Coffee Chocolate Tea

The introduction of these three beverages into 17th-century Europe resulted from the sustained contacts of the seagoing nations and direct trade with formerly unreachable parts of the world, such as Mexico, Arabia, and China. A great variety of methods were developed to serve the new drinks, first for great households and quickly thereafter for the popular market.

The information on this site is based on illustrating this theme.

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Coffee Wine Recipe

For Coffee & Wine Lovers

Coffee makes a novelty wine. In Orange, Texas the Piney Woods Winery makes a Pecan Mocha Wine that is simply out of this world. I have never determined the recipe for making that particular beverage, but have figured out how to make a couple of coffee wines. The first recipe below uses freshly ground coffee. The second uses an instant mocha mix. Both wines are best made sweet or semi-sweet, but they can be made dry if you so wish. For the second (mocha) recipe, you may use flavored mocha mix (such as hazelnut or French vanilla), but I do not recommend using one containing chocolate. It simply tastes horrible after fermentation.

COFFEE WINE (1)

• ½ lb freshly ground coffee
• 2½ lbs dark brown sugar
• 1½ tsp citric acid
• ¼ tsp tannin
• 7½ pts water
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• Sauterne wine yeast

Pour water in pot and put on to boil. Stir in sugar until dissolved. When sugar is completely dissolved, stir coffee into water and wait until it boils. Remove from heat, cover and allow to cool. To a sanitized secondary, combine citric acid, tannin and yeast nutrient. Strain coffee through double layer of muslin into secondary, discarding the grounds. Add activated yeast and cover mouth of secondary with napkin held in place with rubber band. When fermentation is vigorous, fit airlock. Rack three times, 60 days apart, topping up and refitting airlock each time. If desired dry, rack into bottles. If desired sweet or semi-sweet, stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10 days, and rack into bottles. [Recipe adapted from Leo Zanelli's Home Winemaking from A to Z]

COFFEE WINE (2)

• 1¼ cup instant mocha coffee
• 2½ lbs light brown sugar
• 1½ tsp citric acid
• ¼ tsp tannin
• 7 pts water
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• Pasteur Red or Côte des Blancs wine yeast

Pour water in pot and put on to boil. Stir in sugar until dissolved. When sugar is completely dissolved, stir instant mocha mix into water. When water boils, remove from heat, cover and allow to cool. When at room temperature, stir in citric acid, tannin and yeast nutrient. Transfer to secondary, add activated yeast and cover mouth of secondary with napkin held in place with rubber band. When fermentation is vigorous, fit airlock. Rack three times, 60 days apart, topping up and refitting airlock each time. If desired dry, rack into bottles. If desired sweet or semi-sweet, stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10 days, and rack into bottles.

Chocolate Coated Spoons - A Special Treat!

A simple plastic spoon coated in chocolate is a nice added touch with a gift of coffee beans. You'll soon think of other gifts that would be enhanced by these sweet utensils.

You'll need a 12 ounce package of chocolate chips. You may use semi-sweet, white chocolate, raspberry flavored, or any other style chip of your choosing.

Other items you'll need:
40 heavy plastic spoons
Shortening
Waxed paper
Deep glass measuring cup
Colored cellophane or Saran Wrap
Thin Ribbon

• Pour the chips into a heatproof container, such as a measuring cup. A deep cup is the best for this project.

• Microwave the cup of chips at half power for one minute. Stir. Repeat in 30 second bursts until chocolate is smooth and fully melted, but do NOT over cook.

• Add to the melted chocolate one teaspoon of shortening for each cup of chips. Stir lightly until just blended.

• Dip plastic spoons into the chocolate to coat the bowl and about one inch of the handle. If the chocolate starts to harden, microwave 30 seconds at half power.

• Lay spoons on wax paper to set.

• When chocolate spoons have set, put them in the freezer for 15 minutes. This makes them easier to handle when you start to wrap them.

• Take squares of colored cellophane and wrap the coated spoons. Tie with a pretty ribbon.

Once you have mastered the basic technique, you can experiment! Try drizzling streaks of white chocolate over dipped spoons to create a design. Sprinkle colored sugar on chocolate before it sets for a holiday look.

A bundle of chocolate spoons set in a coffee mug makes a nice gift.

Tie a few spoons to a bag of gourmet coffee beans for a coffee loving friend.

Keep spoons on hand during the holidays to use when serving drinks to your visitors.