Coffee candy is a sweet made with coffee as a flavoring. There are a wide number of different styles of it, ranging from classic coffee hard candy to chocolate covered coffee beans. Many of these products are marketed because of their caffeine content, although some people simply enjoy coffee candy because they like the flavor of coffee.
Coffee is a crop which is native to Africa, although it is cultivated in Latin and Central America as well. The crop produces coffee berries, which are roasted to enhance their flavor and to bring out their caffeine component. Caffeine is a stimulating compound which appears naturally in a range of plant products including coffee and tea, and it has been a popular part of the human diet in many regions of the world for hundreds of years.
Some people find the aroma and flavor of coffee quite enjoyable. Coffee candy generally maximizes the flavor of the coffee, processing beans to extract the volatile compounds which give it its characteristic scent. Since coffee can also be bitter, the candy is often sweetened to make it more palatable. It may also be blended with cream, chocolate, or other ingredients which people have traditionally paired with coffee. Some people enjoy the convenience of coffee candy, preferring to eat rather than drink their caffeine as this candy does not stain the teeth or impact the breath as much as a cup of coffee does.
Coffee hard candy can be sucked on or stirred into coffee as a sweetener, if it contains enough sugar. Some companies also make coffee chews, with caramel or taffy. Coffee can also be blended with cream and similar ingredients to create a filling for chocolates, or companies may fill chocolates with coffee liqueurs. High grade coffee candy can capture the complex, subtle flavor of coffee, while cheaper brands may taste more acrid or bitter.
When seeking out coffee candy, it helps to go to a candy store with bulk bins which allows customers to taste products before purchasing them. If you must buy packaged candy, start with one package so that if the product is of poor quality, you have not wasted a large sum of money. Serious candy aficionados like to keep logs of the candy that they taste, ensuring that they do not purchase bad products again.