Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Cardamom Coffee

Flavored coffee is a gift from the gods. Truly, it's so good! And I'm not just talking about the average coffeeshop either (although I'm getting to the point where I'd kill for a Starbucks. If they're really taking over the world - hey, here! Come HERE! We NEED you!) but about the goodness in a cup you can make in your very own home. I have had brief flirts with flavored coffee syrups before, nice but very very sweet and somehow fairly artificial. (Not that that's really a problem, authenticity is not really what I'm aiming for here.) Those bottles now mainly collect dust in the back of my cupboard.

I'm not really much of a coffee drinker. Which is a good thing, as I have a pretty sensitive stomach, nearly getting an ulcer last december. I've cut way, way down on coffee since then. However, I do enjoy a couple of cups a week. And yesterday, sitting at my desk, I really wanted a cup to go with my lovely chocolate bars that I wrote about yesterday. My timing was off - or perfect, as it would turn out - because the coffee machine at work was getting it's yearly checkup. Our coffee machine generally sucks - but the one on the next floor down is REALLY good. It even grinds the beans as you watch! How cool is that? Anyway, I happily went down a floor, and got my coffee. I use milk in my coffee, so I went back to where our own machine is to get a small pack. The service guy smiled and said "hey, try this instead!" and handed over... the best thing since sliced bread. (What a stupid expression really! I hate presliced bread - never buy it,except if I'm putting it straight into the freezer.)

I cannot find this on the web. Oh well. It's cardamom milk!! A tiny little pyramid of milk, flavored with cardamom!! (There was vanilla too, but this was much better.) I put it in my coffee, and instant bliss happened. I'll try to get my hands on a whole box of these, (because I really doubt my office will spring for the extra expense and order them) it's perfect for december. I don't know if cardamom is a christmas spice in other parts of the world, but in Sweden, it's very heavily associated with the holidays.

Speaking of the holidays, I'll be cooking a thanksgiving dinner for the very first time this year! Exciting! Now, I'll get back to my coffee. It's SO good that I never even got around to having it with my chocolate. I'm having another cup right now, but I stupidly (lazily?) used the coffee machine on our floor. Not as good. But still delicious, with the infused milk. I know that you can buy cardamom-flavored coffee, and you can indeed just flavor your coffee yourself, putting a few grains of cardamom right in with the coffee grounds, but it's not the same. That always ends up a little gritty for me. Mixing it with the milk makes perfect sense. I hope they make more flavors, too!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to like flavored coffee in High School, but now the thought of flavored coffee just makes me go a big, Ugh!. It just tastes (and is) too artificial for me and feels like a cheap alternative to a high quality full bodied coffee.

As for the Cardamond... why not just grind some fresh seeds up yourself?

Anne said...

RunDeep - as it happens, you're pretty much right on this one. The post is from october 2004, and I've had cardamom coffee exactly ONCE since. Even though we have those little packets all around my work right now. It was a nice winter treat - but nearing summer, no thanks.

I do like syrups in my coffee though - probably because I'm not a big coffee drinker, and I prefer a mellower flavor. Then again, I have coffee perhaps twice a week :)