To give your coffee some zing and more body, or just to add a surprise flavor to a cup of coffee, you might want to try some of the many choices of flavored coffee syrups that are on the market today. Coffee no longer has to be plain coffee. It can be flavored almost any way any body could possibly want.

There are flavored coffee syrups available in all of the flavors that you might expect; chocolate, vanilla, various fruits and nuts. But then there are flavored coffee syrups available in some flavors that you might never expect, like Granny Smith Apple, lavender, gingerbread, eggnog, cheesecake, or pumpkin spice, just to name a few.

Do you have to watch your diet? No problem, you can still enjoy many of the flavored coffee syrups on the market because they come in sugar-free and even low-carb varieties. If you are very creative or really into the flavored coffee syrup thing, you can even make your own flavored coffee syrup. The syrups that you make can be used in coffee, of course, but they can also be used to make shakes, smoothies, or over ice cream as a dessert. You can find recipes for flavored coffee syrup all over the Internet. Here is one example of a flavored coffee syrup that you can make at home:

Stir together until fully blended:

1 ½ cups of sugar
1 cup of powdered cocoa
1/8 teaspoon of salt

Gradually add 1 cup of water to the mixture stirring constantly. Don’t beat the mixture. Simply stir it until it is blended completely.

Then heat this mixture until it comes to a full boil and boil it for a full three minutes. You must stir constantly to prevent lumping. Now, remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool, then add two teaspoons of vanilla flavoring and store it in the refrigerator.

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Do you plan to buy or make chocolate covered coffee beans? Read on to find out what you should do to get the best there is.

When you plan to buy chocolate covered coffee beans you need to be careful so that you get the best that money can buy. There are three very critical aspects to which you should pay attention when you buy this type of coffee, i.e. the quality of the coffee beans, the quality of the chocolate and the quality of cooking.

The Quality of the Coffee Beans

If you want the best possible chocolate covered coffee beans; you need to start from scratch. The basic ingredient is coffee; unless the quality of the coffee beans you choose is high you cannot expect the end product to be qualitative. The best would be to choose the type of coffee beans you normally use for this purpose. In case you have no preference, take a few beans of whatever coffee is available and test each type separately with the chocolate to find out which one gives you the most delightful taste.

The Quality of the Chocolate

Milk chocolate is the most popular choice for chocolate covered coffee beans today, but you could experiment with other types of chocolate such as white chocolate, dark chocolate, bitter chocolate and so on. Whatever type you choose ensure that you get the best quality there is for best results.

The Quality of Cooking

You have the best beans and the best chocolate and now all you need to do is cook it. A lot depends on the way you cook it, so be careful. The temperature of the chocolate should be just right so it would not get stuck to the bottom and burn for which purpose you need to be very vigilant when you cook it, especially when you do it in a microwave oven. Your aim should be to get the chocolate just soft enough so you could roll the beans in it.

If you are doing it for the first time, take care that you do not burn your hands when you roll the beans in chocolate. This is another reason why the cooking temperature should be just right.

The Coffee Bean Connection

Espresso coffee is all about hot water and coffee beans. But it’s the way these two ingredients are put together that spells the success of this drink. Espresso coffee needs hot water, around 90 degrees centigrade. The temperature of the water is critical, because if it’s too hot, the resulting drink will be bitter, and if it’s too cold it will be sour. When the temperature is just right, the hot water is forced through the ground espresso coffee. This beverage is thicker than drip coffee because of the way it’s made. With drip coffee, there is no pressurized water; rather, the water is made to drip slowly into the ground coffee and is then passed through a filter.

Now let’s get back to the type of coffee beans needed for espresso. You can really use any type of coffee beans to make espresso; it’s all a matter of personal taste and enjoyment. However, certain types of coffee beans have become popular with espresso drinkers. Currently, this beverage is associated with darker beans, probably because of the popularity inspired by name-brand coffee shops across the country. Some people prefer to match the roast level to the bean type for a more specialized taste. This makes good coffee sense and is catching on among some of the more serious espresso drinkers.

Besides the Beans…

The taste of espresso coffee is also associated with how well the coffee beans were ground. Finer particles result in a richer and more robust taste. You may also want to remember that espresso coffee has a lot more caffeine than a traditional cup. This is because of the pressurized brewing process involved in making espresso. Although you can use any type of coffee bean, choose the best because the type you use will determine the overall taste and quality of the espresso. You can also experiment by mixing espresso with mocha or cappuccino. Only you can decide what makes a great espresso.