Reader Poll: How do you take your coffee?

by Caitlin

My first real job (as in, not babysitting, but actually using my social security number and getting a fancy check) was working at a coffee shop. It helped fuel my burgeoning taste for coffee. I was 15. (Or 14? Maybe 14. I was on that job as soon as I was legally allowed to work.)

 
Hey, here's where I worked! Where my Rhode Islanders at? You know they've reopened a few locations? This picture was taken last summer.

I started drinking coffee regularly in high school, in part because of this job. Writing that out seems kind of crazy, but it didn't at the time. Coffee was cool. (I guess?) I took my coffee various ways in high school, but I distinctly recall that at one point I took it with (prepare to judge me) 8 sugars (OMFG) and half skim milk. Disgusting. 

It evolved over the years. I drank it in college with milk (occasionally cream) and a far more reasonable amount of sugar -- maybe a teaspoon or two. Out of school I continued to drink it this way. As the years went by I eventually cut out sugar completely. Somehow during this time, my husband went from using lots of sugar and dairy-free powdered creamer (ew.), to taking it black. I was in no way ready to drink my coffee black, and didn't see myself ever going there. 

You can see where this is going, yes? I now drink my coffee black, 90% of the time. I don't even really remember how it happened. I seem to recall slowly cutting back on the amount of milk in my cup and here I am. We make our coffee at home and between the two of us we drink a pot every day, black. I just LIKE the taste of coffee. Well, good coffee. If I get a coffee out and it's not that great, I add a splash of milk (and maybe a sugar, if it's iced).

As a kid I always remember my grandmother drinking her coffee black, and I just couldn't understand how anyone could do that. Does this mean I'm also going to start playing bridge and discussing my bursitis with anyone who'll listen?  I guess our tastes really do change over time. That Bess Eaton iced coffee I had last summer after a ten year hiatus was nowhere near as good as I remember.

So readers, I'm curious. Tell me, how do you take your coffee? Has it changed over the years?

Photo from jacksonscoffeeandgelato.com

Comments

[Reading (and chickens)]

Black or (again, if not that good) with a splash of (almond or soy) milk.

[Kristabella]

I love it light and sweet. Which is not good for my waistline.

I've actually switched to almond milk, which is not the same as cream. But, more Paleo-friendly.

I read an interesting thing about coffee, though. Someone said that if you say "I can only drink coffee this way or that way" then you don't really like coffee. You're using it as a crutch. If you can stand it black, then you LIKE coffee.

But look, I need that crutch unless my job lets me come in at 11 AM. :)

[Em]

Whenever I would have coffee in college I would add milk and sugar. My mom has always drank hers black and I couldn't understand it. I don't drink coffee too regularly (only one cup a day when I do have some) but I drink it black 99% of the time.

[nicole]

I also started drinking it in high school, while working at a coffee shop! Latte's only then, through college working my way to cream and sugar and over the year have evolved to loving it black. I love coffee... but it's also my crutch. Without the coffee, I think I'd be a mess!

[Angela (@Aferg22)]

Two creams and two sugars. I need to cut the bitterness. I don't drink it that often, but it is so good after a nice dinner. My coffee consumption is about to increase because Pumpkin Spice Lattes are now available. Yum!

I remember people always told me "Oh, you will drink coffee once you get to college/grad school/a real job!" but that never happened. Once, in college, I was pulling an all-nighter before a biochem test, and I took a big huge mug (like one of those hospital mugs you get to drink water out of), added two hot chocolate packets and filled it up with coffee. Kept me going until about 5 am!

[Julie]

OMG Bess Eaton. Got me through many a night at URI. But, dude, are they not doing crushed ice in the iced coffee and not in the sweet styrofoam-kill-the-environment cups? Cause I would make the trek for that ish, but not for reg ice cubes and plastic that I can get at one of the 153687634153676815686 DD's here in MA.

[Hillary]

Black, always black.

[J]

I like a nice breve, with approximately two packets of splenda. I need to cut all that out...I am suspicious of the splenda...but oh, the pain. I love the whole experience of coffee, making it, holding the warm mug, etc. Even hot tea is just not the same to me. I can't figure why, but it isn't. There is something more brusque about coffee that is so appealing. Tea always seems polite and dainty somehow, not bracing like coffee can be.

[Rebecca]

I had a very similar transition to black coffee. I started in high school with iced mochas and gradually scaled that back until I ended up with black coffee or a black iced americano. If I am out to breakfast on the weekend, as a treat I will add real cream if it is available. Otherwise, always black.

[sarah]

Oh yeah, I don't like coffee like that. I read a quote somewhere that Starbucks took people that like whipped cream and convinced them that they like coffee. That's sort of me.
I'm sensitive to caffeine, so full-on coffee would be bad news bears for me. But I like being awake and functional, and hear that in moderate doses coffee and chocolate are good for you. So I make my own chocolate syrup, cold brew coffee, and make homemade frappucchinos every morning. Or actually, the night before. I use mason jars on the blender, so I COULD make a week's worth, and store them in the fridge to grab, fill with ice, blend & go.

This is more information than you are asking for. Whoops.

[H]

I went the opposite direction, kind of. I went from black with a little sugar to pure stevia and homemade creamer (got that idea from Food Lush but I use evaporated milk as the base). I drink a lot of coffee (too embarrassed to admit how much publicly) because I work at home and it keeps me out of the pantry. Also, I need the caffeine and to stretch out the coffee to caffeine ratio, I make it 1/2 caf-1/2 decaf.

[Jesabes]

I like black coffee and will certainly drink it that way, but I'm a latte girl. Decaf, nonfat lattes.

[Sarah]

I've gone back and forth since college, I started out with sweet lattes and in grad school I switched to black coffee all the time. Since having kids (I craved SUGAR during both pregnancies) I now prefer a lightly sweetened coffee drink, iced or hot. Come to think of it, my taste in wine has kind of evolved in the same way, sweet to dry and now I like sweet/sparkling. Hmmm.

[Caitlin]

These comments are great!

Sarah, I'm coming to your house for a homemade latte. Zach & I have gotten hooked on cold brew this summer, and those sound like perfection!

J, I love the whole coffee experience, too. Tea is also a very different experience in my mind -- for coziness, cold evenings, relaxing, chatting. Coffee is always With Purpose. Brusque! Yes! Tea...is not. This totally makes sense to me.

[Swistle]

I started drinking coffee when I worked at a doughnut shop. I used to take it half hot chocolate, half coffee!

I now drink it differently depending on mood. Sometimes black. Sometimes cream and sugar. Sometimes with flavored sweetened creamer. Sometimes just cream. Sometimes just milk. I think the only way I never take it is just sugar, now that I think about it.

[Caitlin]

Julie, STILL cruchsed ice, thank Cheesus. But I think they did get rid of the styrofoam. One the one hand I'm glad. On the other hand it's just not the same!

[Eli]

I'm with you. If it's quality coffee, I take it black. In high school, I always drank black coffee because I wanted to be a badass (it worked.) Now, one cream and one sugar if it's from Dunkins or another sub-par-convenience store-level pot.

[Michael Brown]

Black. Blacker. Blackest.
Strong. Stronger.Strongest
Awake. Alert. Wired.

[Jessica]

Black with three sugars (for 10oz, I don't bother with 8oz of coffee), usually. I have cut back on my crazy sugar consumption elsewhere in life (even the gummies which is INSANE to me. I LOVE THE GUMMIES) but coffee needs to be sweet. Unless it's flavored? Then it's black with one sugar usually.

But! Exception Starbucks. There it's Soy Dirty Chai (I'd prefer Coconut Milk GET ON THE BANDWAGON ALREADY) or Soy Caramel Mac.

[Peacelovemath]

If we're talking plain, good, fresh-brewed coffee, I have taken mine with a generous dose of half&half (or whole milk in a pinch) but no sugar for as long as I've tolerated coffee. For some reason, I hate the taste of sugar in coffee. But paired with a sweet food I love. And at a good coffee shop, I love me a Black & White mocha, which is plenty sweet. But no sugar ever ever ever in my regular coffee, please!!

[Tessie]

I grew up in a house where there was ALWAYS coffee on, and everyone I knew drank it black (good ole MN farm families). Also, it was a rural area, so no coffee shops. I don't think I even REALIZED that cream/sugar was such a...THING until I was in college.

I still like it black for the most part, but I do appreciate a little cream or coconut cream (or BAILEYS) from time to time. Anything sweet (EXCEPT BAILEYS) feels wrong to me...like it masks the real flavor of coffee, which I love.

[Sarah Anne @ fear-no-food.net]

I was really trying to think about how in drink coffee as I read your post and your comments. I came to the conclusion, much like Swistle, I just drink it.

Lattes. Cappucinos. With milk, sugar, cream, soy. A shot of syrup sometimes. Americanos w/ a dash of sugar. Iced w/soy. Flavoured lattes. Black. Black with sugar. Sometimes with hot chocolate. Mochas. Honestly in every way possible.

I am also kind of a coffee snob. (Much like me and sushi!). My preference changes drastically depending on where I am getting it, or what kind of coffee I have at home. Even how I brewed it! Starbucks always seems burned. Bitter. Acidic. So sugar happens. My favourite local place has the creamiest foam and best crema so...lattes or Americanos. Black or w/ a bit of cream. Iced almost always have a shot of something. I had to give up coffee for a while due to heartburn/acid issues but I'm back and cold brew is a delicious, delicious godsend. I doubt I'll brew hot much anymore.

All that rambling aside, I'd kill for a DD french vanilla iced coffee. Memories!

[regan]

I started drinking high school in 9th grade (I blame it for my lack of height) and I preferred it black back then.

I think around 11th grade I moved to iced coffee with whatever milk the coffeeshop added to it (back then, at least in NOLA, iced coffee always had milk and I think it was almost always whole) and I stayed on that track for a while. If I had to drink hot coffee I added milk and faux sugar.

In January I switched to unsweetened almond milk for weight loss reasons and now I drink iced coffee with that. If I'm out and can't have almond milk, I drink my coffee black. My tastes have changed so much that coffee with any kind of sweetness is too much for me.

[Erica]

Coffee WAS cool in the 90s! I started drinking cappuccinos when I was 14 because I was the COOLEST. And I worked at the Coffee Beanery at the mall (COOLEST!) when I was 19. Now I usually drink it black. During the summer we've been cold-brewing it. Sometimes a splash of milk. Never sugar.

[J]

Yes! Caitlin-- Thank you for both affirming my statement and also helping me say it even better than I could in my own mind. :)

Tea is totally like cozy times and chats with family and friends. Coffee is grad school papers and ohmahlord it's early but I am gonna HIT this day and get everything done on my to-do list etc. I used to bribe myself/negotiate with myself before work: "If you get up now and get on the road early, I'll buy you a Starbucks" Worked nearly every time. :)