Pairing Specialty Coffee Cheese

Main Contents

A. Intro Specialty Coffee And Cheese
B. How Do Coffee and Cheese Share Common Ground?
C. Exploring the Fusion of Cheese and Coffee in Beverages and Beyond
D. Deciphering the Complex Flavours of Coffee and Cheese
E. Crafting the Perfect Coffee and Cheese Pairings
F. Maximizing Flavour Harmonies in Coffee and Cheese Pairings

Pairing Specialty Coffee and Cheese - Soji Coffee Roasters

A. Intro Specialty Coffee And Cheese

Pairing cakes, pies, cookies, chocolates and ice cream. These sweet treats are savoured with accompaniments to a cup of coffee.
The sugary notes of these confections often harmonize beautifully with the rich tones of coffee, whether it’s served black or with a splash of milk.

Yet, there’s an emerging trend that leans towards the savoury side, pairing coffee to a less traditional companion: cheese.

Cheese shares several flavour profiles and even textural elements with coffee.
This unexpected similarity has sparked a curiosity to experiment with various cheese alongside specific coffee varieties.

B. How Do Coffee and Cheese Share Common Ground?

Gourmet or specialty cheeses, is flourishing, much like the market for specialty coffee. While there’s no strict definition or classification system in place, there are notable parallels between the two:

Both are artisanal, high-quality products and are non mass-produced, commodities.
Specific cheese monger or farm in a distinct locale.
The production methods are key to the unique flavours and textures they offer.

C. Exploring the Fusion of Cheese and Coffee in Beverages and Beyond

In the Nordic regions, the concept of ‘kaffeost,’ or coffee cheese, is a time-honored tradition.

Kaffeost involves placing chunks of leipäjuusto (a Finnish squeaky cheese often called ‘bread cheese’) into a steaming cup of filter coffee. The cheese softens slightly, soaking up the coffee’s rich aromas, while simultaneously imparting its own buttery, nutty essence into the brew.

In Colombia, café con queso offers a similar delight, using a cheese with a texture reminiscent of mozzarella. As it gently melts, it releases a luscious creaminess into the coffee, with some choosing to enjoy the infused cheese on its own or accompanied by bread.

The trend of topping coffee and tea with cheese foam has swept across Asia in recent years. This frothy addition, sweetened and made from cream cheese, whipping cream, milk, and sugar, adds a luxurious sweetness to the beverage.

Taking a more avant-garde approach, some have started grating Parmesan cheese over coffee cocktails, like the espresso martini, introducing a savory umami kick.

The convergence of the coffee and cheese industries has even led to the creation of coffee-infused cheeses.

D. Deciphering the Complex Flavours of Coffee and Cheese

Cheese and coffee may not be the most traditional of pairings, yet they have more in common than one might expect, particularly in their flavour and textural profiles.

In the realm of coffee tasting, experts consider five principal components of the sensory experience: acidity, sweetness, bitterness, body, and aftertaste.
Beyond these, coffee aficionados delve into distinct tasting notes to describe the beverage’s nuanced flavours.

Tools like the Specialty Coffee Association’s Coffee Taster’s Flavour Wheel to pinpoint the flavours and aromas present in a cup of joe.
The Flavour Wheel encompasses various categories, such as fruity, floral, sweet, spicy, green/vegetative and sour/fermented, each breaking down into further subcategories (e.g. the fruity section, divisions into stone fruits, specific notes like peach and plum).

Similarly, cheese experts employ comparable methods to evaluate the subtleties of cheese, using tools like the Academy Cheese Tasting Wheel.

Coffee and cheese share overlapping flavour notes, this includes bitterness, sweetness, and caramel nuances.

E. Crafting the Perfect Coffee and Cheese Pairings

The importance of tasting the cheese prior to the coffee to ensure that the cheese’s flavours and nuances are perceived first.

Slice your cheese into small, fine pieces, tasting them both before and after you sip your coffee, allowing the cheese’s own flavour and finish to shine.

And the method of brewing coffee is a crucial consideration when selecting a cheese pairing.

For coffee-cheese pairings, the robust and rich flavour profile of medium dark roasts complement the boldness of blue cheeses, as well as nutty, sweet cheeses like Parmesan, Gruyère, and Lincolnshire Poacher. Conversely, milky coffees with creamy textures and notes of caramel and fruit pair delightfully with the likes of Gouda and Vintage Red Leicester.

F. Maximizing Flavour Harmonies in Coffee and Cheese Pairings

For successful pairing coffee with cheese:

Pair one that share a common origin or have similar terroir.
Avoid medium-roasted coffees with overly potent cheeses.
Coffees with subtle flavour profiles tend to match well with semi-cured or softer cheeses.”

The importance of considering the acidity levels in your pairing choices.

Goat cheeses known for their pronounced acidity, can be harmoniously matched with coffees that are equally high in acidity.

For matured cheeses, like blue varieties that carry a hint of spice, opt for medium to dark roasts that offer a fuller body and a counterbalancing sweetness.

The potential for a symbiotic relationship between the two is evident when the right selections are made.

The key lies in the thoughtful pairing of specific cheeses with particular coffee profiles.

One might just discover a unique and captivating taste experience that transcends the ordinary.

It’s time for you to brew some Specialty Coffee.

Try our coffees

Every few months we sourced from different countries to select the best farm coffees harvest. We gently micro-batch drum roast all of our coffee beans in our roastery in Singapore. Indulge yourself in our flavourful coffees!

Get our fresh roast coffee beans on-demand from our Lazada and Shopee stores:

Lazada.sg/shop/soji-coffee/

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Or visit our shop at : 38A Beo Crescent Market #01-52 Singapore 169982 (Opening Hours > Click Here < )