DanoM wrote: You can add notes after the fact too. Just a quick spray in the cup before pulling the shot might be all it takes to make a "blueberry espresso".

The context was in regard to adding notes to whole beans w/added notes (may be considered by most to be deceptive practice).

You're talking about point of sale additives.. that is already happening today, blatantly sweet or subtle--it doesn't matter, customers pay for it willingly. And if you're doing it at home, it'd actually be better to add it directly to your brew and avoid those flavors getting into your equipment. But of course, if you're adding only aromatic notes, with the subtlety of a legit roast, doesn't matter much matter much when you add it, because it would behave just the same as any other roast.

I added a bit of pineapple today to a Guatemalan brew, and it was delightful--the extract somehow melded with the other notes and brought forth a hint of an orange zest-like and honeydew-ish note. Still largely coffee flavor, but the hint of those notes really made a big difference.

Scotty,

If you're having success adding all of those flavors, more power to you for your version of home cooking.

When it comes to dealing with a respected roaster or coffee shop, I second Marshall's caution they would be taking a big risk.

Also you can't prove a negative. So I'm not going to look over my shoulder when I go to a favorite cafe and I wouldn't want to promote what Alan Frew correctly characterized as an urban legend -- a belief that this is frequently happening.

You don't know and you can't know and most of us here wouldn't worry about it.

drgary wrote:You don't know and you can't know and most of us here wouldn't worry about it.

Agreed, which is why I moved on. I was trying to focus on the topic but this thread essentially reverted back to my original conversation which you so aptly locked yet continued to contributed to in this thread. Let's be fair here.

I was making no insinuations but just raising a concern. If no one is worried but me, that's great. But don't insult me by calling it "my version of cooking". Let's move on.

weebit_nutty wrote:If no one is worried but me, that's great.

I'm worried because I've seen something similar and I know how it starts (FYI, it starts with the belief that it could never happen).

But, yeah, I'd keep this thread for discussions about flavoring coffees ourselves and use the other one for general consumer awareness.

OK. Let's move on.