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

[a-place-4-fae.livejournal.com]

What in the world made you think of putting baking soda in it? That's brilliant. Odd, but brilliant...

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

In chemistry there are (to simplify things a lot) acids and bases. Acidic things often taste sour, while basic (also called alkaline) things often taste bitter. If you combine an acid with a base, they neutralize eachother. If you've ever seen the experiment where you mix baking soda and vinegar, that's what you're doing.

So I knew I didn't like the acidic flavor of coffee, and that chocolate is basic, and guessed that the basic chocolate was neutralizing the acidic coffee. Baking soda is probably the most commonly used basic ingredient in the kitchen, so I decided to try it to see if it would work, and it did.