Posted on July 23, 2004 - by deCadmus

When Flavors Attack!

For her morning cup, herself brewed some of Green Mountain’s Wild Mountain Blueberry, which as flavored coffees go, doesn’t suck. This is not faint praise, but my own inner struggle with flavored coffees. [Yes, I know folks have been flavoring beans since time began... but too many flavored coffees strike me as so much potpourri.] And then, herself  â€” kind soul that she is — brewed some of ye ol’ Mocha Java of Yore for my to-go cup.

As a result my to-go cup featured blueberry nuances such that I might taste were there some dry-processed Ethiopian Harrar in the blend. While the net effect of this particular cup was quite complimentary, it was also a warning… had this been a Hazelnut incident, it might have led to cross words and great sorrow.

Repeat after me, people: natural and flavored coffees shouldn’t share the same grinder!

We’re fortunate to have more than one coffee grinder, and a handful of filter cones, so there’s really no reason we should cross-contaminate coffees. [I know, that doesn't sound very pleasant, but it's what we're really talking about, right?] Between us, herself is likely the only one anal enough to actually use the second grinder… then again, she’s also the only one likely to brew flavored beans.  

And so, to my lazy line of thinking, it’ll all work out in the end. ;)