I want to take baby steps into IF and I decided to start my morning trying black coffee instead with creamer/milk. How did you make the switch? Any tips on making black coffee bearable?
It is an acquired taste that you have to just keep doing until one day you go ‘wholly S?!&, why did I put so much crap in my coffee before’.
Good coffee is worth it and you will get that when drinking it black. A pinch of Himalayan salt can help with bitterness, but good coffee should never be bitter. We buy Cometeer coffee (subscription) and it is by far the best coffee I’ve ever tasted and I won’t go back.
Consider trying cold brew.
The process of brewing coffee at cold temperatures extracts far fewer of the astringent/bitter compounds that people find objectionable - especially if they’re drinking it black. You don’t need single origin beans, hand harvested by orphan lepers with dysentery or any overpriced, fancy equipment - just decent coffee beans, water, a big pitcher, a coffee grinder, some kind of filter, and time.
It’s worth a shot - especially if you’re a cold coffee lover like me. Of course, if you’re some kind of psycho that likes hot coffee 😉, there’s nothing stopping you from making cold brew and warming it up in the microwave…
I’ve been drinking my coffee black for years. I like medium roast myself but there are many different brands and roasts to try. Also I use filtered water not tap water. A quality bean and water can make a big difference in taste.
I believe conventional wisdom is to try to cut the bitterness with a pinch of salt.
I’m sticking with half & half in my coffee. It’s only 40 calories and everything I have read indicates it’s not likely to disrupt my fast.
You’ve got to enjoy something, and a nice cup of hot coffee in the morning that tastes good is important to me.
Try different/better coffee, if it doesn’t say where its from its usually Columbian (they are the largest producer of coffee). There are charts for bitter/acid/etc for different type of coffee. I tend to go for a light to medium roast, my favorites are Kona, Jamaica mtn blue, Tanzanian Peaberry, Bali blue is also good.
IMO, drinking higher quality fresh coffee makes a huge difference when drinking it black. My favorite brand for this is Devocion coffee and they specifically designed their supply chain to have a super fast turn around from coffee farm to roasted bean. This fast timeline is important because a lot of beans that have been sitting around are stale, so no matter how “good quality” they are, they’ll taste weird.
What: Coffee is great for IF! It kicks energy level up, suppresses hunger, promotes a clearing of the lower digestive tract. And… Ideally a satisfying flavor and feeling of satiation. But, it may not be for everyone… initially.
Why: So, it like many foods/drinks (like beer, dry wine, tea, etc.) is something of an acquired taste. So the first few times you have it it may not hit the sweet, salty, fatty, umami parts of your pallet that immediately make it pleasurable. There’s a certain nuance you become accustomed to and appreciative of over time.
How: So the first thing you want to do is buy a bunch of different kinds of coffee. High grade ones that are popular and have good reviews. Try them repeatedly and find the one that’s best to you. Individual preference may vary so you need to find what you personally like. Personally I find Dunkin’s the best flavor for it’s price point, but others may disagree with me. Try at least 3-5 types with a different one every day in a cycle until you find the one you like best with the types you’ve bought. You may find other commenters offering their favorites which may be worth checking out. You may be surprised how good some can be compared to the cheaper mass produced staple coffees many people drink. Also make sure your coffee maker is clean! if it’s dirty it’ll taint the flavor pretty bad. A lot of people don’t know how good coffee can be since their office coffee maker is filthy and everything that comes out of it tastes like it was brewed in an ash tray. I use a French press I rinse out every day. Also different extraction methods can impart different profiles.
Lastly, if you want to ease into it, try Stevia which is a 0 calorie sweetener. It’s basically a sugar the human body can’t metabolize. Though, also keep in mind many things can be legally labeled as 0 calories if they’re below 5. For the purposes of fasting this should be fine unless you’re consuming extremely large volumes of coffee and/or stevia. However I’d say it’s worth taking the time to appreciate good plain coffee if you’re a regular consumer of it.
* Also I must add, check out James Hoffmann’s Channel for coffee related stuff. He has a lot of insight to share.
Don’t use instant. I brew fresh coffee every morning using fresh ground beans. I know not everybody has the time, but it has become my little morning ritual to start the day. I used to use a V-60 but upgraded to a Chrmex pourover since everybody in the house wants a cup now too.
When I first switched to black - diet plan I was on required it and I though I’d never manage - somebody told me to put an ice cube in the hot coffee because it “cures the bitterness”. I don’t know that makes a bit of sense but at least it cooled it off a bit. And I did it and still drink it black and prefer it that way now. So who knows!
I make cold brew concentrate now - super easy, no bitterness, no pods or paper filters, lasts forever, can drink hot or cold. The concentrate made from 1 lb. Of freshly ground beans last me for a week or two (2-3 cups of hot coffee a day, usually) Originally i did like milk in my coffee but just kinda had to make the switch to black and I got used to it pretty quickly. I find lots of chain’s coffees super bitter or charred-tasting (starbucks, caribou, dunkin…) so I love the cold brew even more.
Get an Aeropress. ($40.00 on Amazon) ( Hoffman ultimate Areopress technique video here https://youtu.be/j6VlT_jUVPc) It makes single cup servings. Find a local roaster. Ask them to grind “not quite espresso fine” (or better yet get a high quality hand grinder ($200-300). Then start to experiment with different roasts and origins. Interest breeds enjoyment. Remember that when it comes to coffee it’s all about the grinder (best hand grinders Hoffman video https://youtu.be/dn9OuRl1F3k) Coffee made like this will be so much better than Keurig or Nespresso, however “Beware the coffee/ espresso rabbit hole”
I drink coffee black during my fasts but I can’t say I’ve ever come to like the taste of it at all. Anything with tannins tastes like paint stripper to me. I just drink a cup slowly through the morning, I appreciate the ritual of it so I keep doing it, which probably says things about my priorities.
During my eating windows my coffee is more like caffinated honey and cream, so I’m not really the target audience for black coffee or tea 😅
One thing that helped me (and is kind of counterintuitive) is brewing it a little bit stronger than normal. I always tried to do it a little weaker when I was trying to do black because I thought it would make it more bearable. But honestly, weak coffee is nasty. It doesn’t matter what brand. I’m not saying you need to make it like mud, but just adding a few more grounds to increase the coffee flavor makes it easier to taste the goodness.
It took me 3 months to reduce the sugar in my coffee from 3 teaspoons to none but now anything sweet in my coffee tastes weird. It could just take time and a slower reduction in cream or milk.
Also, it you add a pinch of salt to the coffee it tastes less bitter. I tried it and it works.
Coffee has been one of the biggest hurdles for me.
I -can- drink black coffee but I really -love- coffee with some half-and-half in it.
It’s really one of the best parts of my day.
Finding a coffee that I liked to drink black (I mostly use a Keurig) took some trial and error, but I started with a lighter roasts and moved my way up.
In the end I ended up moving my fasting window up a little bit so that I could have that cup of coffee with some half-and-half in it earlier in the day.
That’s really made fasting a lot easier for me.
I have yet to enjoy black coffee with nothing on it but I have found a way to make black coffee tolerable.
Mix it super weak so you have a giant mug of dark brown beverage that pretty much tastes like water. (Will be pissing a lot after)
Get instant coffee, mix it super strong. I use a ratio of about 1/2 tsp coffee mix to 1 tbsp hot water. You’ll end up with super black, murky gunk that you can just sip in one go and flush down with water to get rid of the taste.
Of these 2 methods I prefer and still do the second one.
I used to drink my coffee with cream and sugar, when I wanted to stop I found it easier to cut the sugar out first and drink my coffee with only creamer. Once I got used to that, I dropped the creamer. Now I can’t stand any kind of sweetener in my coffee. Baby steps!
There are a lot of unsweetened iced coffees available at the grocery store, try a few and see which ones you like. My husband does all the fancy coffee things when I want a hot cup of coffee at home, but at the office I use those instant coffee packets for convenience. So far I’m enjoying the ones from Blue Bottle and Verve.
You can do this!
Edit: If I were in your position I would try less and less milk/creamer in my coffee every day, until I got used to having my coffee black :)
Ive been drinking black for about ten years now… I actually did it gradually and it wasn’t because of IF.
I used to drink two cream, two sugar. Then I didn’t want to take in so much sugar so I cut it down to one and eventually was just “coffee with cream.”
Then later a friend of mine told me about how you should be able to enjoy a good coffee with nothing added. So he actually made some with his French press and I really enjoyed it, he kinda guided me with the “because this is good, you may like x local popular brand, that’s familiar to it”
So I got that brand of coffee for a little bit, and drank it black. Now I’ll drink anything black, but tend towards darker roasts generally…
Costco has a really great Columbian roast. The taste between different coffee brands makes a huge difference. Read on the package how much coffee/per water so that you’re doing the correct ratio. Wrong ratio=sometimes bitter. Also, I’ve noticed that if I don’t drink the coffee in the pot right away it gets more bitter when it sits on the burner too long.
Used to hate all coffee. Then I started drinking super sugary and super creamy coffee. When I stopped hating it I started drinking mostly just coffee with a lotta cream (this is still my favorite). But I’ve grown to appreciate the taste of coffee so much that I enjoy it in pretty much any state, but I can no longer tolerate excess sugar
Many, many years ago (10+)I drank double double, I started by lowering the amounts slowly, and eventually black just became normal. Each decrease there’s a tough week to adapt
I did notice when I got a decent conical burr grinder it made the same coffee beans taste better. Used a regular grinder before. Freshly grind the beans. I use a French press to make the coffee. It really doesn’t take that long to make and the initial investment for the grinder and press is well worth it. Clean up is a breeze
Try it with a pinch of salt. I’m not joking. It reduces the bitterness.
TBH, the less enjoyable it tastes the less of it I drink, so I consider that a win-win. When I add my preferred whole milk to coffee, I can easily drink three or four cups. Now I’m adding a tablespoon of the weak almond milk and I can barely choke down one cup. That’s 100 fewer calories right there.
I could be an expert on this (not really).I am a cream queen, I LOVED really creamy coffee (and still do some times) so it was hard for me to make a switch to black coffee. I tried many times and I just could not get into the bitterness of black coffee. So when I started IF someone told me about cold brew and I switched to that. It took a bit to get used to still but it’s not as bitter, and a little smoother. In cold weather, I don’t like iced drinks as much though, so when winter hit I figured I would try black coffee again and I actually liked it! It helped me get used to the bitterness.You can also add a bit of salt to the coffee to make it a smoother taste (sounds weird but try it, it works!)
Start by drinking it. Then drink more.
In all seriousness what I did is cut back 1 scoop of coffee in a full brew. Every week I reduced it by a half tablespoon until I got down to a half tablespoon for a pot. Then I switched to green tea. 1 bag of green tea for 30 oz of water.
My life is no longer run by caffeine and I feel a ton better, Sleep better, Wake up easier and feel satisfied with no hunger issues in the am. The green tea tastes much better as well.
Highly recommend.
I know you said you’re choosing black, but I just wanted to say I’ve done IF 2 times after having babies and had cold brew with cream every morning and have still had great success if you don’t find a black option you like.
I’m never hungry in the morning for some reason. For me hunger gets me before bed. I just go to sleep then but in the morning I’m fine. I don’t drink coffee unless I’m out with friends. So maybe twice or tree times a month.
I just drink water really. Don’t really need anything else.