The Viral Coffee Hack That Makes Bitter Coffee Taste Sweeter and Costs Almost Nothing
In 2020, the whipped instant coffee trend took over social media. Then came protein coffees and nitro cold brews. Now, a healthier trend has taken social media by storm: adding salt to your cup of coffee. A lot of people complain about coffee's bitterness, but fans of this salty twist say it smooths the flavor while emphasizing other notes. Many even swap salt for cream and sugar entirely, cutting back calories without sacrificing taste.
Clearly, salt isn’t just for seasoning food. When used sparingly, it balances flavor. In coffee, a pinch of salt can neutralize bitterness by interacting with taste receptors on your tongue without masking flavor the way sugar or cream can.
"You have thousands of taste buds in your tongue responsible for recognizing the five basic tastes: sweet, salt, bitter, sour, and umami. Salt can amplify all of them, except bitterness," says Karan Rajan, MBBS. "When you taste bitterness, your taste buds actually release calcium ions. Salt actually overrides this biology to help mask the bitterness in the coffee and at the same time, amplifies the sweetness."
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You can either add it to your coffee filter with the grounds prior to brewing, or simply sprinkle a pinch into a fresh cup. It’s an especially smart trick if you’re trying to cut back on liquid calories and skip out on the sugar-packed creamers and lattes from the drive-thru.
By switching to black coffee with a pinch of salt, you can enjoy your daily cup without any guilt, and even reap some health perks. Studies have found that drinking black coffee may lower your risk of type 2 diabetes and help protect against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
For anyone who loves coffee but hates the bitterness, a pinch of salt might just be the easiest and cheapest hack yet. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
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