Coffee - do you and how do you consume it?

[pseudoid]

...before I get all twitchy and feel weird from overdosing on the caffeine...

Oh boy! This is a topic much covered, especially with concerns over energy drinks w/substantial amounts of caffeine (I have never even tried one single can).
Dial your search engine to "Caffeine Effects on the Cardiovascular System" and you will have to set a timer to force you to get up and exercise after a few hours of reading.
Does drinking (black-ish) teas have the same effect with your systems??

 

[Doodski]

Oh boy! This is a topic much covered, especially with concerns over energy drinks w/substantial amounts of caffeine (I have never even tried one single can).
Dial your search engine to "Caffeine Effects on the Cardiovascular System" and you will have to set a timer to force you to get up and exercise after a few hours of reading.
Does drinking (black-ish) teas have the same effect with your systems??

I can plow through the tea pretty good but when I was in Newfoundland where they realllly dig tea I had a overdose experience. They drink so much tea that the comedy group Kids in the Hall made a skit about tea.

 

[ryanosaur]

You keep telling us that you are a trained barista!
Unfortunately, this bitter topic is full of bitter controversies, which dig deeper than Barista graduate exam. Grad students write their Chemistry thesis on the subject matter that is complex. Yet, we can 'disagree' in a rudimentary manner, because (as with audio) there is both subjective and objective methods of analysis.
The simpler 'pro' argument for putting "salt in coffee" is posting something like this:
View attachment 246128
The much more complex discussion challenges the above pro argument {my relevant extract]:

I am not here to argue pro or con and I do have my own findings which seem to agree with the above extract but I be no barista graduate and don't have to be.

Casual espresso drinkers do not go too deep into what makes them like coffee and/or caffeine.
Of the 5 simplified categories of tastes (SSBSS: salty, sweet, bitter, sour, savory), I am venturing to guess that the middle B is the most detested of all tastes.
There are historical reasons for shunning bitter tastes, throughout human evolution.

We can all imagine how gross it may feel to step on warm dung with bare-feet… but the gravity of the actual event (when you really do step on that warm poop) is something totally other.
There is no argument in the person that can actually taste bitterness, acutely!

We may be at cross purposes, here... No argument is necessary. I'm not trying to persuade /convince you to change your mind. Yet you want to push me.

My experience is Food and Beverage, pure and simple, for near onto 35 years. My time as a Barista was a very small fraction of that overall experience which I pursued just for the fun of it. That you choose to call me out for mentioning that Barista experience is fair, and I apologize. I never meant to wave that around as some sort of flag of superiority. On the other hand, I don't recall once using that as a weapon to shut down further conversation. Rather I have asked advice despite that "flag."

I will say, the post you quoted, I didn't even once mention being a barista. I challenged you based on pure science as I have learned and understood it, as well as practiced it as a Chef and F&B Professional.

It's OK if we disagree.

But I will still defend what I have learned and experienced. Nothing in the post I wrote above, quoted by you, mentioned coffee. It doesn't need to. I bypassed numerous articles about Salt and Coffee. Instead, I expressed myself purely as me.
But for the paper you cited, I can refer you to this:

Sodium salts differentially suppress bitterness of these compounds; for example urea bitterness was suppressed by over 70% by sodium salts...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280021255_Suppression_of_Bitterness_Using_Sodium_Salts

Or perhaps this:

Potassium chloride (KCl) has proven useful as a salty taste replacer to help reduce dietary sodium. But unlike sodium, which in simple aqueous solutions blocks the perception of bitterness of selected compounds, KCl does not blocker bitterness...

Sodium, but not potassium, blocks bitterness in simple model chicken broths - PubMed

Potassium chloride (KCl) has proven useful as a salty taste replacer to help reduce dietary sodium. But unlike sodium, which in simple aqueous solutions blocks the perception of bitterness of selected compounds, KCl does not blocker bitterness. We tested the ability of potassium to block...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Beyond that, I know firsthand that a caramel... Burnt Sugar (by definition) is bitter. Salt changes that. How about Dark Chocolate (not that 60% stuff... but the REAL Dark Chocolate... is bitter, and Salt changes that.
How about Bitter Melon? A pinch of Salt on your Grapefruit and Honey?
*shrugs
This is all simple fact that can be repeatedly proven time and again.

And before I was ever working in a coffee shop...

I was putting Salt in really bad coffee like what I got from Starbuck's and Pete's... and so many other places that I can't begin to quantify.

You do not need to accept this as anything but just a post on an internet forum. I am not interested in changing you as a human. I would rather us be friendly and exist in this space together and continue to interact.

For you, I will make the effort to not mention again having been a trained barista.

(By the way, we don't graduate or get some certificate... we just get to pull shots for a wage +tips, serving a demanding public that wants something better than the competition provides.)

Cheers.

 

[Axo1989]

Salted dark chocolate is quite tasty.

 

[Doodski]

Salted dark chocolate is quite tasty.

I especially enjoy the crunchy salt granules as they explode with flavor with the chocO.

 

[FlyingFreak]

Morning fellow coffee drinkers!

Never put any salt in my coffee, will try later.

In the meantime, my coffee gears are a French press, a dripper and a Cafelat Robot.
I found myself spending a few month with one and then going to the other. While I am having a lot of fun brewing with all of 3 methods, I am able to produce much better results consistently using my dripper.
I prefer light roast, which might explain that.

 

[pseudoid]

Never put any salt in my coffee, will try later.

If you are going to try it; please use sparingly.
One tidbit factoid I posted earlier made mentions of using MSG rather than table salt. << Would you be willing to be our local 'lab rat'and try that first and report back? We do NOT have any (significant) data on results of introducing MSG to the "brew".
Yet, most of us seem to have our individual/strong opinions about salt-in-coffee but none exists for MSG.

 

[ryanosaur]

If you are going to try it; please use sparingly.

This!
It does not take much.

 

[Doodski]

If you are going to try it; please use sparingly.
One tidbit factoid I posted earlier made mentions of using MSG rather than table salt. << Would you be willing to be our local 'lab rat'and try that first and report back? We do NOT have any (significant) data on results of introducing MSG to the "brew".
Yet, most of us seem to have our individual/strong opinions about salt-in-coffee but none exists for MSG.

Om nom nom.. MSG... lol.

 

[pseudoid]

Which caused me to realize that I haven't used it in over 2 years.
Earlier today, I bought 100gm Peet's Ethiopian (dark - turkish ground) to try after dinner tonight.

Oh my! That was some good turkish (errrrr... ethiopian) coffee last night, after dinner.
I think I will add it to our weekly diet.
I did not even have to contemplate additives (like... salt).
I guess making the turk-style is like riding bicycles... you don't forget it.

 

[ryanosaur]

Ha!
Pure MSG is far from delicious.

What Is MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) and How Is It Used?

MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a food additive used in Asian cooking, packaged foods, and fast foods derived from sources such as seaweed and beets.

www.thespruceeats.com

 

[pseudoid]

Om nom nom.. MSG... lol.

Hey Doodski, I was serious.
MSG may indeed work )stemming bitterness( -- but results are unknown to me.
You had brought up the Chinese bitter-spices topic: There is much wider usage of MSG in their diet from my understanding.
...Short of GoldBond FootPowder!

 

[Doodski]

Hey Doodski, I was serious.
MSG may indeed work )stemming bitterness( -- but results are unknown to me.
You had brought up the Chinese bitter-spices topic: There is much wider usage of MSG in their diet from my understanding.
...Short of GoldBond FootPowder!

At the Chinese restaurant I worked at for ~2.5 years I used to bring up ~40 pound bags of MSG crystals in a heavy plastic bag from the basement storage area ~every month or two for the Chinese chef Ken. Busy busy Chinese restaurant. Lotsa MSG used and it was used for dishes that we enjoyed too. He let us compare food with and without and with was better, more tangy. He said one need experience to know how much to use as it is subjective.

 

[pseudoid]

My post #1577 with extract of an article stated the following:

...Umami-tasting Na + salts were also included in the present study because a comparison of the bitterness inhibition of several Na+ salts revealed that the umami tasting salts monosodium glutamate (MSG) and adenosine monophosphate (Na2AMP) were the most effective at inhibiting bitterness...

Hence the reason for suggesting someone to test MSG and report back. I would have asked @ryanosaur but I am afraid he is mad at me!

 

[dlaloum]

Hmmm - on the topic of salt.... late 19th century French coffee, had a secret ingredient.... butter.

One does wonder if perhaps that butter was salted rather than sweet?

A small dab of butter would give richness (being basically concentrated cream!) - and if the salt has an impact on bitterness...

 

[FlyingFreak]

Alright, after reading pseudoid invitation, I drove to my local Asian grocery store and got me a bag of MSG.

I then did my usual pour over recipe and served 3 cups.
One with a tiny pinch of salt, one with a tiny pinch of MSG and one without anything.
I want to emphasize here that I came in with no idea what sort of changes those substances where supposed to bring to my favorite beverage., nor did I have any desire for finding anything. I did this for the sole purpose of trying something out on this lazy Sunday afternoon.

Back to the experiment:

I let the 3 cups cool a little to give myself the best chance to taste differences if there was any for me to taste.

I tried desperately to find a difference but every time I went back to my control cup, I found everything I thought I had tasted in the salt or MSG cup.
Thinking I must have been too conservative, I added another tiny pinch of salt and MSG in their respective cups.
This time I could taste the difference without needing to go back to the control cup. Both the salt and MSG cups were undrinkable.

Conclusion from your lab rat on this experiment: inconclusive.

I might try again with espresso where I think the supposed effect of adding either salt or msg will have a better chance of shining. Not today though, I reached my maximum coffee intake of the day.

 

[Doodski]

Alright, after reading pseudoid invitation, I drove to my local Asian grocery store and got me a bag of MSG.

I then did my usual pour over recipe and served 3 cups.
One with a tiny pinch of salt, one with a tiny pinch of MSG and one without anything.
I want to emphasize here that I came in with no idea what sort of changes those substances where supposed to bring to my favorite beverage., nor did I have any desire for finding anything. I did this for the sole purpose of trying something out on this lazy Sunday afternoon.

Back to the experiment:

I let the 3 cups cool a little to give myself the best chance to taste differences if there was any for me to taste.

I tried desperately to find a difference but every time I went back to my control cup, I found everything I thought I had tasted in the salt or MSG cup.
Thinking I must have been too conservative, I added another tiny pinch of salt and MSG in their respective cups.
This time I could taste the difference without needing to go back to the control cup. Both the salt and MSG cups were undrinkable.

Conclusion from your lab rat on this experiment: inconclusive.

I might try again with espresso where I think the supposed effect of adding either salt or msg will have a better chance of shining. Not today though, I reached my maximum coffee intake of the day.

I need a coffee now after reading this... lol. Going to try it with some salt.

 

[ryanosaur]

Y'all are cracking me up! Again, some more.

 

[Doodski]

Alright! I tried a nice Italian bean made pretty dark and then drank 2/3 of the beer mug of coffee and then added salt. It tastes zippy and tangier with a pleasing taste on the tongue when the coffee is first drunk. It's not bad at all with a little little pinch of salt.

 

[pseudoid]

got me a bag of MSG.

before reading the rest of your post, I must admit this statement made me LMAO.
You could have easily gone to a Chinese restaurant and just ask them for a dash of you know what...