Coffee Infused Experiment

[bluewave6]

Well I just "test" sampled my coffe infusion that I created earlier this week,,,ended up going with Crusan Estate dark and Blue Mountain Coffee. Dropped a handful of whole beans in the rum and let sit for a few days...shaking once and again. I did not add any sugar to this mix and was quite happy with the results thus far. I have been thinking of removing the beans in the next few days and add some Jack Danniels oak barrel chips I have for grilling, to see if that will add a deeper flavor to the rum. I have often wondered if "aging" some of the younger rums with these chips would create a more robust rum since most rum is aged in used bourbon barrels. Will have to give a test run and see.

[Tiare]

Interesting! keep us posted..;)

[bluewave6]

Well I finished the coffee infused rum and am very happy with the results. Sipped on the rocks it tastes like a nice iced coffee. The other nice thing about this experiement is when I am done with the whole beans used for the infusion I dry them out and then use them for making coffee in the mornings. Next I am going to try adding a little vanilla bean to the infusion.

[Tiare]

when I am done with the whole beans used for the infusion I dry them out and then use them for making coffee in the mornings. Next I am going to try adding a little vanilla bean to the infusion.

What a great idea! i wouldn`t mind tasting your morning coffee!

And coffee and vanilla are wonderful together..

[primate77]

Well I finished the coffee infused rum and am very happy with the results. Sipped on the rocks it tastes like a nice iced coffee. The other nice thing about this experiement is when I am done with the whole beans used for the infusion I dry them out and then use them for making coffee in the mornings. Next I am going to try adding a little vanilla bean to the infusion.

Bluewave - this sounds really good! Cruzan Estate Dark and how many Blue Mountain beans did you drop in? Did you utilize a full 750mL bottle of rum for your infusion? Did you do it in the original bottle, or remove to a another glass container, then place back in the bottle? How many total days did it sit?

I'm interested in copying your infusion as it sounds quite good! A fellow friend here on the board has been so kind as to send me some vanilla beans, so I'm going to definitely add that to the infusion. The sound of "iced coffee" sounds great!

[Edward Hamilton]

On my boat, I make cold-brewed coffee using ground coffee sitting in water overnight. I find that cold-brewed coffee has less acid than hot-brewed coffee. I'd recommend breaking the beans as opposed to using whole beans and reducing the time as much as possible in order to get more coffee flavor and to minimize the coffee acids.

[Matusalem]

Also, FWIW, those concerned with acid associated with coffee, I've found most Salvadorean bean tends to be lighter/gentler on the acidic end.

[bluewave6]

[/QUOTE] I'd recommend breaking the beans as opposed to using whole beans and reducing the time as much as possible in order to get more coffee flavor and to minimize the coffee acids.[/QUOTE]

I will have to give this a try next time. I did not find this rum too acidic, but I like my coffee strong so that may have something to do with it.

My recipe went as follows:
1.75 ltr Cruzan Estate white
.5 ltr of Cruzan Estate Dark
1/8 cup of Whole Bean Blue Mountain Coffee

Add the white rum and coffee beans to a large glass container (I use a 2 gallon wide mouth punch decanter). Let sit until the coffee beans no longer float (about 2 days). Remove coffee beans and add the Cruzan Estate Dark. You can add some sugar as well, but I don't really care for sweet flavored rums much.

Next dry out the rum soaked coffee beans and use for making your morning coffee :D

[Tiare]

How much rum taste do you get in the coffee?

It seems like 2 things are discussed here, your coffee infused rum and your rum infused coffee..:D

[bluewave6]

You get a pretty decent rum taste in the coffee...much better tasting than the artificially flavored rum coffees that are available in most supermarkets and coffe shops. I am happy with the results. In fact I have a pot brewing now :)

[Tiare]

I`m convinced..i got to try this. But mine will be different as i don`t have the Cruzan rums so i`m gonna use the Havana Club instead. Then i only need to get some Blue Mountain coffee..:cool:

[Matusalem]

Be careful. My experience has been that there is a balance to observe. Rum will srtip off a pretty good percentage of the oil from fresh beans.They don't grind very well (and probably will shut down the average electric grinder) if you don't allow them to dry sufficiently from the rum soak (been there done that).

My conclusion from a couple of different experiences has been that after the beans are dry enough to use, they should probably be used immediately - in a short period they become bone dry and while they produced a nice rum infused flavor, however if you are one who is used to a cup of oily fresh brewed cafe, you might find your rum flavored coffee to be lacking in heft.

My recommendation if you are strictly interested in "infused coffee" would be, the next time you empty a bottle of rum pour an amount of beans into the bottle and let them sit for perhaps a week. The remaining residue that we can hardly ever get out of the bottom of a bottle will infuse the beans decently but the beans above the first layer will retain all their oil & fat.

[SamuraiBartender]

the next time you empty a bottle of rum pour an amount of beans into the bottle and let them sit for perhaps a week. The remaining residue that we can hardly ever get out of the bottom of a bottle will infuse the beans decently but the beans above the first layer will retain all their oil & fat.

Well, now I have something to do with that ~1/4 oz of Appleton's & 1/4 pound of Coconut (Kona) Coffee I've been sitting on. Brilliant! Should I give that a little shake every once in a while or just let the very bottom most beans get the rum?

Cheers & Thanks!

[Matusalem]

The first time I tried this (wasn't rum by the way) I turned the bottle upside down (briefly) a couple of times, in part to see if it looked like the beans that had been at the bottom at least looked to be moistened differently than the oily sheen of the beans above. But I didn't generally notice any actual fluid trickling to the opposite end of the bottle or anything like that, so I doubt shaking the bottle has much effect.

Also I might be nit picking here as I tend to buy fresh roasted bean from the same shop I get almost all of my rum paraphernalia - they have a fairly sizable variety of beans, which all I've tried (a handful) tend to be very heavy on oil, so I've definitely noticed the impact the rum has from that specific aspect.

[SamuraiBartender]

Shaking not necessary...check.
So the fresher (roasted that is) the beans are, the better the whole thing comes out?

I'd gotten this batch of coffee beans maybe a week or so ago (the place I get them doesn't house roast but they do get fresh beans twice weekly) - kept it pretty well-sealed & the beans are quite oily still. Think it'll be ok or should I wait & get them fresher?

Cheers!

[Matusalem]

They sound fine. To be clearer, I was making the casual observance of the amount of oil lost when the beans are actually soaked or submerged in rum.

I've infused beans this way (use a just emptied bottle) long before, cigars in a similar manner as well. The short way of looking at it, I've used spirits to infuse raw ingredients but am fairly new to the opposite direction (raw ingredients infusing the spirit).

With that said, if you don't necessarily expect your cup of coffee to be a rich oily one, it probably is no major concern anyway. What I was saying is if you do the infuse the spirit method, after the beans shed the spirit they quickly become dry and completely without sheen which they also appear shades lighter.

Hopefully I'm not coming off as a coffee geek or gosh-forbid, an *elitist*, (this week's word)... I assure you I'm not. At least not compared to some of my friends that roast their own green bean etc. but perhaps I am when compared to the regular grocery store instant coffee connoisseur.

Another option, if you are not worried about lost oil and flavor associated with the oils, I'm thinking you can get away with using decent but not necessarily higher-end coffee that you wouldn't be getting the same sort of a layer of oil out of anyway.

I should say all of this is totally dependent on the individuals expectations.

[SamuraiBartender]

Ah, brilliant & thanks for the clarification. I'm hardly a connoisseur of coffee myself (this coconut coffee is spoiling me I'll admit), but the stronger (& usually oilier) the better. I'll give this a shot with the beans I have & see how it goes..rum flavored coffee here I come.

"Elitist" does seem to be the word of the week/year doesn't it? Wow - roasting their own beans, eh? I like a good cuppa but thats a whole other league ; )

Incidentally, I'd heard that you could do that with cigars (I don't smoke cigars really, so I'd never tried), but I suppose I'd sort of passed it off as a rumor. So that's how folks get a rum flavor in/on them?

Cheers!

[Tiare]

I have just finished a bottle of HC7 so then if i put in some coffee beans in that bottle i`ll get Havana Club coffee? :D:D:D

So now my day is full..heading to the Asian store to get coconut water and then the coffee store..and then getting a nice little honeydew melon..

[Matusalem]

Funny thing is at least a couple of the guys I know that buy green, use old (air) pop corn poppers to roast raw beans... and they come out just like a professional grade roaster. I've watched a couple of times and it's pretty neat as the air blows out the husk into a bag like a lawn mower that throws shavings into a bag as you go, and then you have just the roasted bean. Anyhoo enough of that.

The cigars are similar but hard to put in and get out of the average bottle.:) Some people call these "dipped" in rum or cognac etc. and because of it, some people think you actually dip the cigar in spirit (which isn't it all and it takes a good amount of time for the cigar to return to smoking capacity unless left out in open air and light).

Instead you take a small amount of spirit, in a shot glass or some sort of small containing object, place it inside a jar or sealed object (larger ziplocks work as well) with the cigar(s) inside the sealed object adjacent to the spirit. Place the whole thing somewhere dark and cool (a closet, or cooler etc., unless you have a humidor large enough to accommodate the whole package). The cigar absorbs the air / fumes becoming "infused".

[SamuraiBartender]

Neat & neater! While I don't do cigars, I do (very) occasionally smoke pipe tobacco, I'm wondering if the end result of a similar 'aroma infusion' would be any good maybe with a suitably heavy blend, one which is sort of similar to a cigar? Worth giving it a shot at any rate...

So late last night I put the beans in the rum bottle. As I sipped the same (not-rummed) coffee this morning I took a whiff of the bottle & was more than a little tempted to just dump it into the grinder - can't wait to try the rum aroma'd one..this weekend's cuppa should be marvelous!

Cheers & Thanks!

[SamuraiBartender]

So I removed the beans from the bottle late last night and let them dry out a bit overnight. Used some for my morning cuppa...and HOLY SMOKES! Wow is that a fantastic cup of coffee...think I'm going back for seconds.

Cheers & Thanks very much!

[Matusalem]

Glad it worked out!

I should also point out that I believe it was Ed who warned me (like a couple of days late, as Shaggy would say):D that the bean oil exchange could be higher than expected if left more than a day or so when actually soaking the beans to infuse rum.

As said, I had infused beans, cigars etc. for quite some time, but hadn't tried the opposite (infusing the spirit).

I did cut my oil slicked infusion somewhat by doubling its volume with fresh rum (La Flor Extra Dry).