3 Best Coffee Food Pairings & Why You Need To Try Them

Coffee pairings: how did you live without them for so long?

• There are certain foods that pair especially well with a cup of coffee.
• Donuts and coffee are a match made in heaven when it comes to this specialty pairing.
• Foods that are buttery, such as croissants and cookies, are also excellent companions.

While some of us are familiar with wine and cheese pairings, most of us are not as familiar with coffee and food pairings (and I don’t know about you, but I tend to enjoy this combo much more frequently than the former). 

When coffee is paired properly, you’re able to taste enhanced flavors of both the coffee and the food. So to help you gain this experience, here are 3 of the best coffee and food pairings. 

Croissants 

Croissants are buttery, flaky breakfast pastries that are often served at breakfast time. They’re best enjoyed freshly baked, and they are the perfect coffee companion. The coffee intensifies and complements the buttery sweetness of the croissant, making for a perfect match.

To go a step further, you can actually dip your croissant in your coffee. In France, it’s actually common to see this tradition — so why not?!

If you’re looking for a specific coffee recommendation, try to pair your croissant with a coffee that has a full body and low acidity such as a Sumatra coffee.

Donuts  

There’s a reason coffee and donuts go hand in hand. This long time coupling has been a US-favorite for a long time due to the unique flavor combination. The bitterness of the coffee unbelievably complements the sweetness of the donut. 

There are tons of pairings to choose from when it comes to coffee and donuts (and most pairings will work!), but a few standouts are apple-cider donuts paired with a Papua New Guinea coffee or a chocolate cake donut served with a Salvadoran coffee. 

Cookies

Finally, I’ve saved the best for last: cookies and coffee. This flavor combination works best if you dip the cookie into the coffee. Though there is some debate about whether or not it’s proper for table etiquette, it hasn’t stopped many folks around the world from doing so.

In Italy, dipping biscotti (though not exactly a cookie) into a cup of Joe is a very common practice. It not only intensifies the coffee flavors, but the cookie, too, gets better becoming extra tender and crumbly — who doesn’t want that? Guatemalans often love to dip their Champurradas in their morning coffee. The sugar and buttery combination of this cookie were made to be dipped. And in New Zealand, gingernut biscuits are a very common coffee pairing.

If you’re looking for specific coffees to pair with your cookie, look for coffees with nutty, chocolatey, or fruity tasting notes (depending on the kind of cookie you’ve chosen).

Nutty Coffees Recommendations: El Salvador, Ethiopian, or Brazil. Chocolate Coffee Recs.: Papa New Guinea or Nicaragua. Fruit Coffee Recs.: Costa Rica or Tanzania.