Caribou Coffee – Mocha

July 8, 2009

I'm sitting at a local Caribou Coffee waiting for a business associate to arrive.  This morning I ordered a medium Mocha from the Espresso menu.

caribou-mochaThe medium Mocha is 2 shots of espresso, steamed milk, cocoa, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings.  It is served with a chocolate covered espresso bean set on the cover.  That's where I started today. Sometimes I save the espresso bean for the end, saving the best for last so to speak.  Not today.  I figure it's time to start with a bang, get some strong flavor, along with a bit of caffeine in a quick dose.
 

Chomping down on the bean, not really waiting to savor the flavors, I still manage to notice that the chocolate is smooth enough and the flavor is chocolaty enough.  Not that it's exceptional chocolate by any means, there is smoother and there is chocolate with more flavor impact.  But the chocolate is appropriate to the task at hand, enhancing the flavor of the espresso coffee bean that it covers. Once my teeth have been fully engaged, the flavor of the coffee dominates, and the texture of the coffee dominates.

Interesting, when I take the first sip of the drink it's not the coffee or the chocolate that I first notice.  Instead, it's the richness of the whipped cream.  I guess this isn't too surprising, afterall, it's floating on top.

I'm relatively new to the coffee drinking world, having slowly acquired a taste for it, and not regularly drinking it until just a handful of months ago. Even now I didn't order this cup for the coffee flavor, but rather the chocolate. So I notice that the chocolate makes a good impact. The coffee is there, the cream is there, and the chocolate flavor is there too.
 
Actually the chocolate is realized in two ways. Drinking coffee normally doesn't introduce my tongue to any grittiness. This cup does though.  I assume it's the cocoa floating in the drink. Maybe Bryn could isolate the flavor attributes of the cocoa and determine whether it's high quality, low quality, alkalized, or regular. Maybe she could even name the country of origin. I cannot. To me, in this drink, it provides the requisite essence of chocolate flavor.
 
The second chocolate impact comes from the chocolate shavings.  The shavings melt into the mix so some of the chocolate is consumed right along with the drink.  I like the fact that some of the chocolate also settles to the bottom.  That means that I can end the experience with a little chocolate boost!
 
Time for the meeting to begin.  I'm awake for it and will enjoy the little bits of coffee bean still lingering in my mouth.
Jeffrey Kirk
Latest posts by Jeffrey Kirk (see all)

One thought on “Caribou Coffee – Mocha”

  1. avatar Bryan-David Scott

    Jeff & Bryn:

    Greetings from Seattle, WA! I love your website and blog. Congratulations on doing such a great job. Jeff, I understand that you are a fairly new coffee fan. I would love for you to try some of our coffees.

    North Star Fine Coffees offers our customers five star rated premium grade one coffees (The absolute finest in the world).

    I welcome you and Bryn to call me anytime. Fine chocolate goes perfectly with fine coffee. 🙂
    —-
    Bryan-David Scott, CEO
    North Star Fine Coffees
    Purveyors of the World’s Finest Coffees
    Seattle, WA
    (206) 722-3060

     
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *