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Coffee and chocolates—we just love them, don’t we? Then, blending these two into a treat? Now, that’s something else!
Chocolate-covered espresso beans are a delicious confection enjoyed by many. They’re crunchy and sweet, with a bit of caffeine boost, perfect to kick off the day. Some rave about the energy punch this treat brings.
But coating espresso beans with chocolates would make anyone worry about the caffeine content. So you must be asking, how much caffeine is in chocolate espresso beans?
You’re about to find out!
How Much Caffeine Is in Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans?
How much caffeine do you consume when you snack on chocolate-covered espresso beans?
While the caffeine content varies in dark versus milk chocolate, the average chocolate-covered espresso bean contains about 7 milligrams of caffeine. Dark chocolate espresso beans may have 6-13 mg of caffeine against 5-10 mg for milk chocolate-covered espresso beans.
Let’s break it down a bit more below.
How Much Caffeine Is in an Espresso Bean?
Caffeine is a stimulant compound found in coffee, tea, and cacao plants that helps anyone who consumes it to remain alert by stimulating the central nervous system. The caffeine content in coffee beans depends on the type of beans and the level of roasting.
Arabica and Robusta coffee are the two most popular coffee bean varieties consumed in the world. A green arabica coffee bean contains 1.9 mg of caffeine, while a green robusta bean has 2.9 mg.
Additionally, dark roasts such as espresso have less caffeine content than lighter roasts due to the longer roasting process. Therefore, the average dark roasted espresso bean may contain up to 1.2 mg of caffeine without the chocolate.
How Much Caffeine Is in Chocolate?
On the other hand, chocolate, on its own, contains significantly less caffeine than coffee beans. Chocolate is what you get after processing cocoa beans into cacao solids—which contain caffeine—and cocoa butter.
Dark chocolate contains a high amount of cacao solids that give it more caffeine content than milk chocolate. However, white chocolate contains more cocoa butter which has zero caffeine.
According to this USDA Food Central Database, dark chocolate with 70-80% cacao solids contains up to 22.7 milligrams of caffeine per ounce. Milk chocolate has 5.8 mg of caffeine, while white chocolate has zero against 340-430 milligrams of green Arabica coffee beans.
In comparison, this is how much caffeine is in Turkish coffee.
How Many Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Are There in One Serving?
The USDA Food Central Database lists the caffeine content of chocolate espresso beans at 134 mg for 10 beans or 800 mg for every 100 grams. This translates to 13.4 mg of caffeine per bean, which may be a lot if you also consume coffee, tea, or energy drinks during the day.
Therefore, if a typical chocolate-covered coffee bean weighs about 2.85 grams, a 40-gram serving of this snack would have about 14 beans with a caffeine content of about 187 milligrams. Also, keep in mind that brands have different caffeine content depending on how much chocolate they use and the type.
How to Eat Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans
The caffeine content of chocolate-covered espresso beans means that you may want to consume them in moderation, even if you swap drinking coffee for this snack.
Additionally, this treat makes excellent toppings for cakes and ice cream desserts.
For context, an average cup of coffee has 85-200 mg of caffeine while a shot of espresso has 65 mg against 134 mg for ten beans. Therefore, if a 40g bag of chocolate-covered beans has about 187 milligrams of caffeine, you would have to drink almost three shots of espresso to get the caffeine content equivalent.
The Mayo Clinic recommends 400mg of caffeine a day for adults. That is about 3-4 cups of brewed coffee or 50g of chocolate coffee beans.
How to Make Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans
While you can buy this snack in packs or jars depending on the brand, you can opt to make them at home quite easily. Ideally, you would need to have medium to dark roasted Arabica coffee beans, milk or dark chocolate, and an option of spices as your ingredients.
The benefit of making chocolate espresso beans at home is that it would cost less than if you were to buy them packaged. Also, if you make them at home, you have the freedom to choose the coffee bean variety and chocolate type. You can even do a version with ingredients such as nutmeg and cinnamon.
If you are using varieties, such as Guatemalan or Brazilian coffee roasts, you may want to consider using chocolate with spicy notes. Guatemalan dark roasts feature cocoa and bittersweet chocolate aromas that combine deliciously with dark vanilla and orange-flavored chocolates.
On the other hand, Brazilian coffee beans produce less acidic dark roasts that pair well with almonds and cranberry chocolate flavors. Check out our guide if you want to know the best espresso coffee beans.
The Process:
- Begin by roasting your green coffee beans using a roaster or any other preferred method. Remember, roasted beans require some time to degass, and therefore you may want to prepare them a few days in advance. Alternatively, you can opt to buy roasted coffee beans that have already gone through the degassing process.
- Melt your chocolate bar slowly in a saucepan over low heat, constantly stirring until it is evenly melted and has a smooth consistency. Alternatively, you can use a double boiler over hot but not boiling water to melt the chocolate. It is essential not to overheat your chocolate as it will become too thick to use.
- At this point, you may want to add any flavors such as vanilla extract or spices like nutmeg and cinnamon to the melted chocolate to enhance the taste.
- Once your chocolate has melted, slowly stir in the espresso beans until they are all covered. Remove the beans one by one with a fork and lay them on a tray lined with parchment paper to cool.
- Refrigerate the beans until the chocolate coating hardens. If you make a large batch, you can store them in an airtight container.
Bear in mind that roasted espresso beans attain peak quality 5 -10 days after roasting and is probably the best time to prepare this snack. However, the beans will retain their freshness up to two weeks after roasting, after which they begin to go stale. Therefore, we recommend preparing this snack in small batches to consume quickly while they are still tasty.
If you love chocolate and coffee, you definitely should try these chocolate coffee flavors.
Final Thoughts
Chocolate-covered espresso beans are a delicious and healthy snack that can give you an instant caffeine shot in place of coffee, or you can use them as dessert toppings.
The treat offers several health benefits that include antioxidants to improve bodily functions. Chocolate releases flavonoids that help to lower the risks of developing Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and liver cirrhosis when consumed. It also increases the level of serotonin which improves your mood.
However, this tasty treat also contains a significant amount of caffeine, and over-consumption may cause insomnia, anxiety, and other effects associated with caffeine overdose. Overall, eating in moderation is the key to good health, and you can try to make this snack at home with different flavors to make it more enjoyable.
