How, when and why (if) you started drinking your coffee black

[CulinaryKate]

Okay, I'm 24. While this is not young, I have had at least 8 years of coffee drinking in my life. I still drink it with cream and sweetener. For some reason, I think of this as an anti-chowish tendancy. I want to get rid of the sugar, and maybe the cream.

How, when and why did you stop drinking sweet creamy coffee? If you still drink it the way I do, does it bother you, or am I just crazy?

Thanks!

[hbgrrl]

I was a new mother, needed lots of strong serious caf. Putting cream in it only meant that it would cool too quickly before I could get back to it after tending to Little HB. Oh...that, and the day my DH took a sip of my coffee, said, 'bleh!! why don't you drink it black??'
Huh? Never thought of it.
And so it began.
Not particularly chow-ish, but true nonetheless.

[The Engineer]

Peer pressure. When I started out on the railroad, an older guy (who I looked up to) looked at me as if I was an idiot when I asked for milk & sugar for my coffee. "Whatsa matter, dontcha like coffee?"

So for a while there, I drank black coffee. But it tastes gross to me, so I got back to tarting it up pretty soon.

I say, drink it the way you like it, no matter what crusty old men or chowhounds or whoever else think!

[JasmineG]

I still put a little sugar in it, but I've been drinking it black since I was shortly out of college. I had a number of frustrating experiences with wanting coffee, but having no milk on hand (or spoiled milk), and then having to go buy milk or have no coffee. Therefore, I trained myself to drink it black, so I wouldn't have this problem again. Sugar isn't an issue, since it's easier to keep that on hand. Now I occasionally use milk if I'm in the mood, or if the coffee is hot and I want to cool it down quickly, but that's the exception.

This is completely contrary to the way my mom drinks coffee, by the way, with no sugar and lots of milk.

[robdsteele]

I started drinking my coffee black when I could afford good coffee. I found that if you want to start drinking it black find a mild, soft coffee that isn't too dominant in any one direction. Any good coffee roaster can help guide you in making that choice. I like drinking it black now. Coffee can be really expressive and interesting, and the cream/ sugar just muddies it. But if I ever have to go back to the 8 o'clock cr*p I'll definitely be buying some milk with it.

[Anne H]

This is similar to what I was going to say-- try drinking really good coffee, find some beans you really like. Experiment. Then you may be happy to drink it black. Perhaps mild is the best way to start, but what I really like is making a regular cup of coffee with a very dark bean-- Italian roast for example. In any case, try a bunch of different beans to see if there is one you really like black! Nothing wrong with using sugar and cream, but I hate to think how much I would weigh if I did this, considering how much coffee I drink. And I wouldn't use the chemical substitutes to avoid the calories either, blech.

[Hunicsz]

Agreed. Started drinking black when I was in my mid twenties and exposed to good coffee. Although, I think even if I had been exposed to good coffee prior, I might not have liked it. I was stuck in a collegiate lucky charms for dinner, everything sweet kinda thing.

[gastrognome]

I drink it with milk in the morning, but no sugar. In the afternoon I take it black. Milk is more morning/breakfasty for me, and afternoons and evening the black coffee settles the stomach nicely.
Adding milk doesnt mask/ruin good coffee. Just use some nice full cream milk, and brew your coffee strong enough to taste it but so strong, that you only taste bitter flavour.

[Nosher]

Great question.

I had a friend in England who started drinking her coffee black after a previous boyfriend told her, "Coffee is a bitter drink and you should drink it that way." She fell for the line and gave up the cream and sugar.

When confronted with the parallel idea that chocolate is also, at its purest, a bitter food, and not one you'd really want to eat without any sweetening, she went back to doctoring her coffee and never looked back.

There's nothing less chowish about milky or sweet coffee.

Nosher

NYCnosh* http://nycnosh.com

[a_and_w]

"When confronted with the parallel idea that chocolate is also, at its purest, a bitter food, and not one you'd really want to eat without any sweetening, she went back to doctoring her coffee and never looked back."

Great answer!

[Eat_Nopal]

Yeah but there is something about keeping it as close as possible... certainly Dark Chocolate has a satisfying floral, fruity & smokey complexity that Milk Chocolate misses.

[Nosher]

As much as I personally dislike milk chocolate, I consider it a very different species of thing that is derived from the same fundamental ingredient as dark chocolate.

I tend to think of coffee and chocolate as raw ingredients that really shine when other things are added to them.

I don't really think that every food needs to be kept as closely to the taste of the raw ingredient, either. That's undoubtedly true sometimes, but there's no rule that good food needs to be close to its origins-- sometimes the best stuff doesn't resemble its components at all. Ever eaten a cake, for example?

Nosher

NYCnosh* http://nycnosh.com

[Eat_Nopal]

No doubt... I wasn't generalizing about all foods but in the case of some things like Chocolate, Coffee, Scotch, Bourbon, Tequila, Cabernet Sauvignon & Tobacco they are rarely surpassed in their classic format.

[a_and_w]

But milk chocolate is a different beast -- it is to dark chocolate what lattes or cappucinnos are to espresso.

[CulinaryKate]

but i love dark chocolate bounds above milk chocolate. i must learn to love black coffee...

arghhh

[robdsteele]

"When confronted with the parallel idea that chocolate is also, at its purest, a bitter food, and not one you'd really want to eat without any sweetening, she went back to doctoring her coffee and never looked back."

I take particular issue with that statement for this reason:

Comparing a product (cup of coffee) that is 0.8% particulate suspension and 99.2% water is hardly equal to a product (chocolate) that, in it's purest state, is 100% the real deal. The flavor dilution (what you are, essentially, doing when you add milk and sugar) has already been done in coffee. Now, if we're talking about coffee beans (whole) with milk and sugar, well, I understand. But coffee, chocolate, wine, these are all elemental substances. By your logic I should be adding some creamer to my Rioja?

Cake is a compound - metaphorically speaking - that cannot be compared.

Now that I'm done being a jerk I'll say drink it however you want, as long as you like it!

[Nosher]

No. By the logic I was describing, you should take unpalatable (or unpleasant) food and convert it into a form that you appreciate. And of course, taste is subjective, which is why the original dogma of 'coffee is naturally bitter, and therefore is best in its original state' fails utterly.

So while I'd never advocate adding creamer (or cream, even better) to your wine, I wouldn't criticize you for it-- that's the logic.

Nosher

NYCnosh* http://nycnosh.com

[a_and_w]

"Comparing a product (cup of coffee) that is 0.8% particulate suspension and 99.2% water is hardly equal to a product (chocolate) that, in it's purest state, is 100% the real deal."

I see. So you take your hot chocolate unsweetened?

[Nosher]

Precisely.

[robdsteele]

70% Belgian couveture with hot skim milk, as melted chocolate is too viscous to be drank.

But I do really enjoy mexican style hot chocolate too.

I think the point I tried to make is being missed, so I will try one more time, but in bullet form:

*There is nothing in the world like chocolate.
*Any comparison to it is fundamentally inaccurate.
*Great coffee needs no additives, it dilutes flavor, which has already been balanced by the presiding roast master.
*If you are drinking inferior coffee, sweeten it.
*If you cannot pallete coffee, sweeten it (or find an alternate caffeine source).
*If a cup of swill powdered coffee with 4 ounces of sugar and a pint of half and half get you off go for it, and I'll stock it when you come over.
*All of the above having been said chocolate and coffee (or wine, for that) are not interchangeable for the sake of arguing the characteristics/ qualities/ validation of the other.
*The woman in Nosher's story went back to flavored coffe because that's the way she liked it, not because of chocolate. That's the reason we should consume, because we like it (or it's good for you).

[Sharuf]

I refuse to ruin a good beverage with bogus "dairy" or chemical sweetener, so black is the logical alternative. OK, if I'm at a nice breakfast establishment, I'll probably put a little cream in. Otherwise, it's either black or cafe au lait and nothing in between.

[Janet from Richmond]

I have always drank my coffee black. My Mom insisted on it when I was a teen and wanted to drink coffee. She said "Life is easier if you drink your coffee black." and it was some of the best advice she ever gave me. It is easier. I stop for coffee in the morning and see folks in a hurry around the condiments and I'm in and out in a flash.

[gastrognome]

I want to second Nosher on this one there is nothing wrong with milk and sugar.
Sometimes I like to use sweetened condensed milk (southeastasian style) as im not good at keeping fresh milk around. I can just pop open a can and get wired on delicouse coffee!!!

[kloomis]

I'm all for a little cream now and then, but IMHO, good coffee is good coffee without any extras. And BTW- I started out as a big cream and sugar person, and eventually my tastes changed as I got older. Although I still like a little milk and honey in my tea.

My H is all about loading up on the cream AND sugar, he claims to like coffee, but I think it is just a delivery mechanism for the sugar and cream. He even knows the code at D&D for extra cream and sugar- a 6 & 6 (that's 6 creams and 6 sugars- - blechh). They have codes for all the different add-ins apparently.

[olia]

I actually started off drinking my coffee black, but then because of some stomach problems and hearing that black coffee really stains your teeth, I started adding some cream into it...
now it's almost always doctored up except if I'm drinking it with very sweet and/or creamy dessert (cheesecake, creampuffs, etc.)

[DanaB]

I started drinking coffee when I was 14 or 15, with milk and sugar. Being a self-conscious teenage girl, I cut out the sugar shortly thereafter, as I was worried about the calories. I still drink it with milk, though.

[sudiepav]

My first real job was at a bank when I was a teenager. The only thing available in the break room was coffee. I started w/cream and sugar, but since the coffee was terrible even with that in it, I decided it could be no worse black. I convinced my husband when we were first married to break his cream and sugar habit using Janet's logic. It WAS easier to have both of us drinking it black. I keep cream and sugar on hand when we have company, but I detest having to remember the cream. We drink 1% milk, so that makes a poor substitute.

[Kelli2006]

I started to seriously drink coffee when I was in college and slowly developed a taste for it black and strong.

I occasionally add a bit of 1/2-&-1/2, but that is starting to taste muddy and only disguises substandard beans.

[ryan13]

Ah, well started in my first year of university. It was around 3am with an exam the next morning at 8 and sure enough, there I was needing some fuel to cram every last bit of info in. Of course an empty fridge goes hand in hand with the procrastination stereotype of a student so there I was without cream. I decided to take it straight and fell in love with the taste (or perhaps the stronger caffeine effect) and havent looked back

[Rebcca]

I've always had my coffee black. A friend of my parents was a roaster, so we always had freshly roasted beans. I started drinking coffee at 13, and the coffee was roasted so nicely, I never saw a reason to add sugar or cream. That being said, most of today's coffee is so bad, it needs stuff added to it. I work in the coffee buisness now, and you can tell a good coffee shop by how little cream/sugar is used in the coffee.

[Eat_Nopal]

I was 13... my older cousins & I hopped on an "Economical Class" bus in Mexico City and headed down to Oaxaca City for my first trip there. In the main mercado, I saw a number of vendors selling various locally grown coffee... I had never before thought about single source coffee so curious I went over & received a 30 minute lecture on the subject... got to smell the grains... feel them run through my fingers etc., so I had a sample of black coffee (the only way you could get it) right there & was mesmorized so I bought a kilo for my Uncle's house.

Later at a small fonda that proudly served local coffee, I had another cup with a bowl of guyabas & sweetened crema... I never looked back... only occassionaly do I have Lattes etc.,

[Grubbjunkie]

I started drinking coffee when I was 15 working in a bike shop. The old timers brewed up some super dark espresso roast in a regular drip maker, and there was never any milk or sugar around, so I just learned to like it that way.
I will occasionally add a little sugar if it's especially bitter or if it has that bad commercial/metallic taste.

[ipsedixit]

I started drinking coffee black in High School.

Got used to it black.

Tried it with cream. Hated it.

Tried it with sugar. No go.

Tried it with cream and sugar. Disgusting.

That's the how, when and why.

[Davwud]

I used to drink it, double-double. Then, when working a lot of midnight shifts, I found that I had no dairy to use. I couldn't stand the taste of creamer so the guy I was working with suggested I try drinking it black. I didn't like it at first but we sat there and downed a whole pot. I was hooked. I liked it so much better when I got used to it black.
He also pointed out that because there is no dairy in it, curdling, it doesn't have as much of an affect on you. If you know what I mean. I think he was right.

DT

P.S. It's your beverage, drink it however you like it. Even, ugh, cold.

[Brigita]

When I realized how much sugar and calories I was adding to a drink I truly love without all that stuff. I still use a dash of organic 1/2 and 1/2 on the strongest of brews but if it's mild, there is no need to dress it up too much.

[welle]

When I was in my teens, I read somewhere that to experience true flavors of tea you should drink it plain without masking it with sugars or milk. I started doing it and liked it. Experimented the same way with coffee and loved it. Cannot drink it with sugar anymore - can't taste the coffee when it has sugar. Occasionally, indulge in coffee with milk and that has to have a bit of sugar, same goes tea with lemon gotta sweeten it to bring the acidity up.

[frenetica]

When, and only when, I lived in France. Their particular ratio of beans to water in little coffee cups means it's pleasant to drink black. Italian espresso is too bitter for me, American percolator coffee is so bland it actually needs the milk and sugar for flavour.

Also, if I've had a really rich meal, then I welcome the punch in the mouth of a bitter espresso. Otherwise, it's milk & sugar.

(p.s. I don't think there's anything anti-chowish about milk & sugar, or any other way of drinking coffee - though the Russian tendency to put lemon twists in espresso does make me gag. People get a little bogged down with notions of authenticity and purity and so on, don't you think? Heed your tastebuds!)

[iwanchow1]

My friend and I were stuck in her newly opened store not really knowing the neighborhood. We sent out for 2 large coffees and they came black, so we decided we had to drink them the way they came.

Also the problem of some counter people in NYC not knowing that "regular" means milk & sugar, then I took to ordering the coffee with milk and sugar, then it seemed that black was simpler.

Finally, learning to love Aged Sumatra, New Guniea Peaberry, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, and Monsooned Malabar from places like the Daily Grind in Albany and Orens.

[welle]

I have an opposite problem - most NYC counter people by default give me w/ milk and sugar - i always return.

[curiousgeo]

At home or when buying from places like Starbucks, I put a teaspoon or two of non-fat milk along with a teaspoon of honey or brown sugar. At work I drink it black, since we only have non-dairy creamer and white sugar here and I'm too lazy to keep my own supply of things in the office refrigerator.

[Trixie Too]

I started drinking black coffee about 20 years ago when I was on a diet. I figured I'd rather eat my calories than drink my calories (cream). I put cream in iced coffee, but other than that, it's always black, no sugar -- even espresso.

[pizzaguy]

I drank black coffee because people would fix some coffee for me and it wouldn't be just right. Too much of this or that, and the next thing I know, I'm drinking it black 'cause it's just easier. Plus, the cream and sugar isn't always available. One advantage was a restaurant I worked in had fantastic coffee. No problem when it's good coffee.

[jcpageca]

I started drinking it black in high school because I thought it was cooler. Hah! Then I kept drinking it black because I was anorexic and also, it just tasted gross with all that stuff in it.

Now I drink a fancypants vanilla soy latte.

The smell of old, cold coffee has got to be one of the most disgusting smells ever.

[RaleighRocker]

I grew up with parents who drank it their coffee not only black but were some major food snobs. That said, when I started drinking coffee in college it just seemed the right thing to do. Not to mention that I drank it in a pre-Starbucks coffee house/grocery along with a million cigarettes thinking I was very hip & grown up.

I never developed a major coffee habit until I started working full-time. I realized I had a java habit when I went to work my retail job and seeing there were no cups left in the breakroom I kicked the table!

There is the rare occurance when I'll doctor up some coffee. I have fond memories of my grandmas iced coffee poured from a plaid thermos on hot summer days.

The other rare occurance is when I am putting the nose to the grindstone at work and cant phathom another cup of office swill.that is when I make my office "ghetto latte"-a bunch of creamer,sugar, and ice. Desperate times mean desperate measures.

[eve]

When I started, I likely drank coffee with milk and sugar, not knowing any better. This was in college. After a few years, I quit the sugar and to make up for the lack of sweetness, went for extra milk. As time went on, I had to cut my coffee consumption to zero due to migraines after coffee (for some folks, caffeine reduces migraines but not me). So I gave up coffee for about 10 years or so. Now, I "cheat" a bit--a cup a week (especially if I just had a migraine--result of another food trigger perhaps). So, since I have to optimize my coffee consumption, I gave up milk too--about 5 years ago. I love coffee so its been hard to restrict myself. Therefore, when I do have it, it has to be black so I can get the most coffee bang for the cup. Actually, prefer expresso which has less caffeine than regular coffee. Prefer quality beans but will do with average beans if that's what is available when I get my one cup a week.

[JenBoes]

When I was 29, I got a new job in state government which involved going to lots of really long and boring meetings. I needed to stay awake, so I needed to drink lots of caffinated coffee. I didn't need the calories involved with cream and sugar (I was only an occasional coffee drinker up to this point), so I went black and never looked back. A good coffee to start with is Starbucks Breakfast Blend (beans not ground) because it is really light, and if you start to drink it black, it won't knock you over with an overpoweringly strong flavor. I can't drink any dark roast black because it upsets my stomach.

[MuppetGrrl]

I don't see what's anti-chowish about it. Nothing better than a cup of strong Italian coffee with cream and a dash of sugar!

[robdsteele]

My only argument is this:

If you're going to drop $8-$20 a pound for some good beans then why bother with the extras. You're paying for quality of flavor, subtlety, balance, and diversity. You want some coffee with your milk and sugar? Awesome. But I see muting a great presspot of Java Estate with cream and sugar something along the lines of using a bottle of Opus One to make sangria - just add fruit and 7-up! Cream and sugar WILL mute the flavors in a finely crafted coffee. So why spend the extra cash for something you're going to cover up? And that's all I have to say about that.

[gastrognome]

so why not use some really great milk/cream and sugar?

how bout some organic raw can sugar, and some heferodshire, double unpasteurised cream with that highland ethiopian?
just a suggestion, for those that think they should not ruin a good cup of coffee with crappy dairy and sugar. I agree, get the good stuff if you can.

By the way I dont think being a chowhound is about being a hardcore purist,its about seeking out really good food!(and drink)

well im off to brew some Limu ethiopian(I live in south africa, so i get kenyan and ethiopian for dirt cheap) ,in my single cup filter jobber and drink it with some regular old aseptically sealed whole milk!

[kloomis]

It sounds gross- but one of the reasons I started taking it black was because it seemed I could never get though a cup while it was still hot (whether at work or home on a weekend). I can tolerate it lukewarm or cold if it's black, but if it has c/s in it, it's undrinkable if it's not hot. Plus it tastes better reheated if it doesn't have any extras in it.

[EclecticEater]

When it's good, black coffee is the pure flavor of the coffee. I do drink cafe au lait in the mornings sometimes. But since I've discovered Keans Coffee, available on the Net, and the AeroPress, and I use three ounces of hot water for each cup and then press, say, four scoops of, say, Keans Kenya or Kona, to make the liquid that gets diluted by pouring it into the (three per cup) twelve ounces, I can drink black coffee all morning without feeling wired. What scuttles most people, I believe, is the oil, or the bitterness of an inferior roast or type of coffee; with the Aerobie AeroPress, I now look for the taste of the black coffee, to see how it really tastes. By the way, with frothed non-fat milk and a couple of Splenda packets, I do enjoy the way the coffee flavor enriches my cafe au lait in the monring.

[gastrognome]

sorry but, splenda and all other artificial sweeteners really taste disgusting to me. I understand people are trying to cut down on sugar, but why not just cut out sugar then? Or use honey?
Those artificial sweetners are chock full of chemicals, that your body has to process arent they?

[EclecticEater]

Re: Splenda. Am on a very low fat and sugar diet, so two packets of Splenda seem to be OK once a day. That's about what I've used. Haven't had any ill effects from it, and it does cut out the sugar. Honey somehow doesn't taste right with cafe au lait, at least to me, and I'd dump more sugar in it, probably. By the way honey has about the same, or more, calories than sugar so I don't save any calories that way. I guess I figured what the hey about the Splenda. It tastes better, anyway, than the other stuff which aspartame and saccarine (sp?).

[gastrognome]

Ecelctic,
Sounds like splenda works for you and I agree that honey just doesnt taste the same in coffee. As for the advantage of honey, it is a less refined sugar, and has added health benefit of boosting the immune system, just be sure to go for wildflower honey and not honey reared from plants treated with pesticides.Sorry for the aside!

[gsw]

I started drinking coffee in NYC and would order it "regular" - milk and sugar.

But I think I began drinking it black whenever I encountered a place -- usually at work -- where there was no milk, but only non-dairy creamer.

So now I drink my coffee in the morning at home with milk only, but if I drink it at work, I always go for black.

I probably should go with black at home too, but - hey - there's always milk in the fridge.

I don't know when I started drinking it without sugar, but now I can't stand it with sugar! My husband drinks his with milk and sugar, and if by mistake I pick up his cup it makes me shudder.

I like a tiny bit of sugar in espresso -- just a little.

[perk]

When I was a teen, and wanted to start drinking coffee....only one parent would allow it. It was my Italian friend's father, Sam. He said we could drink coffee in his house, as long as we drank it "the only way to drink it--black." That's how I drank it then. And even though Sam is gone, it's how I drink it now. I couldn't imagine it any other way. (And I know somehow if I did, Sam would find a way to voice his displeasure!)

[Peghead]

Good coffee is a good thing and if a little milk and sugar makes it more intersting to you, go for it.

As for a really good coffee, check out Alterra from Milwaukee WI. www.alterracoffee.com

When you have a good cup, tried it many ways and can say with confidence, I'll have mine this way please, you have arrived at chow utopia.