What are the best snacks to pair with coffee?

Feeling peckish? Here are five great snacks to pair with coffee!

Chocolate heaven

The mocha wasn’t a happy accident: coffee and chocolate are practically made to go together. It makes sense when you think about it. Coffee and chocolate both come from beans, which go on to be roasted once picked and share similar tasting notes. Coffee can be fruity and floral, strong and intense and chocolate can, well, be the same. Also, think about the chocolate-like flavours present in many coffees. Our smooth Have Faith in the Fairies, for instance, has lovely notes of milk choc mingling with its toffee notes, while Roller Disco Donkey sports a snazzy mix of chocolate, melon and tropical fruit flavours.

So, if you fancy a square (or three – we’ve bypassed two completely) with your coffee, we give you a big hearty thumbs-up. You’re making a great move!

Opposites can attract when it comes to coffee and chocolate but, generally, similarities are what you want to look for. This helps to stop one flavour from overpowering the other. Try matching your espresso with 70% cocoa dark chocolate and enjoy rich dark roast coffees with dark or milk chocolates. Keep your coffee choice light and fruity when it comes to white choc; light roast coffees with berry flavours are ideal. Don’t pair a delicate white chocolate with your morning espresso; the Milkybar kid doesn’t stand a chance.

Have we tempted your inner chocoholic? Can you keep your fingers from the chocolate box no longer (sorry…)? Check out our full coffee-chocolate pairing blog post!

Coffee pairings are a piece of CAKE

You don’t need us to tell you that coffee and cake are HEAVEN. Pretty much any coffee will complement your favourite cake, but we’d recommend sticking with the matchy-matchy approach for a truly tremendous treat. Light, fruity cakes love light roasts: think lemon drizzle and meringues with Unicorn Resource Locator. Darker roasts, meanwhile, want to get cosy with rich, indulgent cakes like stem ginger or chocolate fudge. Indonesia coffees are a good shout here as they typically offer a full-bodied, spicy flavour.

Fancy going all-out caffeine with coffee and coffee cake? Of course, you do. Medium roasts are great alongside a big ol’ slice of coffee and walnut because they enhance the cake without overpowering its sweetness.

Move over wine! We’re all about pairing coffee with cheese

No, we’re not talking coffee cheesecake. We’re talking coffee and cheese! Good quality coffee will cut nicely through the cheese’s saltiness and help you taste your favourite cracker accompaniment in a new light. Aged cheeses with strong flavours (Camembert, Taleggio and their punchy cheeseboard pals) can hold their own with dark roast coffees, while creamy cheeses like ricotta call for a milder, lighter coffee pairing.

Coffee and cheese might sound like an odd match, but it’s common in Scandinavian and European countries, where cheese and coffee are often enjoyed at breakfast. The Swedes even have something cool called kaffeost, which involves adding halloumi-esque cubes of cheese into hot coffee.

Berries and a brew

Yes, we know, all this cake-chocolate-cheese tasting isn’t great for the waistline. If you fancy pairing your coffee with something a bit less sinful, why not try a handful of fresh berries? Lighter roasts are the way to go, whichever berry you choose. With bright, floral flavours and heightened acidity, they are a lovely match for fresh-tasting berries.

Look out for countries that produce berry-ish flavoured beans, such as Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Kenya is another failsafe choice: Kenyan beans are renowned for their bright, complex berry flavours.

More good news? Both coffee and berries are rich in antioxidants, so you’ve got a combo that’s great-tasting and totally good for you.

Bacon sarnie time!

It’s that salty-coffee combo again! Like cheese, bacon helps to foreground the flavour nuances in a good coffee. We add salt to our cooking to bring out the flavour, and it’s the same idea with coffee: munching a bacon butty with your morning cup will help intensify the natural coffee flavour into something even more awesome. Meaty bacon will also help to bring out the savoury notes in your coffee, and so is great paired with smokier coffees. Try one from Indonesia: coffees from the island often have a delicate earthiness, which will be the soul sister to a good bacon sandwich!

Hey, why keep coffee in the cup? Treat your meat to a coffee glaze for the best bacon EVER – check out our easy recipe!

Whatever snack you go for, make sure you’ve got good coffee to match. Head to our online shop and get stocked up!

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