Anyone tried using cardamom in an espresso machine?

[CAMRAMan]

Years ago, a Jordanian girl cooked up a cup of coffee for me Turkish-style using cardamom pods. It was very potent, but delicious.

I've just tried grinding up 4 or 5 pods in my Porlex and adding the grounds to some Monsoon Malabar coffee I ground up in my Iberital. I then made a double espresso shot using my Gaggia and tasted it.

I thought the malabar, which is a very full-flavoured coffee, would drown out the spice, but no, it was definitely there only rather subtle. Next time I shall double the spice dose to see if that ends up too strong and tweak it till I get to where I think it should be.

Has anyone else tried anything like this? Any tips? Any other spices suitable for the process? Cinnamon jumps to mind and I have some sticks in the kitchen...

[T42]

Vanilla ain't bad. I've seen hazelnut too, though not tried it, and Molinari do one with grilled almonds. Créative Café do one in crème brulée - caramel, maybe.

[nicknack]

A favourite hereabouts. Just grind up the pods and add to the coffee in whatever apparatus we're using at the time.

[CAMRAMan]

Vanilla ain't bad. I've seen hazelnut too, though not tried it, and Molinari do one with grilled almonds. Créative Café do one in crème brulée - caramel, maybe.

Are we mixing our pods up here? I'm referring to the individual cardamom pods, not the pods of coffee used by some coffee makers.

[T42]

Not necessarily coffee pods but flavoured ground coffee, although available in ESE pods as well. No reason not to use the flavours themselves as an additive.

I'm interested in your Malabar: we don't see it here, the British having kicked France out of India in the 18th century. Have you the arabica or robusta varieties?  Washed robusta is one of my favourites.

[Tewdric]

If you're putting Malabar through an espresso machine, you'll certainly need so me thing to disguise the flavour...

[Valiant]

Cinnamon bark, cardamon pods and whole bayleaf mixed with tea is what's usually done back home. Should work with coffee though they require boiling to get the spices out so maybe a cafetiere would work better.

[tiermat]

If you're putting Malabar through an espresso machine, you'll certainly need so me thing to disguise the flavour...

Heathen! FWIW Monsoon Malabar is the defacto brew served at THoFC, served in the Spanish Café American style.

[CAMRAMan]

I agree. Lovely full flavour, although I do have it with milk.

[CAMRAMan]

Update: I get my malabar coffee from a local trader at the weekly market in Warwick. They do mail order: http://www.monsoonestates.co.uk/

My Porlex didn't handle the outer pods of the cardamom very well, so I split them open and put the seeds through it and then add it to the coffee I've ground in the Iberital. It's a faff, but once a day isn't a problem. 5 or 6 pods do the trick mixed in with the coffee grounds. It doesn't suit milked coffee, IMO. A nice change.