A Different Kind of Cold Brew

Cold brew is unquestionably the best type of iced coffee I’ve ever had. I am a complete convert, and since getting hooked I find other iced coffee harsh and shallow flavored. I don’t drink a lot of iced coffee, but when I do it’s cold brew. I can be a bit annoying when I find something new; acting as if I invented it, or at least discovered it, but of course the truth is I am never the first, including now, and yet I persist.

When I was attending the Natural Product Expo earlier this month I was intrigued by a product called Choffy. It is a brewed beverage, made in a a French press, or drip coffee maker, only it isn’t coffee, it’s cacao beans, roasted and, ground like a coarse coffee grind. When I tried it I had it black, so I could really taste it, taste the undiluted flavor without the flavoring assistance of cream or sugar. As soon as I tasted it I was reminded of a moment several years ago when I had my first true mocha.

The mocha I had wasn’t a Starbucks mocha made with chocolate syrup, this was the french version, and not what I was expecting. When I ordered it the barista advised me that even if I didn’t ordinarily sweeten my coffee, I would want to sweeten this. (Apologies to the 15 or so of you who have already heard this story). I got a coffee with steamed milk and a heaping tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa sitting on top that I needed to stir in. I was shocked by the bitterness, a strong and nose-wrinkling bitterness, quite different from the bitterness in a sip of black coffee, which is sharp, and acidic. The milk wasn’t enough to neutralize the bitterness of the cocoa the way it does in coffee, it needed sugar.

This choffy was very chocolatey and flavorful. It was a grown-up chocolate drink, nothing hot cocoa about it. I had another cup with cream and sugar, which was heavenly.  Where cocoa is thick and rich (from the milk) Choffy has the consistency of coffee or tea. You can enrich it just as you would coffee or tea, with milk or cream, and sweeten it as well. It is chocolatey, and not sweet.

Forgive me for the long road to get here, but what I really wanted to try, as soon as I tasted the hot Choffy was to cold brew it. The Choffy reps at the show generously gave me a full bag of the dark chocolate variety, so I could try cold brewing it. I made two batches, one batch in a French press, with hot water, then chilled, the other cold brewed, using the same ratio recommended for regular Choffy brewing. Unlike coffee, both versions tasted similar. The cold brew is a bit darker, but not much. The Choffy does make as good a cold beverage as hot, but I don’t see any advantage to cold brewing it. The Choffy website has a number of recipes, some of which include re-using the brewed Choffy grounds in smoothies, which I haven’t tried.

Now that fall is here (despite this weekend’s warm temperatures) Choffy is a great alternative to coffee, especially when dark is falling at 4:00 in the afternoon, and my energy is starting to wane. 

Please let me know if you’ve tried Choffy, and what you think of it.