Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans with a Hint of Mexican Tarragon

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Rev 12/20/2020 Summary: Residents will learn all about some of the best coffee beans in the world!

Background: Just mentioning coffee beans to a coffee drinker makes their mouth water and feeds their desire for a fresh up of Joe. We all have our favorites, but chances are we have all tried a Guatemalan brew at one time or another in our lives. Guatemala is one of the top ten coffee producers in the world! In fact, your local Starbucks coffee shop has a Guatemala Antigua medium roast that is wildly popular with lemon, chocolate, and soft spice notes. Antigua is the most popular type of Guatemalan coffee however there are seven other regions in Guatemala that also grow wonderful coffee beans. By Lake Atitlán, coffee is grown along the slopes of the volcanoes. The winds stir the cold lake waters and influence the microclimate creating rich, organic soil. Nueva Oriente, was a poor struggling region of Guatemala until every farm became a coffee-producing unit and is now a thriving territory. Not only are the beans full of a nutty, milk chocolate flavor, but it is also low in acid and well balanced. Today we are going to treat ourselves to some chocolate covered coffee beans with a hint of Mexican tarragon.

Chocolate Covered

Coffee Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 cup roasted Guatemalan coffee beans • 1 cup milk or dark chocolate chips or chocolate bar broken into pieces • A few sprigs of Mexican Tarragon

Directions:

1. Gently pull off tarragon leaves by pinching the top of the sprig and dragging your thumb and index finger down the stem. Cut up leaves into tiny pieces. 2. In a double boiler (or a metal bowl placed over a pot of simmering water), melt chocolate until very creamy. Turn off the heat. (A glass bowl can also be used in the microwave – check and stir every 10 seconds and be careful not to burn the chocolate!) 3. Add coffee beans and stir until completely coated. 4. Scoop them up with a fork, allowing excess chocolate to drip off, and place them on a wax paper lined baking sheet (try to place them individually, but if some stick that's not a big problem). 5. Sprinkle a bit of tarragon on to the chocolate covered beans. 6. Let them cool. It will take about 1-2 hours, depending on room temperature. Feel free to speed up the process by placing the baking sheet in the refrigerator.

*Try adding other herbs from your garden such as mint and thyme!

**Enjoy sparingly… Each chocolate covered coffee bean has approximately 12mg of caffeine.