Coffee Extract - Do It Yourself

[amwassil]

#1 Experiment Tue Aug 24

At 14 hours into the experiment, the coffee grounds have settled out completely and have formed a nice solid layer at the bottom of the bottle. I took this photo a couple hours after shaking the bottle to remix the grounds again. Just as I did with my cinchona bitters, I will shake the bottle a couple times per day for 3-4 days, then let it sit for a couple more days before testing the extract.

Note:

I put the bottle in front of a table lamp to determine the clarity of the mix. Although it’s not apparent in the photo, the mix is quite transparent.

[richard]

Sometimes I accidentally add syrup (zero sugar natch) before carbonating and I am yet to find a way to carbonate using a soda stream without a disaster. Once there is a flavoring added it changes how much CO2 is willing to remain dissolved in solution.

Even splitting the content between 2 bottles and carbonating a half bottle ends up frothing the flavored water through the sodastream’s relief valve and making a mess.

[richard]

I’m thinking of building a still to dehydrate espresso by boiling off all the volatiles with a BP under 100C, then boiling off all the water, and then reconstituting the two mixtures. Pretty sure I can concentrate the flavour, add an allulose syrup and make an espresso sodastream syrup.

[amwassil]

#1 Experiment Wed Aug 25

A little less than 48 hours. The extract is perfectly clear, transparent and very dark. You can see the bulb in the halogen lamp through the bottle.

[amwassil]

#1 Experiment Fri Aug 27

I poured a bit less than half the extract through a paper coffee filter into a smaller bottle. It’s clear, transparent and very dark.

The extract smells and tastes a lot like Wray & Nephews rum. There is coffee flavour there, but needs more.

Here’s 5 grams of extract in 126 grams of club soda. Not much taste of anything although it smells a bit like coffee. The rum flavour is greatly subdued. Need to use more coffee! But I think I’m on the right track with this. Stay tuned, more to come.

[amwassil]

#1 Experiment Fri Sep 10

Results: not so good as an extract. Too much rum flavour not enough coffee flavour. It makes a passable ‘liqueur’ although because of the 63% rum rather strong. Watered down it loses pretty much any flavour other than ethanol ‘heat’. So onwards to the next experiment…

[amwassil]

#2 Experiment Fri Sep 10

• 50 grams of A Taste of Italy Italian Roast coffee
• 735 ml Baikal Vodka (40%)

Coffee in the vodka:

Notes:

1. The coffee is roasted by Great Lakes Coffee Roasters, Buffalo, NY.
2. The vodka is real Russian vodka from the Lake Baikal region of Siberia. I’d never seen it before so thought I’d try it. Has a very mild, ‘introverted’ taste. So I don’t think it will overwhelm the coffee like the rum did. With 50 grams of coffee, I was not able to get all the vodka back into the bottle, so guessing about 735 ml.

[amwassil]

#2 Experiment Sun Sep 12

A little less than 48 hours. The extract is clear, transparent and very dark. You can see the bulb in the halogen lamp through the bottle, although not as clearly as with 25 grams of coffee in the first experiment. I would guess this is due to more solids still in solution. Will see if more settles out in the next day or two.

Notes:

1. As the coffee consolidates in the bottle, I might very well have been able to get some of the rest of the vodka back into the bottle had I waited a couple of days. I’ll do so next time.

[OldDoug]

So:

1.) Extract, let settle and strain.
2.) Drink immediately?

[PaulL]

If the goal is to get carbonated coffee, why not simply make coffee and carbonate it, using a Sodastream or syphon?

I know, that’s probably too simple to be any fun. Never mind!

[amwassil]

See above here.

My goal is not carbonated coffee. I could do that very easily using my existing carbonation system illustrated here.

What I’m trying to accomplish is to create a coffee flavoured extract which could then be added to my carbonated water - yes - as well as potentially other stuff. As I noted in the OP, vanilla extract works OK but is very expensive. I do like lime flavoured water, but the only lime juice I’ve found so far contains carbs. So I continue to search for a carb-free lime juice. Real Lemon has no carbs, but I don’t particularly like lemon flavoured water although I’ve consumed it in a pinch.

[amwassil]

So:

1.) Extract, let settle and strain.
2.) Drink immediately?

As noted above exp #1 was barely drinkable. I’m hopeful that #2 with 40% vodka and twice as much coffee might be usable on its own as well as an extract. Another couple of days to taste testing.

[PaulL]

My goal is not carbonated coffee. I could do that very easily using my existing carbonation system illustrated here.

What I’m trying to accomplish is to create a coffee flavoured extract which could then be added to my carbonated water

Huh. I’m obviously missing something, here. Oh, well.

[amwassil]

#2 Experiment Tue Sep 14

Another 48 hours and ready to taste/test! Very dark and transparent, although opaque. Here’s some in my 375ml flask, viewed through the wide way. There’s a bright LED flashlight just behind the bottle and it’s completely invisible!

Here’s some in a half shot glass, again with the LED flashlight behind:

The contents of the half shot glass mixed with 6 oz of club soda:

Taste straight is overpowering coffee! Bitter coffee. The alcohol is there but overwhelmed by the coffee. That’s good. Of course, a different coffee would change the flavour somewhat. Mixed with soda, the coffee flavour still comes through and is actually quite palatable. In my sample pictured, the coffee is still slightly bitter, so I think it will be passable mixed in half a liter of water. I’ll try that tomorrow. It’s definitely a usable alternative to sweetened flavour ‘enhancers’. Although as a liqueur it would need some sweetener. I might try it as a liqueur with stevia.

[amwassil]

#2 Experiment Thu Sep 16

Had a half shot glass of extract in 500ml of club soda today with my meal at work. Tastes OK. There is a definite coffee flavour, a little ‘smokey’ which might be due to the particular coffee I used to make it. I’ll try different coffees to see what differences that makes.

[amwassil]

#3 Experiment Sat Oct 9

• 50 grams of Happy Camper Brown Sugar Bourbon coffee
• 735 ml Baikal Vodka (40%)

Notes:

1. The coffee is roasted by Paramount Coffee Company, Lansing, MI.
2. The vodka is again Baikal. Again, with 50 grams of coffee, I was not able to get all the vodka back into the bottle, so guessing about 735 ml.

[amwassil]

#3 Experiment Sat Oct 9

I thought a photo of the first scoop of coffee mixing into the vodka would be interesting. So…

[PetaMarie]

Michael, this experimenting looks very interesting. Have you ever considered instant coffee extract?

[amwassil]

Yes, briefly. I don’t particularly like instant coffee. But I may try it for the sake of science.

[PetaMarie]

Me either, but I keep it because I’ve been known to mix it with too little water and do a shot during an exhaustion crisis.