Tip 6: Perking Up Your Coffee

The hubby and I really enjoy good coffee (well, any coffee but preferably good coffee). We like trying different flavored coffees as well as different roasts (I think Columbian is my favorite, but French isn't bad). I just bought Dark Italian roast and am looking forward to trying it.

We just watched a episode of Good Eats on Food Network ("True Brew") that gave some good info on brewing coffee (here is the article). I found it very enlightening. After watching that episode, I wondered, "Could I flavor my coffee by adding things to the grounds before percolating?" So I the next morning I tried it. I added a cinnamon stick to the grounds before percolating, and sure enough, my coffee had just a nice hint of cinnamon to it (you could also add the cinnamon stick directly to your coffee mug, but I didn't want to mess with fishing the stick out of my travel mug later).

We also like adding things like maple syrup, chocolate syrup, caramel, etc. to our cup of coffee instead of sugar.

Oh, and if you find your coffee a little on the bitter side, just add a dash of salt (no more than a dash), it brings out the flavor of the coffee while cutting through the bitterness (my husband's grandma shared this tip with him, he then shared it with me, and then Alton Brown just mentioned it in one of his shows).

My MIL gave us a coffee gift basket for a simple gourmet coffee treat and here is the recipe:

• 1 Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Dark Chocolate w/Caramel Square (60% cacao also semi-sweet chocolate)
• 6 oz. brewed coffee
• Milk
• Sugar
• Whipped cream (the reddi-wip spray can works well)
• Caramel topping (or you can use my homemade caramel ice cream topping recipe and place it in a squeeze bottle)
• Cinnamon

1. Place chocolate in mug, then pour coffee on top; stir until chocolate fully melts.
2. Add milk and sugar to taste.
3. Top with whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel topping, and a sprinkling of cinnamon.