Coffee is a cornerstone of most people’s morning rituals. In fact, nearly 80% of Americans drink some form of coffee every day. Beyond the beloved caffeine kick, drip coffee boasts many benefits. It contains next to little to no calories and is one of the cheapest coffee drinks you can order.
To some, however, drip coffee may seem like an acquired taste—one that can only be made palatable with lots of milk, sugar, or coffee creamer.
You may be delighted to know that these calorie-rich accompaniments aren’t the only ways to make your drip coffee enjoyable to drink. With these eight tips, you can discover how to drink drip coffee and enjoy its flavor.
While going cold turkey is always an option, you may have an easier time switching to drip coffee if you gradually reduce your use of milk, sugar, and coffee creamer.
All you need to do is start with your current “normal” levels of sugar or cream, and work your way down:
● Measure how much milk, sweetener, or creamer you typically add to your coffee
● Add 1 teaspoon less of these ingredients each day
● Keep tapering down until you’re drinking your drip coffee all on its own
Research shows it takes around eight days to retrain your taste buds. Thus, this tapered approach can give your taste buds some time to adjust. To learn more, discover how to sweeten coffee without sugar.
Instead of classic cane sugar, there are plenty of alternative natural sweeteners and spices that can bring out drip coffee’s natural sweetness and enhance its flavors.
A few options include:
● Cinnamon – Chances are, you already have some cinnamon in your spice cabinet. If so, try sprinkling some into your morning coffee drink. You may find that its warming flavor is strong enough to enhance your coffee-drinking experience.
● Cacao – In ancient times, cacao beans were considered more valuable than gold. These chocolatey beans pair wonderfully with their coffee-flavored counterparts. While raw cacao won’t provide the same sweetness or creaminess as a milky mocha, it can still enhance the flavor profile of your cup of joe.
● Pure vanilla extract – If you’re trying to transition away from vanilla lattes, you don’t have to give up this aromatic spice altogether. Instead, simply skip the milk and mix in some pure vanilla extract all on its own.
● Peppermint oil – When winter rolls around, you may be tempted to give in to the peppermint spice latte craze. You can partake in this seasonal pleasure without milk and sugar by popping in a few drops of peppermint oil in your drip coffee. Just be mindful to not overdo it—peppermint extract can be quite potent.
● Butter and oil – Bulletproof coffee has become quite popular amongst people following the ketogenic diet. This type of drip coffee includes a tablespoon of coconut oil, unsalted butter, ghee, or MCT oil. While higher in calories, this beverage may be more satisfying than black coffee alone.
Another unlikely coffee additive is salt. It may sound surprising, but similar to the way salt balances flavors in cooking or baking, salt can help enhance coffee’s sweetness.
The reason? A pinch of salt neutralizes drip coffee’s intensity. The salt stimulates your salty taste receptors, taking some attention away from the bitter taste receptors. In turn, it can balance your coffee’s flavor profile.
To find your perfect balance, gradually add more salt until your drip coffee tastes just right.
For the best flavor, coffee connoisseurs recommend brewing coffee beans as soon as they’ve been roasted. If you wait more than 30 days after they’ve been roasted, your beans may become dry or stale. Stale coffee beans aren’t unsafe to consume, but they may taste dull and flat.
Here are some tips for maintaining your coffee’s freshness for as long as possible:
● Look for a roast date instead of a “best by” or “exp.” date
● Purchase smaller bags of coffee beans
● Store your coffee beans in sealed, airtight containers
● Keep these containers away from excessive heat, light, or moisture
Coffee’s flavor can also deteriorate once it's been brewed. With this in mind, try to sip on your fresh cup of joe within 20 to 30 minutes of brewing it.
See related: How to store coffee beans
Another way to enhance your drip coffee’s freshness is to grind your beans yourself. Whole coffee beans maintain their freshness and flavor longer than store-bought grinds.
By grinding your coffee at home right before brewing, you can get the best out of your beans. You just need to invest in a coffee grinder if you don’t have one already.
As any professional coffee brewer will tell you, crafting the perfect cup of coffee is a complex process. Baristas are often much more adept at identifying different tasting notes and flavor profiles than the casual coffee consumer.
In part, this is because milk and sugar can mask the subtle differences between various coffee blends and brewing methods. When you take these additives out of the equation, the quality of your coffee beans and brewing process becomes much more important.
Fortunately, you can emulate coffee shop quality from home by adopting the following tactics:
● Optimize extraction – Extraction is the process of dissolving coffee beans’ acids, oils, sugars, and natural flavors in hot water. In other words, extraction is simply a fancy term for brewing coffee. When you get your brewing time, water temperature, and grind size right, you can achieve the ideal extraction level. This results in the best-tasting coffee.
● Use a coarser coffee grind – Different types of coffee call for different grind sizes. For instance, fine grinds are espresso brewers’ first pick. Drip coffee, on the other hand, can suffer from over-extraction if the grinds are too fine, leading to an astringent aftertaste. You can brew smoother drip coffee by using medium grinds instead.
● Don’t overheat your water – Boiling water can burn coffee beans. Burnt coffee is quite unpleasant, even if you load it up with milk and sugar. You can prevent this predicament with your black coffee by perfecting your water’s brewing temperature. The coffee brewing temperature is between 195–205℉ (around 91–96 ℃).
If you’re using the pour-over method, you can achieve this temperature by letting your boiling water rest for a minute or so. An even easier approach is to brew coffee using a high-quality coffee machine. Coffee machines can heat up water to this ideal temperature automatically. If possible, look for machines certified by the SCA (Specialty Coffee Association).
● Opt for lighter roasts – Coffee beans are roasted to varying degrees to bring out their flavors. Different types of coffee roasts will boast different flavors. For example, dark roasts have the most intense flavor profiles. If you’re new to drip coffee, you may find that light and medium roasts are more palatable on their own.
● Use filtered water – Coffee beans are only half of the brewing equation. The water you use also has a notable impact. After all, water makes up over 98% of brewed coffee. If your water isn’t properly filtered, its chemical and mineral content can alter your drip coffee’s flavor.
While practicing these brewing best practices may take a little extra effort, the improvement to your drip coffee’s flavor will be well worth it.
Coffee beans can come in a wide range of varieties. Arabica and Robusta are the two most common types of coffee. Within these categories, coffee beans can have vastly different flavors based on their growing location and production methods.
People who are passionate about their morning coffee often make it a hobby to test out different varieties from coffee roasters across the globe. Like a sommelier analyzing a fine wine, an experienced coffee drinker enjoys taking note of the nuances in flavor.
By giving a few different coffee bags a try, you can narrow down what types of coffee beans taste best to you, whether that’s a fruity Nicaraguan Arabica or an earthy Vietnamese Robusta.
As you now know, brewing drip black coffee is a delicate process. Even if you follow all of the tips we’ve discussed above, an unclean coffee maker can diminish the flavor of your final product.
With this in mind, it’s a good idea to clean your coffee maker at least once per week. Doing so will ensure that stale, leftover coffee grinds don’t degrade your next batch’s flavor.
Pro tip: If you clean your coffee maker right away each day, you won’t have to scrub away any stuck coffee residue.
As you can see, making drip coffee more appealing is simply a matter of adjusting your palate and preparing your coffee beans with pride. Now that you know how to make black coffee taste good, you can put these tips to the test.
To start, consider upgrading your home brewing setup with a Breville coffee machine. From our Precision Brewer® to the Grind Control™, our coffee makers are designed to produce a perfect brew every time. Shop our premium coffee machines today.
Sources:
1. News Direct. 79% Of Americans Drink 2+ Cups Of Coffee Per Day, Survey Finds. https://newsdirect.com/news/79-of-americans-drink-2-cups-of-coffee-per-day-survey-finds-620695205
2. U.S. News. How to Retrain Your Taste Buds for a Healthier Diet. https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/articles/how-to-retrain-your-taste-buds-for-a-healthier-diet
3. Tasting Table. What A Single Cacao Bean Was Worth In The Ancient World. https://www.tastingtable.com/1101189/what-a-single-cacao-bean-was-worth-in-the-ancient-world/
4. Perfect Daily Grind. The science behind adding salt to coffee. https://perfectdailygrind.com/2021/03/exploring-the-science-behind-adding-salt-to-coffee/
5. Perfect Daily Grind. Coffee Extraction & How It Helps Create The Perfect Cup. https://perfectdailygrind.com/2018/11/understanding-coffee-extraction-for-your-perfect-cup/
6. Wired. What's Inside a Cup of Coffee? https://www.wired.com/2009/09/st-coffee/
7. Perfect Daily Grind. Arabica And Robusta: What’s The Difference? https://perfectdailygrind.com/2015/08/arabica-and-robusta-whats-the-difference/