Friday, July 31, 2015

5 Ways Coffee Will Help You Beat This Heatwave

We're in the middle of what will likely be the hottest week of the year here in Eugene. With the temperature topping 100 degrees, hot coffee doesn't have quite the same appeal, at least in the afternoons. So what to do when you really need that pick-me-up but can't handle the heat? We've collected five refreshing coffee treats to cool you down. 

Cold brew is incredibly easy and doesn't take any extra equipment to make. These simple instructions yield rich, smooth coffee that's great on it's own, or with add-ins like cream, vanilla, cinnamon or almond extract!


Adding some bubbles to your cold brew or iced coffee makes it extra refreshing! We've been making this with our Summer Blend and it's delicious. 

Who says smoothies are just for fruit? 


A simple way to turn some leftover coffee into a treat!


No churning necessary, it doesn't get much easier than 4-ingredient ice cream!

What are your favorite ways to cool down with coffee on these hot days? Leave a comment below!

Friday, July 3, 2015

Summer Blend 2015 Is Here


Announcing our limited edition 2015 Summer Blend! This is an organic blend comprised of beans from Ethiopia, and the Dominican Republic.  



Description:
A light-bodied blend with notes of honey, citrus, and a hint of raspberry.


Available Medium Roast only. Get this exclusive blend while you can! 2015's Summer Blend is only available through September 23rd

Questions or comments about this blend? Leave a comment below!

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Coffee Freshness Tips

A customer had a question recently about keeping coffee in the freezer. We get a lot of questions about that and other ways to keep coffee fresh, so here are some answers:

Our bags help keep your coffee fresh!  They're heat-sealed with a one-way valve that allows the coffee to release post-roasting gases. They also have a reasealable zipper.

The general rule is keep your coffee away from light, heat, and moisture.

The cool temperature in your freezer does keep heat out, however, you run the risk of getting condensation on your coffee, especially if you're taking it in and out of the freezer regularly.

So if you have an extra pound of coffee you're not going to use for a while, it might help to put it in the freezer until you're ready to use it, but it's not a great idea for a bag of coffee you're using all the time.

Here are our recommendations for keeping coffee fresh:

For best freshness and taste, use your coffee within 2 weeks. Store it in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. No matter your brewing method, we always recommend using a burr grinder, and grinding immediately before preparing your coffee.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Coffee Chocolate Truffle Recipe

Who doesn't love coffee and chocolate? This truffle recipe is makes for an easy and beautiful last-minute Valentine's treat to share with your loved ones!


Chocolate Coffee Truffles
Makes about 4 dozen truffles (I made these for a crowd, but you can easily half the recipe)

Ingredients:
  • 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 20 oz dark chocolate chips (I used two bags of Ghiradelli 60%) 
  • 2oz your favorite Voyage Coffee (I used our Sumatra), coarsely ground, (like for drip or French press)












Optional: (for rolling)
  • Hazelnuts
  • Cocoa Powder
  • Cinnamon
  • Raw Sugar
  • Sea Salt
  • Nonpareils

Directions:

To start, we need to infuse the cream with coffee flavor. Regular brewed coffee or espresso would have too much water and mess up the texture of the ganache. (That's a fancy word for the chocolaty stuff truffles are made out of.) Typically recipes have you use instant espresso powder, but we wanted to use fresh, high quality coffee instead. 

Mix the cream and coffee grounds in a double boiler. (If you don't have a double boiler, you can use a heat-safe bowl over a small pot of water like I did. Instructions here.) 

Heat on med-high for about 15 min, until the cream is hot but not boiling and has turned pale brown and tastes like coffee. Using a fine strainer (the metal filter from our drip coffee machine worked nicely), strain out the coffee grounds and return the cream to the double-boiler. 

Reduce the heat to low and add the chocolate chips. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted and combined with the cream. (Tradition says that chocolate will seize up if you're in a bad mood, so think happy thoughts! That shouldn't be too hard to do, just imagine how good these are going to taste.) 



Remove from heat and allow the ganache cool to room temperature.


Tip: You can use your coffee-infused ganache for lots of other desserts too. I recently use some as filling in a chocolate cake. It's great with ice cream, as a frosting, or just by the spoonful! 

Now for the fun part: rolling your truffles. Roll your ganache into balls roughly 1" in diameter (don't worry if they're not perfect spheres) and then get creative with toppings. 




I did four types: festive colored nonpareils for Valentine's, cocoa powder and cinnamon for a Mexican mocha flavor, sweet and salty with raw sugar and sea salt, and toasted chopped hazelnuts.




You can use just about anything you want, nuts, chopped dried fruit, crushed pretzels or anything else you can dream up.



Store your truffles in the fridge until your ready to serve them.


Enjoy!



Have an easy Valentine's recipe? What's your favorite way to use ganache? What toppings did you try? Leave a comment below!

-Jessamyn at Voyage Coffee Roasters