Today I bought coffee called Macademia Chocolate. How do they get a chocolate flavor in there? Do they add chocolate beans?

This is an excellent question. To be direct, I consider flavoring coffee to be a "cardinal sin". If specialty grade green beans are used, properly roasted, and correctly brewed, there should be no reason to flavor coffee before it is brewed. Now, adding flavor after the coffee is brewed is a totally different thing, and something I support completely.

However, you should know this: In order to flavor coffee, it is roasted and flavoring chemicals of some type are commonly used/added. Liquids, powders, etc ... I just can not bring myself to adding a foreign substance to my beautiful beans after they come out of the drum. Call me a purist! When I was in Atlanta, Georgia last year for the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) conference, I took a good look at the way roasters were flavoring their coffee. The method that seemed to be the most prevalent was spraying coffee with the flavoring when it comes out of the drum so the taste bonds to the beans.

Do some roasters use natural ingridients to flavor coffee? I am sure there are some really interesting methods that actually work, and I've even tried a few such as adding almond slices and cinnamon. Yet nothing really worked for me.

I would suggest adding some really good chocolate and some macadamia nut syrup to your cup after it is brewed. This way you know you are getting and drinking everything in its purest form. Enjoy!

-This essay was provided by Andrew Anderson of High Rise Coffee Roasters in Colorado Springs. His web site is: High Rise Coffee.com.