Starting from this post I will write every week about my favourite coffee beverages. Some of the recipes are my own creations but many are drinks I have had at coffee places or recipes taken from coffee books.
Even if you love your simple espresso or cappuccino every morning there is no reason why to not have fun with coffee. You can pair coffee with many complementary flavours to create exciting drinks. For instance, you can try citrus or sweet tastes, or go bold with spices, or traditional with alcoholic drinks.
One of my own favourite coffees is a chili espresso: one of my own inventions. I am born in Mexico thus I like spicy food. Well, funny enough, I don’t like it too spicy though. When I’m in Mexico with my husband (a very tall blond Dutchman who really enjoys very spicy food) we usually order a medium spicy and a very spicy dish. The waiter then usually gives me the very spicy dish and my Dutch husband gets the medium spicy one. Which we immediately switch to the surprise of the waiter.
From all the chili’s used in Mexican kitchen, I like the ones that are rather mild and are full of flavour: the Chile Poblano, it’s dry version Chile Ancho, Chile Chipotle (which is smoked-dry Jalapeno) or the Chile Guajillo, which is a dry chile Mirasol. I’m not really into chilis that are just spicy without adding much flavour.
Now for pairing with coffee I chose Chile Guajillo because of it’s taste: a bit acid, smokey and fruity, but not overpowering the flavour of the coffee. I first cut it in small pieces and then I grind it in a mortar. Obviously, the more chili powder you prepare the more flavour it will infuse into your drink and it’s to everybody’s personal taste how much chili should be added. Then I add the chili powder to the ground coffee in the portafilter and brew an
espresso as usual.
I first tried with a strong coffee, like the Manabi that I sell in my webshop, but the coffee flavour overpowers the spice of the chili and so I tried another coffee: one with mild body and less acidity like the Cariamanga Lavado (http://www.engrano.fr/coffee/cariamanga-lavado-48).
The chili-infused espresso with this coffee has a smooth flavour that first fills the mouth as with a regular espresso, and then comes a tingly feeling in the tongue and in the throat with an aftertaste combined of coffee and chili. Different as when eating spicy food, there is not burning or glowing feeling, no pain. I’m pretty sure that when adding enough chili the burning feeling can be obtained, but that is of course not the purpose here: we want to combine coffee and chili and not make hot chili water.
This beverage should be enjoyed without milk, though. Milk is a traditional cure for overdose of chili. The active ingredient in chili is capsaicin, and this dissolves in both alcohol and vegetable oils. However, it doesn’t dissolve in water (that is why when you eat something too spicy, drinking water won’t help relieve the pain). Milk, from mamals, contains casein, a fat-loving substance that has a detergent effect on the capsaicin from the chili’s. Thus, if you prepare a cappuccino then the effect of chili in your drink will be unnoticeable.
I can imagine that not everybody has dried chili’s at home, though your local store may sell some, or otherwise try a toko (an Asian ingredients store) as they may also have some stock on dried chili’s. As a last resort you can buy premade chili powder of course. But if you do so, please check that the chili powder has no salt….because I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how espresso with salt will taste!
my colleague made this accidentally because the grinder was slightly contaminated with chili and I must say we liked the effect.
chillies and coffee are my favourites so why not combine them 🙂
That’s really help ful to know about how not to combine it with milk. I just reinvented coffee with chili this morning and then discovered, not surprisingly, that I was not the first. I just had coffee with a little bit of maple syrup and some sriracha. It worked, and was as you described, coffee with a well balanced tingle. Next time I’m trying it without milk. Thank you for your article.