The Ultimate Guide To Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

Everybody I know loves to nibble away on chocolate covered espresso beans to get them through the day without a caffeine crash.

I love them and absolutely love playing around with various recipes with high quality specialty beans and different types of chocolate to make them with.

Keep reading to find out all you need to know about this chocolate covered treat and an awesome recipe to try at home.

What Are Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans?

Chocolate-covered espresso beans are confections that are made by coating espresso roasted coffee beans in chocolate. The chocolate may be milk chocolate, dark chocolate and even white chocolate.

The coffee beans, or more accurately, the espresso roasted coffee beans, are only a little sweet, with the dark chocolate variety and the coffee beans have a bitter flavor to them.

They are rich in fat and high in caffeine with some brands having as much as 300 milligrams of caffeine per serving.

Read: Dark chocolate coffee beans calories

Are Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Real Coffee Beans?

Yes, it may seem to be unusual to eat coffee beans let alone see chocolate-covered coffee beans. These are real and are perfect for both coffee lovers and chocolate lovers.

They are sweet treats that you can nibble through the day to keep your alert and with a sustained release of caffeine and avoid the caffeine crash that comes with drinking coffee.

Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans Recipe

It is very easy to make dark chocolate covered espresso beans and very few ingredients or equipment are needed. You can make them in as little as 15 minutes.

Ingredients Required

At Latte Love Brew we encourage you to use the best possible ingredients for all the recipes that you make, be it a coffee drink, topping or, like this recipe, making dark chocolate covered espresso beans to nibble on.

Espresso Beans

For the best and tastiest possible snack for you to snack on, seek out specialty grade espresso roasted beans. You will get all the nuances of the beans from your chosen single origin specialty grade bean into your tasty snack.

As a worthy mental note to make – dark roasted beans like an espresso roast bring out the natural sweetness and caramel notes that you would miss out if you used a light or medium roast. Dark roasts also work much better with the natural sweet flavor of milk chocolate.

Light and medium roasted beans work better with the natural bitterness of dark chocolate.

Chocolate

This is the fun part of making espresso or any type of coffee beans and coating them in chocolate! You can experiment and play around with the type of chocolate that you use and fully customize it by using dark chocolate chips, a chocolate bar, mint chocolate and even chocolate orange.

In this recipe I’m using semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions

Use 1 cup of espresso beans and 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Put your chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 10 second intervals and stir your chocolate between each interval until your chocolate is fully melted. Be careful not to burn your chocolate.

Due to the way microwaves function and depending on the power rating of your microwave you may need to microwave, in 5 second burst.

Take your bowl out of your microwave when your chocolate is ready and add your espresso beans. Stir well until they are mixed well and are covered in chocolate.

This is the messy part – remove your espresso beans individually using a fork. Then place them carefully on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper.

Ensure that your beans are well separated and not touching each other. Repeat this process until all your beans are on your parchment paper.

Now let them cool down at room temperature or, better still, in your fridge.

Pro Tip: After coating your coffee beans in melted chocolate, you can either roll them in cocoa powder or simply dust them with it for an extra chocolatey taste.

Best Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

If you don’t feel like some afternoon fun in the kitchen and baking your own delicious chocolate covered espresso beans you can simply but them and there are plenty of options available.

Here are what I consider to be the best chocolate-covered espresso beans.

1. Hoosier Hill Farm Gourmet Quality Dark Chocolate Espresso Beans.
2. Sweet Gourmet Variety Pack (variety Of Different Chocolates, white, dark, milk chocolate).
3. Trader Joe’s (100% Arabica Beans, Dark Chocolate)
4. Starbucks (Dark Chocolate).
5. Yankee Traders Triple Shot (Dark, Milk, White Chocolate).

Where To Buy Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

There are plenty of places that you can buy your chocolate covered espresso beans from, including a very good specialty gourmet quality coffee shop in your town or city.

Seriously, any top-notch coffee shop should be making their own edible coffee beans.

(yes, Starbucks sells them).

You should also be able to buy them at your local confectionary store. Failing those options, you can buy them online and have them delivered to your home from:

1. Amazon.
2. Nuts.com.
3. Trader Joe’s.
4. Target.
5. Etsy.

How To Eat Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

The most obvious and common way of eating chocolate-covered coffee beans is to simply pop them in your mouth and eat them, but this is not the only way that you can enjoy them.

1. Crush them and add them to your smoothies, or simply add them to your smoothies and let your blender crush and mix them into your smoothie.
2. Add a chocolate covered coffee bean or two…or a few to your snack/party mix of nuts or dried fruits.
3. Grind your chocolate covered espresso beans to a fine powder and use it as a topping for your desserts.
4. Grind some chocolate covered coffee beans and sprinkle them on your ice cream.
5. Grind some chocolate covered coffee beans to coarse grind size and sprinkle them on your yogurts.
6. Grind your dark chocolate espresso beans to either a fine powder or a large coarse grind size and add them to the topping of your cold foam toppings for your cold brew coffee for an amazing look and flavor.

There are many more ways to enjoy eating rich dark chocolate coated coffee beans. I’ve mentioned 6 ways to enjoy them other than simply enjoying them as a delicious snack.

Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans Caffeine Content

How much caffeine is in chocolate covered espresso beans depends on a few factors, namely:

• The type of coffee bean (Arabica coffee beans or Robusta Coffee Beans).
• The type of cacao beans used for the chocolate
• The amount of chocolate used.
• How the beans were processed prior to roasting, wash or wet processing reduced the caffeine content is a fine example.

Naturally due to the variables, the amount per coffee bean varies widely from 6 milligrams to 13.33 milligrams per coffee bean.

Arabica beans are at the higher end of the flavor scale overall and are universally accepted by coffee lovers as being the more flavorsome beans, but have considerably less caffeine. 

Robusta coffee beans are at the higher end of the caffeine content scale but have less flavor.

Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans Calories

Chocolate covered espresso beans and the amount of calories contained is, like the caffeine content varies depending on the brand, the serving size and other variables including:

• The amount of cocoa solids.
• The type of chocolate: dark, white or milk chocolate.

On average, it is calculated that 100 grams of chocolate covered espresso beans have 550 calories. This equates to:

• 220 calories per 40 gram serving.
• 165 calories per 30 gram serving.

Which are very common serving sizes.

Carbs In Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans

The carbohydrate content in chocolate covered coffee beans is very similar to the carbs in chocolate covered espresso beans.

Per 100 grams of chocolate-covered coffee beans, there are 55 grams of carbs.

On a per-serving basis this is 22 grams of carbs per 40 gram serving and 16.5 grams of carbs per 30 gram serving.

Frequently Asked Questions About Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

Are Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Just Coffee Beans?

Yes, more specifically they are coffee beans that have been roasted to an espresso roast level and then covered in chocolate. The word espresso refers both to the short, sharp strong coffee drink and the roast.

In this case, for a matter of accuracy, it is espresso roasted beans that are coated in chocolate. Incidentally, there is no such thing as an espresso bean. All coffee beans start out the same and are roasted to different levels.

Do Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Give You Energy?

Yes, chocolate-covered espresso beans contain caffeine and are an edible form of a caffeine boost. Plus you will get the energy benefits from the calorie content and the nutrients in the beans and the chocolate.

If you eat a sufficient amount, you can get the same amount of caffeine and energy boost as drinking a cup of coffee. Both the beans and the dark chocolate or white chocolate coating contain caffeine.

How Many Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Can I Eat?

On average there is 13.33 milligrams of caffeine in a single espresso bean. The recommended daily amount of caffeine is 400 mg per day. Without exceeding this limit, your maximum number of chocolate-covered espresso beans to eat in a single day is 30.

Even though each bean contains small amounts of caffeine and caffeine toxicity occurs at 900 mg per day, you would need to consume 67.5 chocolate-covered espresso beans.

Note: The calculation does not include the amount of caffeine in chocolate, only the beans themselves.

How Many Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Equal A Cup Of Coffee?

For a matter of accuracy and a concise answer, it depends on the type of coffee and the brewing method used. Naturally the number of beans varies as per the cup of coffee and brewing method.

The table below is a guide for how much caffeine is in the average coffee drink for each type of coffee drink and brewing method. The number of beans to eat to get a similar amount of caffeine has to be adjusted and rounded to the nearest whole number – eating 4.7 beans is impractical.

Is It Okay To Eat Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans?

In a word yes, it is okay for you to eat chocolate-covered coffee beans as coffee beans are edible and safe to eat. Obviously you should not consume them in excess, just as you would not drink coffee in excess. Covering them in chocolate, be it milk chocolate, dark chocolate or white chocolate, makes them a tasty treat that is packed with antioxidants and, obviously, caffeine.

Are Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Actually Espresso Beans?

Yes, chocolate covered espresso beans are made with the same, the exact same espresso beans that you would brew coffee with, only that have been covered in chocolate.

Do Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans Work?

Yes, chocolate covered espresso beans are delicious, contain caffeine and will give you an energy boost, a caffeine kick.

Is It OK To Eat Espresso Beans?

Yes, it is perfectly okay to eat espresso beans on their own. I have a preference for eating a couple of specialty grade beans from a new coffee that I am trying out before I brew them, so I savor the flavor!

Final Thoughts – Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

If you have read this far you know everything that you need to know about chocolate covered espresso beans, have a great recipe that you can experiment with and where you can buy the best ones should you not feel like baking.

Join our Facebook/Meta coffee community and let us know how you got on with your baking – and share your images with members.

Derek Marshall

Derek Marshall, a certified barista by the Specialty Coffee Association possesses over two decades of experience in specialty coffee shops. He holds professional certifications for coffee brewing and barista skills. Derek is also an author with authoritative books covering various coffee topics including specialty coffee, sustainability and coffee, coffee brewing, coffee recipes, coffee cocktails and books focusing on Brazilian coffee, Vietnamese coffee, Indonesian coffee and Malaysian coffee. As a barista for over two decades, Derek Marshall has worked in specialty coffee shops across the United Kingdom, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. His expertise extends to the distinct coffee cultures, specialty beverages, and brewing techniques of each nation. Functioning as a coffee consultant, Derek charges US$50 per hour. To learn more about Derek Marshall and Latte Love Brew, visit his About Me Page. For coffee inquiries, contact him at +34-639-410-375 or Derek@LatteLoveBrew.com, mentioning your name and location