Saturday, May 25, 2013

Cocoa and coffee infused imperial stout

Hubby bought me a French press coffee maker. As much as we both enjoy good coffee, he had something entirely different in mind when he bought me this coffee pot. 

The plan for the press was to use it to infuse beer. 

Imagine the unlimited possibilities! So many ingredients and flavor combinations to experiment with. 

I could be like a beerifically mad scientist infusing different taste variations into almost any beer making into something new and wonderful. Breathing new life into any beer I want. It's alive! It's alive! Well, something like that, anyway. 

For my first experiment I wanted to used a beer that was of average taste and complexity for it style. I decided on Saranac Imperial Stout. The ingredients I chose to infuse it with were dark roasted ground cocoa nibs and fresh ground Vermont Maple Nut coffee. 

Not only was this the first time for me infusing beer but also the first time using a French press. Both procedures are simple. The results, impressive. 

This is what I did for my first experiment:

Pour one teaspoon cocoa nibs and one teaspoon of coffee into the pot. Top that with a 12 ounce bottle of beer. Gently stir to release the grounds trapped in the foam so that they will fall into the beer. Let the cocoa and coffee rest in the beer for 3 minutes.  Finally, press the filter down slowly and pour into a glass. 

The results were remarkable. An ordinary imperial stout was transformed into something quite special. The bitter cocoa and flavored coffee imparted intense aroma and exquisite flavor that enhanced the beer without overpowering it. Three minutes from average to special. 

Pretty neat. And fun. The experiments will continue. Bwahahaha!



Note:  I use Choffee brand ground cocoa  nibs.  This infusion used IC Dark.  They can be ordered directly from my friend Kat here. Let her know you heard about them from me.  

I get my coffee from Fasig's.  They fresh roast their beans and the flavors are great.  They sell ground coffee but I like the whole beans because they stay fresh longer.

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