Coffee and Chocolate: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know (and More)
Coffee and chocolate. Chocolate and coffee. As coffee roasters, sellers, makers and all around lovers, we feel a little bit of a special affinity to chocolate. After all, chocolate is one of the delicious and desirable flavours on our flavour wheel. (And you can read all about that on our coffee flavour wheel blog!).
But there are a lot of reasons that a love of coffee goes hand in hand with a love of chocolate. And it’s not just flavour.
Coffee and Chocolate: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know (and More)
Coffee and Chocolate Love the Same Growing Regions
Coffee loves to grow along or near the Equator (though of course it can grow beautifully in other areas as well. But just like coffee trees, cacao (the source of chocolate) flourishes in the same areas. However, while coffee grows at a narrow temperature range, cocoa can tolerate a wider range, with warmer temperatures. And similarly, both crops are often grown using agroforestry methods. This means they can be grown in the shade of other trees or in a forest setting, which can give mutual benefits to both crops.
Coffee and Chocolate Share a Flavour Profile
Coffee and cacao both have extremely large flavour profiles. There are more than 600 aromatic compounds in cacao and over 850 in coffee. Part of the reason for this might be that coffee and cocoa beans are quite similar and the processing of the final product is as well. They are both seeds of tropical plants. To process the beautiful end result, both fruits need to be fermented, dried and roasted (to some degree). And they both have a strong, unifying, characteristic bittersweet flavour.
Coffee and Chocolate and Caffeine (and Theobromine)
Interestingly, both coffee and chocolate are stimulants, though they work in different ways. Coffee is well known for having caffeine, while cacao has a chemical alkaloid called theobromine. Most of us know about caffeine, but less about theobromine. And that’s because this compound only occurs in cacao and tea. And though it’s a stimulant, it’s more mild and less effective than caffeine. However, both caffeine and theobromine have been proven to help us stay sharp as we age and promote learning and memory.
Coffee and Chocolate Complement Each Other
Pairing chocolate and coffee is the fun part. And it’s not too difficult to do because they really do complement each other. Roasting the coffee beans can bring out beautiful chocolatey flavours thanks to the Maillard reaction. But while we think pretty much all chocolate tastes great with coffee. Some pairings do work better than others.
The Best Chocolate and Coffee Pairings
Dark roasted coffee and dark-roasted cacao—Both will have strong, bitter flavour notes that will be highlighted by that touch of sweetness in the chocolate.
Our coffee suggestion: Resuscitator Blend
Milk chocolate and light coffee blend—The lighter the roast, the more you’ll taste the acidic, fruity notes. These pair well with the less demanding (but still really delicious) milk chocolate.
Our coffee suggestion: Authentic Check Up Blend
Espresso with 70% chocolate with cinnamon—Espresso pairs beautifully with chocolate that’s been enhanced with spices. Give it a try!
Our coffee suggestion: Popayan Reserve
Chili-infused chocolate and Brazilian coffee—The butterscotch and brown sugar notes that come from many Brazilian coffees are the perfect complement to the deep heat from the chili chocolate.
Our coffee suggestion: Oberon
You don’t only have to drink your coffee paired with chocolate. We love these chocolate covered coffee beans, too!
At the End of the Day…
Coffee and chocolate just taste great together. Whatever the reason why! Spend some time seeing what you like best paired, and then enjoy it often! (At least that’s how we want to live our lives!)
Chocolate and coffee are literally a match made in heaven. But you already know that! Grab some beans from our shop and enjoy!