Do you add sugar to your espresso?

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.

Do you add sugar to your espresso?

Yes
39
19%
No
128
64%
Sometimes
34
17%
 
Total votes: 201

vitomatt
Posts: 59
Joined: 16 years ago

#1: Post by vitomatt »

I use sugar. I find that for me it completely enhances the taste. I know it may not be the purist route but without it, I find even the best espresso (Ritual, Intelligentsia, Blue Bottle, Leftist, Verve, Fresco etc) is too bitter. This is true for me even when the shots are pulled at their shops... and not just with my home set-up.

So, I'm curious - how many here use sugar???

Thanks!

Matt

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Bob_McBob
Posts: 2324
Joined: 15 years ago

#2: Post by Bob_McBob »

Back in the day, I used to not even like cappuccinos and lattes that were unsweetened. I still drink most vac pot coffee with milk. I am working myself up to drinking mostly drinking straight espressos, but I still have a lot more Americanos (black). I don't ever sweeten coffee anymore, especially steamed milk drinks (steamed milk has natural sweetness). Ordering fresh roasted coffee, then roasting at home, always using a vac pot, and finally ordering my own espresso machine really opened up my eyes to how lousy most of the coffee I'd experienced before was.

My brother refuses to touch any drink that has more than a splash of coffee in a huge cup of milk, syrup, caramel, and whipped cream. I have to make up a little batch of simply syrup whenever he visits. He hates coffee to the point that he's not even willing to try it most of the time. I got him to sip a cappuccino made with a pretty much perfect shot of 5 day old Liquid Amber today, and he said the only flavour he can taste is "bitter". Quote: "It tastes like coffee: bitter. That's what coffee is supposed to taste like." :roll:
Chris

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drdna
Posts: 330
Joined: 16 years ago

#3: Post by drdna »

Yes, there are folks that like the flavor of coffee and those that don't. I find that those that don't will always say it is too bitter. I recall there was a study that looked at the number of taste buds people have on there tongues. It varies a lot, and the folks with a lot of taste buds don't like coffee much in general, presumably because the bitter flavor is intensified for them.

Then again, there will always be folks that enjoy bittersweet chocolate, aromatic bitters, and bitter flavors overall. To them (and me), it's more like: coffee, yes, it's bitter, well, but WHAT about the flavor?
Adrian

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David 23
Posts: 33
Joined: 15 years ago

#4: Post by David 23 »

For me it depends. I drink a lot of iced espresso with some milk. Normally I do not add any sweetener. For a straight shot of espresso, sometimes I add a little sweetener, but depends on the shot.
This summer in Italy, I drank a lot of espresso, at many different cafes, and noticed most customers adding sugar to their shots. The counters also had huge bowls of single serving sugar packets everywhere. I talked with a local guide about espresso, and he said most Italians rountinely add sugar to their shots. He suggested the reason so many Americans didn't like Italian coffee (espresso) while in Italy was that they thought it was not supposed to have sugar added, so they often drank it without, and consequently didn't like it.

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Bob_McBob
Posts: 2324
Joined: 15 years ago

#5: Post by Bob_McBob »

My brother will happily eat a bar of Lindt 99% chocolate. He's just been picky about some food since childhood. Most children don't like coffee very much, and I doubt he has ever had more than two or three sips since he first tried it back then (he's 25).
Chris

Bluegrod
Posts: 126
Joined: 16 years ago

#6: Post by Bluegrod »

Although I would never add sugar to an espresso, latte or capp I do for some reason enjoy my iced coffees a little sweet. I will usually add a squirt or two of hazelnut or similar torani syrup and for me that is just about perfect as far as sweetness goes.

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JmanEspresso
Posts: 1462
Joined: 15 years ago

#7: Post by JmanEspresso »

I used to use sugar in coffee all the time. But I was never a fan of the hot milkshakes that *$s and other places serve. Even tho i was drinking stale coffee back then, i still thought adding all that crap was bad, both for the taste, and for the coffee itself.

But oh how things have changed. Espresso and cappuccino dont get anything else added, except of course, the milk for cappas. Brewed coffee, in general, i drink black. But I have been known to add a dash of H&H now and then, depending on the particular blend/bean im brewing. Again, in general, those are coffees like Brazils, Sumatras, Maybe some Yemens.. IE, Beans I dont brew often. Something that has a lot of fruit and acidity..Stuff I DO brew often, I dont add milk to.. One Time I added only H&H to a really bright Kenyan.. I lost almost ALL the fruit, and the acidity did NOT mix well with the milk. But Its been a long time since Ive added sugar.

A friend of mine, who I roast coffee for now and then, likes coffee. He started out ordering Green Mountain online. Of all the coffee out there, Id have to say GM is probably the best of the worst. SOMETIMES when the order arrives, its fresh. Most of the time, its not. Hes been ordering from Gimme! for a while now, with my roasts filling in the gaps between his orders. He uses a press, has a faux, department store burr grinder, but the coffee is fresh. Funnily enough, he cannot live without his Venti Quad-Pump, Extra Shot, Vanilla Latte w/ Caramel Syrup. Hes a very close friend, but I have a good chuckle everytime i see him with one of those. Reason why I chuckle, is because his home-brewed Gimme! coffee, he ALWAYS drinks black...Says that sugar ruins the cup.

grong
Posts: 325
Joined: 18 years ago

#8: Post by grong »

I do not add sugar to my espresso, but enjoy your espresso any way you like!

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howard seth
Posts: 292
Joined: 18 years ago

#9: Post by howard seth »

I usually have 2 espressos in the morning. I tend to drink the first without sugar. Sometimes I add 1/2 teaspoon to the second cup - I like it both ways. Cappuccino's I usually add about a teaspoon.

Howard
Howie

SwingT
Posts: 217
Joined: 15 years ago

#10: Post by SwingT »

I don't enjoy any sugar, or sweeteners in espresso or coffee, nor does my wife.

I more often than not enjoy cappuccino over straight espresso - but more and more keep moving toward only espresso.

However, I figure that drink it how you like it - i
LMWDP #258

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