Fresh grated nutmeg & dried arbol chili

Instead of grinding spices to a formless powder by mortar and pestle, I decided to take the micro-plane to task on these two ingredients. Nutmeg is always better freshly grated. You will taste more of the sharp, clean notes than with pre-ground. Chili is the same way. As we aren't going for as much spice as pepper flavour, the longer it stays whole, the better.

So I brought the micro-plane into the coffee shop with a nutmeg seed and a dried arbol chili. Grating directly into the holder requires a bit more of a feeling or artistic touch to achieve the same measured balance as with our usual standardized shaker method. I was surprised to find it quite balanced on the first attempt.

It is easy for chili to overpower whatever its in, not only with heat but its assertive pepper flavour. A minuscule amount (3 light grates) provided enough heat to notice, and pepper flavour to taste without losing everything else. Nutmeg added complexity and toyed with the natural nuttiness of Brian's Steampunk blend. You can still taste the nuttiness! It isn't just chili in a cup, rather a balanced shot and a progressive flavour experience.

*Update* We tried the combination again but significantly spicier. It didn't really hurt it too much. If you like spice, you will love this drink. It lightly pops you in the gullet on every sip. You can still taste the coffee, but a few of its subtleties are overpowered by the pepper flavour asserting itself. A patron tried this shot with me and seemed to love it, a spice fiend himself. I tasted a distinct chocolate note in the beginning of the aftertaste.

Inspired, we tried another spicy shot with a bit of chocolate at the bottom of the cup. The chocolate nearly wipes out the flavour of the coffee, but compliments the chili seriously well. I'd like to call this shot a gateway espresso for those just getting into drinking shots instead of cups. The intense coffee taste that normally is too strong for newbies is mitigated by the sweetened chocolate syrup. The spice adds a zing for a great cascade of taste. Perhaps a bit less chocolate would allow for more coffee taste to come through, nickel instead of quarter sized pool on the bottom of the espresso shot glass.

Chili and Nutmeg

Hoping to capture a balance between spicy and earthy bright complexity that would not need chocolate, I blended nutmeg and cayenne pepper. I used about a teaspoon of grated nutmeg to the flesh of one dried pepper.

A tiny pinch resulted in pretty much exactly what I'd hoped for. The spice was not overpowering, just tickling the back of the throat. My lips are still pleasantly burning ever so slightly. The flavour of the pepper really goes well with espresso. The nutmeg flirted with the nutty notes of the coffee producing a new flavour profile. Some of its bright notes came through, lifting up the mid palate.

In our last experiment with chili required chocolate to balance out the spiciness. Nutmeg is a great replacement that performed admirably on the high wire. I prefer it chocolate because there is no sugar or syrup involved, only infusion. Pure, simple, and at the same time incredibly complex. I consider this a major win.

Cayenne Chocolate Espresso

You know when you suddenly run into a good friend in an unexpected place and it turns your day around for the better? That's what a cayenne espresso infusion is like, but with chocolate! You taste the chocolate first at the front of your palate, the familiar espresso second in the middle, and then the cayenne donkey punches you in the back of the throat a couple seconds later. If you don't know what a donkey punch is, don't look it up, just take it at face value.

Without the chocolate, the infusion was a little one-two note for my liking. If you like spicy it was still good, but the chocolate put it over the edge. I was pleased with how well the flavour of the pepper came through, spiciness aside. The fragrant, floral, almost rosy notes came bursting through the thick coffee curtains as if to say, "Hey! Look at me! I'm here now." Most of the seeds were removed in an attempt to allay the spiciness, and it was a good thing I did. The sudden burn in the gullet around the two second mark was pleasantly surprising for a spice nut like me, like the wave of a dear friend across the street in the corner of your eye. Even Brian enjoyed it, and he is, as he put it, "not a spice guy."

My friend and partner in music crime, Marc, has a backyard garden at his place on College street. He grew and dried these particular cayenne peppers. I don't know if that makes them taste better, but it can't hurt. If anything, it makes this cuppa joe more of a local brew than it already was. Just a small spattering at the bottom of the holder was all it took to make a surprising, intriguing, full flavoured shot.

For me, the sweet chocolate flavour rounded out and balanced the intensity of the shot and the pepper. This blend was also tasted by a coffee connoisseur by the name of Rick who has a political/coffee blog found here. He found the infusion "surprising", and said that it tasted better than a chili brew he had at last year's Toronto Barista Championship. What a compliment! After only a week I wouldn't consider myself a barista, but Brian is certainly a master of his craft. I am definitely looking forward to seeing how this infusion comes together.