SC - chocolate covered coffeebeans OOP

[Robbin Long]

I have not made chocolate covered coffee beans, but as a former professional coffee taster (no kidding, I worked for Folgers on blend), I can make a few suggestions.

Whether you should get fresh beans depends on your supplier.  How "fresh" your beans will be depends on a lot of factors.  Ideally, if you have a small local roaster, or a coffee shop that roasts on-site,  you should probably buy them there.  I would let them sit 24 hours if the batch is very fresh, since newly roasted coffee does "de-gas" some, and I don't know how this would affect the coating.

The second best thing is coffee that has been roasted, then vacuum-packed or packed under nitrogen on-site and stored at room temp.  This removes the effects of oxygen, which causes most of the loss of flavour.  Look for brick-packs or packs with a one-way valve seal.

Your frozen beans would probably be fine, particularly if they were unopened and stored in the original container.  If they are opened, I would roast them in a low oven, just long enough to remove any moisture, which would affect the storage value of your coated beans.  Incidentally - if you plan on using coffee in less than a month, it is better off stored in a airtight jar at room temp.  Only for storage times longer than a month should you freeze coffee, and then unopened in the original container.  Once opened and thawed, it is best used within that one-month time frame.  Repeated freeze-thawing does affect the flavour.

As far as coating, your truffle coating may be a bit "soft".  I think they coat beans in a chocolate with a slight wax content, unlike enrobing chocolate.  It makes the coating harder and gives a shiny appearance - it may be a two-step process.  Hopefully someone MUCH more familiar with candymaking than I will step in here any moment...

Chocolate covered beans were my stimulant of choice while writing my dissertation.  Mmmmm...  Let me know how they come out.

Broinnfhionn



Robbin L. Long, Plant Physiologist
USDA-ARS, SRRC
1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd.
New Orleans, LA  70124
(504) 286-4352 phone
(504) 286-4419 fax
rlong at srrc.ars.usda.gov 


>>> owner-sca-cooks at ansteorra.org 02/05/01 03:55PM >>>

Date: Mon, 05 Feb 2001 21:49:38 -0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: SC - chocolate covered coffeebeans OOP

Hi all.  Has anyone out there made chocolate covered coffee beans?  Here are 
my basic questions; I have beans in the freezer.  Can I use these or buy 
fresh?  If I use the frozen ones, should I roast them a bit to make sure 
they are dry throughout?  Anyone have a favorite chocolate mixture they'd 
like to share.  I suppose I would use the same for my chocolate truffles.  
Any comments/help.

Olwen who is hoping she hasn't started another bristling discussion...
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