Serving flavored coffees is not a new idea. Louis XIV had a passion for coffee that had been flavored with vanilla; Napoleon enjoyed his with a touch of cinnamon; George Washington liked his coffee with a touch of Bourbon Whiskey; and Karl Marx frequently flavored his morning coffee with a touch of Cognac. Taking advantage of the desire for variety, many gourmet coffee shops offer a variety of flavored coffees. In the very best shops natural flavors are added to the coffee during or after the brewing. In not-as-good shops the flavor and scent materials, which are often artificial, are added to coffees that have been ground and packaged in advance. Although the most popular flavors in America today are Vanilla Cream, Chocolate Raspberry, Hazelnut Chocolate and Irish Cream, tastes in flavored coffee are so faddish that it is impossible to predict what will be "in" and what "out" in six months.

And now the bad news - despite largely American at tempts to promote these as high-status coffees, they have not received a friendly reception from most food and beverage critics. Even most serious coffee sellers, like Edward Kvetko, co-owner of the "Gloria Jean's" chain of gourmet coffee outlets, admit that even though offering freshly flavored coffee is a fad but it is a legitimate fad, with nobody being tricked". He goes on, however, to say that that selling pre-flavored ground coffee is "more than a fad. It's a gimmick, a trick ...call it what you like, but don't let anyone tell you it's really gourmet". Kvetko says he has a simple rule: Start with good coffee and real flavoring and you can have a great cup of coffee but start with junk no matter what you claim you will end with junk".

What seems to elude most of the companies that produce pre-ground flavored coffee is that there is simply no need for their product. All that has to be done, either in a commercial dining room or in one's home is to start with any good cup of coffee and then add either brandy, Irish whiskey or any of a wide variety of liqueurs (Irish cream, Amaretto, Cointreau and Creme de Cacao have traditionally been among the most popular). Those who want to add flavor but keep their coffee non-alcoholic have traditionally prepared their coffee together with vanilla beans, cocoa or freshly ground nuts.

One of the reasons why these coffees have been generally scorned by the critics is that despite their claim at purity, the coffee used by most of the major producers is of a low quality, the resulting liquids looking too muddy and the flavors used are often far from the real thing.

© Daniel Rogov