Need Help Tasting Coffee

Here is my question for coffee drinkers. How do you taste your coffee?

I am a newby coffee drinker and I usually pour these liquid creamers that have a bunch of different flavors. Like vanilla and pumpkin.

After I pour these creamers into my coffee, they taste pretty similar. I think the flavor of the creamer messes up the true taste of the coffee.

My coworker told me I had to drink it black. Nothing but the coffee in the cup.

Is this how you guys do it?

I like my sugar sweet.

When I first started drinking coffee at around 16-17 I loaded it down with cream and sugar. Just to make it sweet. A couple years went by and I was drinking it straight black, and have been since then. I can totally taste the difference in coffees.

Everything from gas stations, fast food, coffee houses, out of a can at home....they all taste different. I can even taste a major difference when I use tap water or bottled water in the auto-drip.

Very cool toothpick. I think I tried this once and it was really strong

I drink my coffee black! No cream. No sugar. I love the different tastes you get from different coffee beans and from different brewing methods and different grinds! Amazing!
That being said: Once in a while I think about when I was younger and I would go to a small cafe with my grandfather and have coffee and huevos rancheros. Grandpa would always put milk and sugar in his coffee and so would I. So now and then if I am at a small cafe, I put cream and sugar in my coffee and think about all the wonderful times I spent with my grandpa!
marty

If you're drinking crappy coffee then it doesn't matter what you put in it from a taste standpoint just to mask the burnt bad coffee...sugar, cream, syrups, whatever. Except you really shouldn't be drinking sugars and calories in your coffee.

If you're drinking halfway decent coffee, I suggest you drink your coffee coffee flavored (black). Decent coffee consumed straight up is how millions of us prefer our coffee and it is delicious and significantly healthier.

I put 20 grams of sugar in my coffee. Espresso or cappuccino or mokka, 20 grams. Tea as well. 20 grams.

Buy freshly roasted coffee, preferably from a 3rd wave roaster - Starbucks/Peet's burns their beans. Grind right before brewing. It will be a completely different experience.

Straight black for me. Still on the never ending quest for the perfect cup.

I drink mine black to enjoy the taste and avoid empty calories. Some situations might cause me to add cream or sugar, like drip coffee that has sat in a glass pot over a heated burner for a while or bad instant coffee, but I try to avoid those.

I grind my own, and use a pour-over method to brew it. I am also careful to buy my beans from several coffee coops that are roastung some amazing things. When coffee is roasted, ground and prepared in a careful manner, the taste can be like no other. I had a fresh cup of something from Mexico and the flavor profiles were straight out of a melon patch and an orange orchard - it was one of the best straight cups of coffee I ever had.

Great coffee can taste really amazing if it's prepared carefully and lovingly and will taste nothing like what you'll find at most chains or drive thrus. Search out a great roaster in your area and ask to have some demonstrations on brew methods - it's fun, and tasty too!

Usually with about 20 ml of light milk only. By keeping this constant, I can taste the differences between the coffees. If I add too much milk, the whole coffee then just tastes like sour milk, which is really what happens when the milk gets hot from the coffee - it goes off. I also have particular combinations depending on the type of coffee - dark one way, light another, and so on.

I like a good cup of coffee, but I'm really sensitive to caffeine. So I'm not that adventurous to try different coffees. I grind decaffeinated beans and use a Melitta, pour over. Not just because of the quality, but also because it is easier and quicker to clean than a auto drip or a French Press.

While I enjoy drinking it black, I also enjoy adding a teaspoon of pure maple syrup and a spot of skim milk on occasion.

99% black coffee. The other 1% is when I make iced coffee, I like it with some milk and sugar. Also, cafe sua da - it's meant to be taken with condensed milk.

My dad used to put cream in his coffee but only when he was in a restaurant. Never at home. And it wasn't because the coffee outside was bad, but because there was cream on the table. I don't know if it was some sort of Depression era thing or just fancy dining.

-jim

I enjoy the taste of coffee with whole milk in it (no sweetener just whole milk).

I DO NOT "cup" my roasts (though I probably should)

I evaluate my roasts black using the brew method I will be using the most (Bunn and Chemex).

I enjoy drinking what I roast with milk.

Anything you "ADD" to coffee will change/modify the taste (including just milk). You have to decide how you enjoy drinking your coffee and just enjoy it

I've never liked the taste of flavored creamers, but I've certainly had coffee where they would have been a welcome addition.

Out of habit, I like a little cream and sugar in my first morning cup. But afternoon or evening coffee I generally drink black. There are exceptions, but in general, I like to try the coffee first before adding anything. For example, most gas station coffee I find goes well with the addition of a bottle of Yoo-hoo

The only coffee that I always add sugar to (but no milk or cream) is Turkish coffee. But I add the sugar while brewing.

Truer words were never spoken. And, the recipe for Turkish coffee calls for sugar, does it not?

Mr Bob said:

I've never liked the taste of flavored creamers, but I've certainly had coffee where they would have been a welcome addition.

Out of habit, I like a little cream and sugar in my first morning cup. But afternoon or evening coffee I generally drink black. There are exceptions, but in general, I like to try the coffee first before adding anything. For example, most gas station coffee I find goes well with the addition of a bottle of Yoo-hoo

The only coffee that I always add sugar to (but no milk or cream) is Turkish coffee. But I add the sugar while brewing.

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CzechCzar said:

Truer words were never spoken. And, the recipe for Turkish coffee calls for sugar, does it not?

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Yes sir, sugar to taste during the brewing, and never add any after it's poured. It's really personal taste as to how much sugar, or if any at all. This is just my opinion, but I like going light on the sugar, especially if its a good blend.

I've always drank my coffee black because my folks drank it black. Coffee back when I was a kid was a dark and bitter brew that you learned to appreciate, but I've since found lighter roasted, sweeter coffees that can truly be enjoyed black. That being said, I don't begrudge anyone sugar, creamer, or what-have-you (a friend from Canada always adds maple syrup to her cappuccinos) and you should drink it how you like it.

For myself, I've found that as I've given up overly sweet soda drinks that I'm better able to taste and appreciate the more subtle flavors and aromas in coffee. I mostly drink water, coffee, and tea now. I've tried cupping coffee (at home for coffee's I've roasted and as a guest at professional cupping events) and it's a bit of a challenge to me especially the dry fragrance of ground coffee which always smell like graham crackers with lemon rind no matter what coffee I'm smelling. I'm hoping that with experience and confidence I can develop my sensory skills but know that I'm not that strong a taster and rely on hot sauces to cut through some of the dullness of my senses.

If it's not been said already, there's two tricks you can use with cupping or drinking coffee. One is to slurp your coffee from a spoon by inhaling sharply so that the coffee sprays and coats your mouth so that you can get the best experience of it. The other trick is that after you drink or inhale some coffee force the aroma into the back of your nose (retronasal) by kind of gulping. You can get a better sense of the aroma of foods and drinks with a retronasal smell.

Coffee I buy elsewhere always has sugar and/or cream in it. But the stuff I buy I like enough to usually drink it black, although I do not eschew cappuccinos.