| FLAVORED |
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| A long time ago when my mother still worked behind the counter, she would break up pieces of dried orange peel, cinnamon sticks, and clove, adding them to the coffee she was weighing out for a customer if they requested something special. This really caught on and became a very popular request. She also devised a method whereby we would grind up espresso, lay it out on a long table that had sides, and spray sambuca extract onto it. It was my job to mix it over and over again until it was thoroughly blended. Then we packed it into 1/2 lb bags and stacked them on the counter. Those packages smelled great, and when you brewed espresso with that flavored espresso, the aroma would knock you out. Today, flavored coffees are everywhere, and what was once a pleasant novelty of a few selections has become a deluge of flavors. I still get requests for flavored coffee blended like we used to do it and we still honor these requests. Today, the flavors are added a little differently. After roasting the coffee, we weigh it out into 25 lb sacks. They are poured into a small drum that turns, and while it's turning the flavoring is added. Then you mix it and mix it until it is thoroughly blended. The secret is in the recipes that are followed when creating the different flavors. Hazelnut, for example, would be undrinkable if it were 100% Hazelnut. It's just too bitter. What's the recipe? That's a state secret. But I'll tell you one thing: it took three months to refine these concoctions, and they taste really good. What follows is a list of the flavored coffees. |