If not, the espresso could overwhelm the flavors of the chocolate.
2. Danish cookies and coffee
Butter is one of the main ingredients in a bakery, and it provides that sensation of softness on the palate and a delicious flavor that goes perfectly with almost all flavors in the kitchen. Our favorite products for this pairing are:
- Biscoff cookies
- Danish butter cookies
- Classic croissants
3. Pastry Cream pies, Fruit Tarts with Coffee
The custard in the viennoiserie can neutralize the acidity of any coffee, be it a wash or a high-acidity coffee. Hence, it's excellent to sip the coffee and bite it into your dessert to complement that sensation.
- Pastry cream pie
- Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese)
- Cheesecake
Likewise, fruit tarts for washed coffees are great:
- Berry tart: strawberry, raspberries, blueberries
- Stone fruit tart: peach, plum, cherries with buttery crust👌
- Apple tart
4. Almond Croissant
Nuts such as almonds and walnuts are some of the classic flavors in the coffee notes, so accompanying it with an almond cream pastry makes the combination of butter and this nut excellent on the palate without being overwhelming.
5. Cinnamon rolls, churros, or pancakes
Cinnamon is a spice that goes very well with baked goods, and the range of coffee flavors and these desserts contain it as a main ingredient, making for a balanced and delicious experience on the palate.
RECOMMENDATIONS ACCORDING TO THE PROCESS
For washed coffees, if you pair them with fruit = they will add sweetness
Natural coffees = will provide more acidity
Washed coffees are probably best with simple pastries, like croissants or cinnamon rolls,” he says. Meanwhile, natural coffees are more enjoyable with heavier stuff, chocolate, fudge, or cream pies.
When pairing, there are two options. Paired with notes that go well together or opposite each other, creating a surprising new flavor.
We recommend you look at how coffee is usually paired in other countries; for example, in Colombia, the traditional pairings are buñuelo (fried cheese balls), pandebono (cheese bread), almojábanas (fried cheese and corn dough), and guava cake.
In Mexico, we love to drink coffee with sweet bread, which can be:
- Conchas
- Cupcakes
- Even corn tamales! (sweet corn tamale)
We know you can accompany coffee with any food, but if you ask the coffee tasters, these would be some recommendations for where to start!