Flavoured coffee has always been popular and there are a few ways to flavour coffee: the beans themselves can be flavoured with flavouring agents, flavour and spices can be added during the brewing process, or you can add flavour directly to your brewed coffee. Why would you want to get flavoured coffee beans if you can just add whipped cream or syrup to your cup of joe? Find out the reasons why below.
Flavoured coffee is far from a new concept. Infusing coffee with cardamom, cinnamon sticks, and other whole spices was a large part of Arabic, Middle Eastern, and Turkish cultures for centuries. Combining coffee with chocolate for additional flavour and taste was a ground-breaking discovery in Europe during the seventeenth century
Later, flavoured coffee syrups emerged at the forefront of the coffee flavouring scene in the United States, with one of the largest coffee companies being founded in Seattle in 1971 and growing in popularity each year: Starbucks.
Then, during the 90s, flavoured coffee became super trendy, with TV shows like Friends popularizing drinking these milky, flavoured concoctions. The coffee shop became the place to hang out with friends, not just order your coffee to go.
Finally, there has been another surge in their popularity in recent years, with adventure-seeking millennials wanting to experiment with new flavours.
As evident in flavoured coffee’s history, there are many ways in which coffee can be flavoured. Today, with advances in modern flavouring technology, there has been an explosion of new and exciting coffee flavours, from pumpkin spice to French vanilla.
With so many choices on the market today, this brings up the question of why we should take the time to flavour coffee beans. Why not just drink regular coffee without added flavour? What’s the big deal about flavouring coffee? Learn different ways coffee is flavoured, why you might want to drink it, and which flavours you simply MUST try!
FLAVOURED COFFEE IS NOT JUST FOR COFFEE SHOPS – YOU CAN BREW IT AT HOME
It’s fair to say that all of us coffee lovers out there enjoy going to our local coffee shop for a pumpkin spice latte every now and again, but guess what? You can brew flavoured coffee at home as well!
Simply roll out of bed and add some flavoured coffee into your machine, French press, or whatever coffee-making device you own, and boom! A tasty pumpkin spice latte without having to step outside your front door. Using flavoured coffee beans or ground coffee is an easy way to get coffee shop quality at home.
Additionally, flavouring the coffee beans directly allows you to still drink your coffee black if you desire. You can brew your coffee and there’s no need to add sugar, flavoured creamers, or sweet syrups as the coffee is already full of flavour.
Coffee shops often infuse their coffee drinks with flavour by adding a ton of sugary products. However, if you use pre-flavoured coffee beans to make your tasty coffee drinks at home, there’s no need for any additional ingredients, meaning you can avoid adding extra sugar, calories, fat, and carbohydrates.
Flavoured coffee is for everyone! Coffee purists often turn up their noses at flavoured beans, but maybe they won’t if they try our Hazelnut Vanilla Coffee!
DIFFERENT METHODS TO FLAVOUR COFFEE
There are several different techniques for flavouring coffee. The appropriate choice depends on the roast level (light, medium, or dark roast), the origin of the coffee beans, the bitterness or acidity of the coffee, and how all these elements will react with the different flavour profiles.
The two main ways coffee is flavoured are before it is brewed (after the roasting process) with the assistance of flavouring agents, or after it is brewed with the use of whole spices, cinnamon sticks, coffee syrups, and coffee creamers.
Many cultures use spices, such as cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg, to flavour the coffee grounds so it brews with the spices or to their mug after the coffee is brewed. Try using whole spices to add natural flavours and aromas to coffee.
At Zavida Coffee Roasters, our coffee beans are flavoured after the roasting process with flavouring agents, as this ensures the longevity of the flavour. You must be aware, though, that ground coffee will tend to lose flavour quicker as more surface area is exposed to oxygen – which is the same concept we describe in our guide to storing your coffee to retain its freshness.
There are two principal types of coffee beans: Arabica beans and Robusta beans. At Zavida, 100% of our coffee is made from Arabica beans. For more information on the origin of Arabica coffee, check out our blog, "Where Does Arabica Coffee Come From?".
It’s a fallacy to think that you can use low-quality or old beans and mask them with flavouring. High-quality beans always need to be used, but especially for flavoured coffee because the flavouring won’t produce the aromas and flavour profiles you want.
Adding spices and syrups to mask the unpleasant flavour of coffee brewed from old beans won’t work either. Be kind to your taste buds. It simply won’t make the coffee quality better. Old beans = bad coffee.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF FLAVOURING THE COFFEE BEAN DIRECTLY?
Flavouring coffee beans brings with it a whole range of flavour experiences. If you haven’t yet tried flavoured coffee, see what you’re missing out on below!
1. FLAVOURED COFFEE TASTES AMAZING
First and foremost, flavoured coffee tastes great! Adding a burst of flavour to coffee beans enhances their taste and arguably makes for a more enjoyable coffee than an ordinary cup of joe. You must admit that a cup of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Coffee or Cookie Dough Coffee sounds far more exciting than a regular coffee blend.
2. IT’S CALORIE-FREE
Purchasing flavoured coffee beans can be a healthier alternative to adding cream, sugar, and sweet syrups to your coffee. At Zavida, we offer a whole variety of flavoured coffees, which are calorie-free.
3. FLAVOURED COFFEE SMELLS DIVINE
Additionally, the smell of opening a bag and brewing flavoured coffee is second to none. With Zavida's coffees, your kitchen will smell delicious. Sipping on a cup of Chocolate Fudge Brownie Coffee while enjoying its rich, chocolatey aromas, is almost like eating the real thing. A truly incomparable experience!
4. FLAVOURING COFFEE SPARKS CREATIVITY
Furthermore, the coffee-flavouring world is a playground for creativity – it encourages innovation. The wide variety of different flavours that are being produced is astonishing. Flavouring coffee beans creates novelty, attraction, discussion, and innovation. The possibilities for new flavours are endless.
5. FLAVOURED COFFEE ENHANCES YOUR LIFESTYLE
Flavoured coffee is a fun product. As stated by Zavida Coffee Roasters’ founder, Charles Litterst, flavoured coffee is meant to be “more fun” and “livelier” than regular coffee. It is meant to drink with friends “at a party or get together”. He associates it with dance and enjoyment, and most importantly, living life to the fullest. He called his coffee company Zavida due to its close similarity to the Spanish word for life, “la vida”.
WHY IS COLD BREW COFFEE A GREAT WAY TO EXTRACT FLAVOUR?
If you want a more delicate and varied flavour profile, we recommend creating cold brew using flavoured coffee beans. Flavoured cold brew coffees are usually more complex. This is because the low temperature of the coffee lowers its acidity and therefore creates an environment where the sweetness and bold flavours become more noticeable.
The process of making cold brew coffee involves steeping ground coffee in cold or room-temperature water for around 8-12 hours. So, if you’re looking to make a smooth coffee bursting with fabulous flavour notes, the key is to steep your coffee overnight.
WHAT ARE THE MOST POPULAR COFFEE FLAVOURS?
With all the different coffee flavour options out there, we understand that choosing one to try can be overwhelming! To help make this decision a little less daunting, we have created a box of our best-selling flavours. Our Best-Sellers Discovery Box is perfect if you’re unsure which flavours to start with. It includes four of our most popular coffee flavours - Hazelnut Vanilla, Crème Brûlée, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, and Canadian Maple Coffee. You simply can’t go wrong!
Other standout flavours include French Vanilla, Butter Pecan, and Irish Cream, or if you’re looking for fruity flavours, Coconut Delight and Pumpkin Spice are winners.
Another perk of our fruity flavours is that you can use their leftover coffee grounds as fragrant body lotions. We are particularly fond of mixing excess Coconut Delight coffee grounds with coconut oil to produce an amazing homemade body scrub. You might not be aware, but coffee is amazing for the skin. For more ideas on how to repurpose leftover coffee grounds, take a look at our blog "Give Your Used Coffee Grounds A Second Chance At Life".
WHERE TO BUY FLAVOURED COFFEE
If all the above reasons resonate with you, why not consider purchasing your own bag of flavoured coffee and see what all the hype is about for yourself?
Luckily, flavoured coffee is widely available at many coffee retailers. At Zavida, we specialize in flavoured coffees and offer a whole range of unique flavoured products. Last year, we even introduced a new product line of Funky Flavours. We offer over thirty different coffee flavours for you to explore, and we have every flavour preference covered.
Not only that, but we also have Flavour Shots – one or two pumps, and your coffee will taste delicious. You might think that a pump is a small amount, but they are concentrated bursts of sugar-free flavour. A single Flavour Shots bottle should flavour up to 300 16 oz cups of brewed coffee.
LEARN MORE ABOUT COFFEE!
To continue your coffee journey, check out the blog articles below:
How to Decrease the Acidity of Coffee
Brewing Coffee Without Electricity
ZAVIDA: YOUR FLAVOURED COFFEE SPECIALIST
There are many ways to enjoy flavoured coffee. It’s tasty, calorie-free, and will make your house smell amazing. At Zavida, we think flavoured coffee is a fun, exciting beverage, designed to be shared with family and friends in moments of joy and celebration.
On another note, if all this coffee talk has now put you in the mood for delicious, flavoured coffee, feel free to check out our flavoured coffees on our website. Also, if you have any questions regarding flavoured coffee or our flavouring process, we welcome you to contact us! We’re always happy to hear from you!
