In today's experiment we infused The Mad Bean house blend Steampunk with mint. At the usual amount of spice grind addition, the flavour of the mint was completely lost. We did see some finely ground mint particles in the crema, but they just didn't come through, even after letting them steep for a couple minutes.
What else was there to do but to lay it on thick and try again? I spooned an amount that if nutmeg or chili quite possibly could have been lethal and Brian pulled another shot. The flavour was still underwhelming. It was there this time, an improvement, but it was only slightly reminiscent of toothpaste. A mild cooling feeling upon inhalation was pleasant but I would have loved it to have doubled or tripled in intensity to the point of a mint gum where it almost hurts to inhale. That mixed with the heat and heady aromas of espresso, that would have been truly remarkable.
So, I put a quarter sized amount in the bottom of the espresso cup, poured a shot on top of it, and let it steep for 45 seconds. The cold mouthfeel I wanted was there at about double the intensity of that above, but the mint flavour was overpowering. Every sip was like the first taste of anything immediately after having brushed your teeth. Ick! And the powdered mint bits expanded to form a gritty texture that was also revolting. Despite our best efforts, mint is not worth pursuing.
2 comments:
Because coffee is so overpowering and mint is quite subtle, you might try mint extract instead of the dried herb. Just keep adding drops until you get the effect you want.
So far we've only used ground spices that can be added to the espresso powder. We'll give an essential oil a try soon to see if it works with our infusion technique.
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