8 Things To Put In Your Coffee To Make It Taste Even Better
Coffee is one of my favorite beverages to drink! Coffee hits the spot and helps me to wake up in the morning. I have been drinking coffee for years. I have often wondered is there anything more I could do to make my coffee taste even better than it already does? So I went to research. So, here
I discovered there are so many things you can add to coffee to give it an even better taste. Sometimes you need to change it up, and the coffee additives I found could be just what your coffee needs!
You can put many things in your coffee to make it taste better. I believe I have found eight additives that you will love and make your coffee taste great. You can add cardamom to your coffee. This is a spice with a flavor similar to ginger. Other things to add to your coffee include cinnamon, vanilla extract, coconut milk, ginger, peppermint oil, cocoa powder, and cayenne. These are all unique items that can cause you to have an absolutely great cup of coffee if added in the proper amounts.
In this post, I will be going deeper into what I learned about each of these additives in coffee. I will also answer additional questions you may have on what things you should look for to find quality coffee, different ways to brew your coffee for a better taste, how to improve on other varieties of coffee, and more.
Add These Things to Your Coffee to Make It Taste Great!
This is not an exhaustive list of things you can add to your coffee. In my research, I found so many things that you could add to your coffee, from everyday items like creamer all the way up to butter. In this post, I have included the most interesting things that could be added to your coffee and provide some health benefits!
1. Cardamom
One of the first items I found that can be added to coffee is actually a spice called cardamom. It is in the ginger family of spices and has a flavor similar to ginger. Those in the Middle East are very familiar with this spice and practice adding it to their coffee.
2. Cinnamon
Next, you can add cinnamon to your coffee. This can be achieved by brewing your coffee with a cinnamon stick or adding cinnamon. Cinnamon is high in antioxidants; it helps reduce inflammation, sugar, and triglyceride blood levels. Cinnamon has manganese, iron, and calcium. It helps boost your immune system.
3. Vanilla Extract
You can add vanilla extract to your coffee. This will give your coffee the flavor of coffee creamer (without the extra fat). This is a brain superfood. It can help you boost your mental performance and mood.
4. Coconut Milk
You can add coconut milk to your coffee. This is a low-calorie milk substitute; you can also add vanilla extract to make a low-calorie creamer. Coconut milk has vitamins C, E, B, antioxidants, magnesium, and iron.
5. Ginger
Next, you can add ginger. This will give your coffee a unique flavor, but it also can help you with gas, bloating, arthritic pain, and inflammation.
6. Peppermint Oil
Peppermint oil is another additive that can be added to your coffee. Peppermint oil is anti-inflammatory and helps with digestion and nausea. You can also add cocoa powder to your coffee for a rich flavor.
7. Cocoa Powder
You add the cocoa powder before brewing your coffee. Cocoa powder can help lower your blood pressure and increase blood vessel function.
8. Cayenne Pepper
Lastly, you can add a distinct flavor to your coffee by adding cayenne. This addition may be more of a health benefit than anything else. The main ingredient in cayenne, capsaicin, helps with energy burning by activating receptors in your cells to help with obesity prevention. Capsaicin can also help improve circulation and boost heart health. The eight additives I just mentioned are just the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to additives to your coffee. Be adventurous and try some of these things out. Some not only make your coffee taste better but also have significant health benefits!
Other Ways to Brew Better Coffee
Other ways to make your coffee taste better do not involve additives. Sometimes we just have to update the way we brew our coffee to get a better cup! One way to get a better brew of coffee is to use fresh whole coffee beans. If you grind your coffee right before drinking it, you will get the most flavor from your coffee beans. Use a scale to measure the proper amount of beans per water ratio. Next, you can utilize a Burr grinder to get a good grind for your coffee beans. When you grind, having the correct settings is essential. Another Item to watch is your water. Are you using filtered water to brew your coffee? Your water’s taste might be adding to the flavor of your coffee. Also, you need to make sure that your water is at the right temperature to extract the best flavors out of the coffee beans. Lastly, thoroughly saturate your coffee. Make sure all of the ground coffee is in contact with the water for the same amount of time. These are just a few tips that could improve the taste of your coffee without adding anything extra to it!
How Do You Determine Good Coffee Quality?
Another item that can affect the taste of your coffee is your coffee quality. A few things which can affect the coffee’s quality are the time since the coffee was roasted. You want this to be under two weeks. The time since grinding should be under two hours. The cleanliness of your brewing equipment will also affect the quality of your coffee. Other things to consider are the coffee bean quality and water quality. It must have the proper mineral content. Supermarket coffee is often not the freshest due to the way it must be packaged and the length of time to get it on store shelves. Your best bet is getting your coffee beans from a local coffee house. Grinding your coffee beans is another way to get the best-tasting cup of coffee. Ground coffee only lasts a few hours and must be sealed in a valve-seal bag. Other characteristics for evaluating coffee are based on flavor, body, aroma, acidity, sweetness/bitterness, and aftertaste.
How Do I Improve on Other Varieties of Coffee?
There are many other varieties of coffee, such as dark roast, espresso, decaffeinated coffee, and cold brew. Each of these varieties has its own distinct taste and flavor. Some of the techniques I mentioned earlier in this post will also work with these varieties of coffee. You would just have to adjust based on the method of brewing. When it comes to decaffeinated coffee, you would need to be aware of the process of decaffeination and make sure no harmful chemicals are being used. In each of these coffee varieties, you can also add some of the additives mentioned above to make a better cup of coffee. This is where your imagination and experimentation can come in!
Related Questions
Is it better to make coffee at home or purchase it?
It depends. To get the best-tasting coffee, brewing at home might be best (if you know what you are doing). However, if you do not have the time to patience for that, your best bet might be to find a great coffee house in your local area. Coffee is generally sold cheaper when you purchase the beans and make it from home. Another benefit to making your coffee at home is that you will use less sugar than a purchased cup of coffee. Coffee shops typically have hidden sweeteners and sugars in their coffee recipes. At home, you know exactly what is going into your cup of coffee. You would have to weigh the costs and benefits of making coffee at home or purchasing it based on your unique situation.
How do I know if I have good quality coffee if I purchase it from a store?
There is no guaranteed way of knowing if your store-purchased coffee is good quality. To get coffee to the store, a number of things must take place to maintain quality, and there is no real way for you to know if all those things took place before they reached store shelves. We know that coffee is best if ground yourself and brewed within a couple of hours of grinding. Also, you might not get the best quality coffee beans from a grocery store. Your best option is to find a local coffee roaster or coffee house and purchase your coffee beans. Doing that will enable you to speak directly to the coffee roaster handling your coffee and ask the appropriate questions to evaluate the coffee’s quality.
What are some ways to make my coffee healthier?
We discussed an assortment of additives in this post which all have varying degrees of health benefits. The easiest way to make your coffee healthier is to be careful with the amount of added sugars and sweeteners. There are healthier options that can enable you to have a healthier cup of coffee. Instead of sugar, you can use a sugar substitute; you can add cocoa powder or even vanilla extract, as mentioned in this post, to create a lower-calorie and healthier cup of coffee.
