Buy at AmazonJust a dash of espresso powder enhances the rich dark-chocolate notes in our favorite brownies, cookies, and cakes. We also use it when we want desserts to taste like coffee. Plus, it adds depth and richness to rubs, barbecue sauces, and other savory foods. Given that there are many ways to use espresso powder as a kitchen ingredient, we wanted to know which product is best. We rounded up six products and sampled them in Chewy Brownies and Easy Coffee Buttercream before mixing them with hot water and sipping them as espresso drinks.
We sampled each of the six espresso powders in our Chewy Brownies. The only difference between each brownie was the brand of espresso powder used.
How It’s Made and Coffee Terminology
Espresso powder is made by spray-drying or freeze-drying brewed espresso. The dried crystals look similar to ground espresso beans, but they’re water-soluble, which means that they dissolve fully when mixed with liquid. Some are called "espresso powder" while others are labeled "instant espresso coffee," and they can be marketed for baking, for drinking, or for both uses. But as far as we're concerned, they're the same thing. We’ll refer to them all as espresso powder for simplicity.
Some of the espresso powders in our lineup were lighter in color, while others were darker. Some were ground to a fine powder, while others were slightly larger, more like crystals. When mixed into our Chewy Brownies recipe, all the espresso powders—no matter their color or grind size—enhanced the rich chocolate flavor of the brownies.
For Chocolate Desserts, We Found That Any Product Will Do
Although our tasters loved every one of the six brownies they tasted, they especially loved one and liked another one a bit less than the others. While most tasters didn’t detect any noticeable coffee flavor in any of the brownies, they described them all as being “rich and flavorful” with “pronounced chocolate flavor.” Tasters also noticed some subtle flavor differences: One sample was noted for having “a little raisiny sweetness,” while another had an underlying caramel flavor. Because we standardized all the other variables, we know that these subtle differences were due to the espresso powders.
Differences between the products became more pronounced when tasters sampled them in coffee buttercream—a recipe that relies on espresso powder for the bulk of its flavor. All the buttercreams were acceptable, but some tasted more strongly of coffee than others. The buttercream that rated the highest was made with the same product that we used to make our winning brownie. When describing our favorite buttercream, tasters compared it to “a fantastic cup of coffee” with “strong espresso flavor.” While tasters preferred the assertive coffee buttercreams, the milder buttercreams were still delicious.
We used each espresso powder in our Easy Coffee Buttercream, a recipe that uses espresso powder for the bulk of its flavor. Tasters noticed differences between the espresso powders' flavors. Some tasted stronger and more complex than others.
One espresso powder produced a buttercream with a slightly “smoky” and “bitter” aftertaste, which was most likely due to slight differences in how the beans used to make this powder were processed and roasted. We still liked its flavor enough to recommend it. We had a favorite, but our determination is that any of these products will enhance chocolate richness in recipes and some will taste stronger and more complex in baked goods where coffee is the primary flavor.
The Best Espresso Powder: Civilized Coffee Espresso Powder
As a final test, we prepared espresso using every product in our lineup. They all provided a welcome jolt of caffeine, but we prefer the flavor and body of espresso made by our favorite espresso machines. While we recommend all the products in our lineup for baking and cooking, our favorite is Civilized Coffee Espresso Powder. The brownies we made with it had a “more pronounced chocolate” flavor that elevated them “just a notch above” the other brownies. When we used it to make buttercream, this espresso powder contributed “complex flavor” that tasted like “freshly brewed” espresso. Adding espresso powder to chocolate desserts and some savory recipes is an impressively easy and convenient way to amp up their flavor.
- Deepens and enriches chocolate notes in baked goods
- Provides pronounced, complex coffee flavor in recipes
- Taste six espresso powders and instant espresso coffees, priced from about $3.00 to about $6.50 per ounce, purchased online and in Boston-area supermarkets
- Taste in Chewy Brownies
- Taste in Easy Coffee Buttercream
- Taste espresso drinks made from mixing the same amount of each product with a standardized amount of hot water
- Samples were randomized and tasted blind to eliminate bias
