If your favorite desserts are brownies, salted caramel and anything with brown sugar, a coffee that tastes like citrus and flowers probably won't be your first pick. You want chocolate and caramel notes in the cup. This list covers what those notes are, which Queen Bean coffees have them, and what to eat next to each one.
What chocolate and caramel notes mean in coffee
Tasting notes are flavors you can pick out in the brewed cup. They are not added flavoring. Caramel and brown sugar notes come from the coffee's own sugars, which brown as the beans roast. Chocolate and cocoa notes usually show up in coffees with low acidity and a rounded body, and they get more pronounced as the roast gets darker. Processing methods that leave more of the fruit on the bean while it dries, like honey and natural, tend to add sweetness too, which is why those coffees often read as caramel.
5 cozy coffee pairings for a chocolate and caramel palate
- Costa Rica Honey, medium roast, with salted caramel. Notes of honey, cocoa and brown sugar with a touch of citrus. The medium roast pushes toward cocoa and caramelized sweetness. Try it with salted caramel desserts, brown butter cookies or sticky toffee pudding. The citrus keeps the pairing from feeling heavy. Shop Costa Rica Honey
- Brazil Fazenda São Luiz with dark chocolate. Hazelnut and chocolate lead, with raspberry and black currant underneath. It is a natural match for brownies, dark chocolate and chocolate hazelnut spread on toast. The berry notes also work with chocolate raspberry cake. Shop Brazil Fazenda São Luiz
- Costa Rica Honey, light roast, with caramel apples. The light roast is brighter, citrusy and sweet. This is a contrast pairing: the acidity cuts through sticky caramel, and the apple ties the two together. Apple cider donuts work the same way.
- Brazil Fazenda São Luiz with nut desserts. The hazelnut in the cup echoes pecan pie, praline and hazelnut biscotti, and the sweetness in the coffee keeps up with theirs.
- Mexican Pantelhó Chiapas with chocolate orange. This is the one to try when you want to branch out. Sweet tangerine and delicate florals with a silky medium body make chocolate orange taste even better. It is produced in limited quantities. Shop Mexican Pantelhó Chiapas
Three rules for pairing coffee with sweets
- Match the sweetness. If the dessert is sweeter than the coffee, the coffee tastes thin and bitter. Choose a coffee with sweet notes like honey, brown sugar or cocoa.
- Echo the flavors. Chocolate notes with a chocolate dessert, nutty notes with a nut dessert.
- Or contrast them. A brighter coffee cuts through rich, sticky sweets and resets your palate between bites.
How to brew a cozier cup
Use a ratio of 1 gram of coffee to 16 grams of water (1:16), which is about 62 grams per liter, and water just off the boil, around 93 °C. Drip and French press give the rounder body that brings out cocoa and caramel. A splash of warm milk leans further into the caramel side.
Frequently asked questions
What coffee tastes like chocolate?
Coffees with low acidity and a rounded body, often from Brazil or Central America and roasted medium to dark. Our Brazil Fazenda São Luiz has notes of hazelnut and chocolate.
What does caramel taste like in coffee?
A soft, brown-sugar sweetness with a slightly toasted edge and very little bitterness. It comes from the coffee's natural sugars browning during roasting.
Is caramel coffee the same as flavored coffee?
No. Caramel notes are natural tasting notes. Flavored coffee has flavoring added after roasting. The coffees in this post are unflavored.
Which roast has the most chocolate flavor?
Medium to dark roasts tend to show the most, since longer roasting deepens cocoa-like flavors. The origin matters too.
What is a good cozy coffee for fall?
A medium roast with sweet notes, like Costa Rica Honey, with a dessert that matches it.
Ready for something sweeter in the cup? Shop chocolate and caramel notes at queenbean.ca
