Better living through chemistry

[ocelot]

I don't like coffee without some sort of lightener. I can do coffee with milk but no sugar, but not vice versa (though "milk" includes non-dairy creamer, coconut milk, and probably others - it doesn't have to be the cow stuff). It's the sour taste that coffee has (to a greater or lesser extent depending on the blend, but I've yet to find one I like black) that I can't stand.

The exception to the milk thing is if I add cocoa powder. If I do that, it tastes fine without milk. I realized yesterday that this is probably because the alkaline cocoa powder neutralizes the acidity. Seems a reasonable theory, anyways.

So I decided to test this by mixing some baking soda into black coffee, after testing to be sure that this particular type tasted yucky without additives. It worked. About 1/8 teaspoon in 6 oz of coffee was pallatable, if not delicious.

Useful to know.

Now I need to find the minimal amount needed to do the trick.

Comments

[dartpoly.livejournal.com]

a few grains of salt also seems to take the edge off, as does using low-acidity coffee.

i think it's darker roasts that are lower acidity in most varieties of beans, plus those are lower-caffeine, but they are more "burnt".

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

I've tried low-acid coffee, and that hasn't solved the problem. I'll have to try the salt. But on another day. I've had too much coffee today as it is.