While making my morning coffee it struck me that a dash of milk reduces the bitterness in coffee, yet the same amount of water doesn’t dilute the coffee as much, so got to thinking, what is it in milk that lessons the bitterness in coffee? I did a google search and was met with “X best ways to reduce bitterness in coffee” which didn’t help.
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In bio chemistry, most sugars end with “ose” (glucose, fructose, lactose)…
Lactose(present in milk) is a milk-sugar, so basically when you add milk you’re adding a type of sugar
It does, but I have found milk in coffee makes coffee breath WAY worse. Use creamer or a pinch of salt. Or both, like me.
probably because it changes the proportions of caffeine in your cup compared to the amount of everything else like milk or water.
Put cinnamon or cinnamon sugar on the grounds before you brew it, and put a drop of vanilla extract in your coffee when it’s ready Also, you can buy those Flavored syrups that the gas stations have where the coffee is (hazelnut, French vanilla, caramel and blueberry). Heck, before the pandemic, the WaWa’s had these really tiny marshmallows that would melt in the coffee. Since the marshmallows disappeared, I’ve substituted those with whip cream, lol.
Also, make extra coffee, fill an empty ice cube tray and freeze it for coffee cubes that cool your next few batches without diluting it.
The bitter taste of coffee is acidic. Milk is a base. Acid vs base, the base neutralizes the acid.
Much like drinking milk, or eating sour cream after eating hot peppers.
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Next time, try a dash of salt. It reduces bitterness better than milk. I know it sounds crazy. Try it.
Imagine bitter taste like spikey shaped things. The fats in milk sort of wrap these up in a bubble that keeps the spiky bits from making things taste bitter.
This also works for cholate.
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There are compounds in tea which are commonly referred to as “Tannins” and they can be bitter. The proteins in milk interact with those tannins in such a way that they no longer “fit” into the taste receptors which signal bitterness.
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