Sometimes, we can taste obvious bitterness in coffee. These bitter flavors generally come from two directions: one is over-extraction bitterness caused by too long extraction time or too strong extraction force; the other is the burnt bitter taste caused by over-dark roasting!
The darker the roast, the longer the coffee is heated, and the more caramelized substances are produced. Examples such as Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1, Front Street Indonesian Mandheling, Front Street Brazilian Cerato, and Front Street Colombian Cymbidium are all very suitable.Friends who pursue a mellow and burnt taste are generally more tolerant of sweet and bitter tastes, so as long as you follow the tutorial and do not over-extract the coffee, this type of coffee will perform well.
Two different levels of bitterness have completely different feelings, but this is a very unfriendly thing for people who cannot tolerate bitterness! So without wasting it, we need to change its bitter taste! Make it a more tolerable cup of coffee.
The traditional way is to add a lot of sugar to it, but a more unique way is to add salt! Both are great ways to improve bitterness. Therefore, the topic of our article today is: sugar or salt, which one can better improve the bitter taste of coffee! But before that, let’s review, where bitterness comes from!
Origin of bitterness
When the extraction force is too strong, an over-extracted bitter taste will occur! Too high water temperature, too fine grinding, and too long extraction time are all "suspects" of over-extraction! They all allow us to extract a lot of caffeine contained in coffee, as well as chlorogenic lactones, both of which are the main sources of bitterness.
In addition to over-extraction, there is also the bitterness caused by over-roasting! During the roasting process of coffee beans, substances in the body will undergo countless decomposition and polymerization reactions. The darker the roast, the more pronounced the burnt and bitter flavor becomes.
Why can sugar and salt improve bitter taste?
When we eat/drink a bitter food, we don’t directly feel the bitter taste! Instead, the taste buds first release calcium ions, conveying the "bitter" signal to the brain and activating the receptors that sense bitter taste, which allows us to feel the bitter taste. So in many cases, bitterness is the last taste perceived during the eating process.
The addition of salt blocks the transmission of bitter taste signals and reduces our perception of bitter taste. Sugar, on the other hand, relies on quantity to reduce the proportion of bitterness. Both can create a situation where the bitterness disappears, but in general, they just increase the perception of other flavors. We perceive more other flavors, and the bitterness is naturally "ignored"!
After knowing the principle, let us start the comparison. Take a look at sugar or salt, which one will improve the bitter taste of coffee better?
Experimental comparison
As mentioned above, bitter coffee can be obtained in two ways: over-extracted or dark roasted. So... want it all on Front Street! Wouldn’t it be more bitter to make a pot of over-extracted coffee with dark roasted beans? Come on, get the parameters!
Using Beans: Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling
Use weight: 15g
Grinding scale: 10 scale of Ek43 (normal is 11 scale)
Pink to water ratio: 1:15
Brewing water temperature: 92°C (normal is 88°C)
Brewing method: three-stage
Use filter cup: Kono
Although the parameters are listed, please do not imitate them, because these parameters will cause over-extraction and are not suitable for daily brewing! So, let’s start brewing. Since this is a negative case, we won’t go into details about the process!
The brewing time is 2 minutes and 30 seconds, and the total coffee liquid obtained is 200ml. We divide it into four equal portions, each portion is 50ml. Add an appropriate amount of salt water to one cup, and add an appropriate amount of sugar to one cup. Compare the taste of the two cups. The remaining over-extracted coffee without any additions will be randomly rewarded to friends~
In the experimental article "How much salt should be added to improve the bitter taste of coffee", it is difficult to estimate because daily salt is both fine and salty. Therefore, Front Street mixed salt and water into a solution with a fixed salt concentration at a ratio of 20%, allowing the scale to better measure the salt data, and finally concluded that using 2ml of saltwater can perfectly improve the 50ml of bitter coffee. So, we will add 2ml of salt water to the first cup!
The sugar particles are distinct and we can easily control its weight, so just add the sugar directly! After measurements, Front Street concluded that using 1g of white sugar can reduce the bitterness of over-extracted coffee without destroying the taste balance. After the two cups are prepared, let’s taste them separately!
The bitterness of this cup of coffee with salt added is significantly reduced, the taste is balanced, and the body is increased to a certain extent. Overall, it is a cup of coffee that is mainly salty and sweet, with a weak bitterness. It will be easier to eat than before;
The cup of coffee with sugar added does not reduce the perception of bitterness, but suppresses it in quantity, reducing the proportion of bitterness in the entire cup of coffee, so it tastes both sweet and bitter, which is a bit conflicting. If you add more sugar, the sweetness will dominate, and the entire cup of coffee will lose its flavor characteristics and become a sugar water similar to isatis root.
So, we can conclude that if you want to experience a unique feeling, salt may be more suitable for you than sugar. If you just want to finish this cup of coffee and get a little caffeine! Then, it would be better if you throw more candy~
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
