I loved your "The Perfect Cuppa Joe". However, my husband and I enjoy flavored coffee but not with the added syrup flavors. Could you please recommend a flavored coffee you may have heard about or where I can find a good article on it on the internet? I'd like an article that explains flavored coffee beans as you explained coffee.

Thank you so much.

-- Anonymous, May 19, 2001

Answers

Sorry it took so long to reply. I'm not aware of an article on flavored coffee, and since it's not my favorite choice, I've never bothered to piece together an article on it.

The quick and dirty is that these beans are usually pre-coated with a wax solution containing the flavor. This wax will taint your coffeepot and grinder so that, if you ever decide to go back to straight coffees, you'll have to clean them thoroughly.

My other complaint about flavored coffee is that the quality of the *beans themselves* varies so wildly. I know that Cherri recommends Seattle's Best's flavored varieties; they use quality arabicas and THEN flavor them. But a lot of companies go for maximum profit; they use the cheapest robusta they can get their hands on, shoot them with the waxy-flavor-thingie-gun, and sell them for whatever the market will bear.

Do remember that this is ALL a matter of personal opinion. Some people *LIKE* instant (which I generally despise as well). :)

-- Anonymous, May 27, 2001