How to Make and Enjoy Drinking Coffee Without Sugar

How to Make and Enjoy Drinking Coffee Without Sugar

Your favorite cup of morning coffee can be a major roadblock for people who are interested in removing sugar from their diet and reducing sugar cravings. If that's you, I hope these ideas will help you cut the sugar and still enjoy your morning cup of Jo!

What Does Good Coffee Taste Like?

"Good coffee" is what tastes good to you, and "bad coffee" is coffee that tastes bad to you. It really is that simple because everyone has different taste preferences.

Do you like the taste of your current coffee when you drink it black, Yes or No?

If you answered "No," it may be time to do some experimenting so you can truly enjoy the flavor of your coffee.

Three tips to improve the taste of your black coffee

Tip #1: Try a Different Brand or Different Roast

This is my best tip...experiment with a new brand and/or a new roast. Don't settle for ho-hum. How your coffee beans are roasted is important when it comes to the final taste. A light roast will have a tinge of sweetness, but to some, it can also taste sour.

I recommend tasting a lot of different types, roasts, and brands of coffee (Colombian vs Guatemalan vs African | light vs medium vs dark roast), and identify the attributes you like to eventually determine what you enjoy most.

Tip #2: Try a Different Brewing Method

Experiment with a different brewing method. Expand your horizon by using a French Press, an Aeropress, or something other than what you're using now.

I prefer a Fresh Press versus a drip coffee maker. In my opinion, the coffee is a more full-bodied, rich-tasting coffee.

Tip #3: Clean Your Coffee Maker

If your black coffee tastes weird, then you might want to check your coffee machine. Give it a good, thorough cleaning.

8 Ways to Make Coffee Without Adding Sugar

1) Add Cinnamon

Before you brew your coffee, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon for every 4 tablespoons of grounds. This is essentially going to give you unsweetened, flavored coffee. If you like cinnamon, this may be just the touch you need to ditch the sugar.

2) Add Coconut Cream

You may like adding some coconut cream (the full-fat canned type) to the cinnamon-spiked coffee. The cream doesn't contain sugar, but has a slight natural sweet flavor. The added fat is also satisfying.

3) Add Half-and-Half

Don't be afraid of adding a little fat to your coffee. Half-and-half doesn't contain sugar and it will help cut some of the bitterness of black coffee.

4) Make it a Bulletproof Coffee

I have drank Bulletproof coffee for six years. I add Bulletproof Brain Octane MCT oil and 2 tsp Kerrygold grass-fed butter to my coffee and it's delicious! It's creamy, the extra calories make it filling, and the fat prevents an "acid" stomach I often felt prior to drinking coffee this way.

The tried-and-true Bulletproof coffee recipe blends it in a blender before drinking, but rather than adding a hot beverage to a plastic blender, I use a hand frother (like this one) which combines all the fats nearly as effectively.

When I travel, I pack the Bulletproof Keto Creamer which is a powdered version of MCT oil and grass-fed butter. It's available in Original or French Vanilla flavor. No added sugar, but the French Vanilla has added stevia.

I love my Bulletproof coffee so much that I applied to be a Bulletproof Ambassador and was approved! This means you get 10% off with promo code: KELLY when you shop on their website, and I get a kickback. Win-Win.

5) Add Vanilla

Vanilla adds a great flavor and has historically been used as a cognitive enhancer. Real vanilla (only about 5% of the “vanilla” people consume) contains a lot of beneficial antioxidants.

You can mix vanilla extract or powder in with your coffee grounds, or add after brewing.

6) Add Homemade Nut Milk

It's not very difficult to make homemade nut milk, and it tastes so much better than the store-bought varieties.

How to Make Cashew Milk (no straining needed)

• Soak 1 cup of cashews overnight, then drain and rinse

• Add the nuts and 4 cups of water to a high-powered blender

• Blend on high for a minute

• Optional: add 1 tsp vanilla extract, a pinch of sea salt

• Pour into a storage container and refrigerate. No need to strain cashews milk.

If you want to make Homemade Almond milk, here's a recipe to try. You must strain almond milk with a cheesecloth or nut milk bag.

7) Try Out-of-the-Box Coffee

I haven't tried this, but a gingerbread latte sounds like a tasty beverage without all the sugar. If you don't have Bulletproof creamer, just add 1-2 tsp of grass-fed butter or plain ghee.

A coffee beverage that's really out there is a Rocket Fuel Latte by Healthful Pursuit.

Rocket Fuel Latte

8 oz brewed coffee

1 Tablespoon MCT oil

1 Tablespoon cacao butter

1 Tablespoon hemp hearts

1 Tablespoon grass-fed collagen

Brew coffee; add to the jug of your high-powered blender along with MCT oil, cacao butter, and hemp hearts. Blend on high for one minute. During the last 10 seconds, add collagen, Transfer to a cup and enjoy.

8) Add Cacao Powder

For a chocolatey flavor, add 1-3 teaspoons of cacao powder, depending on how big your coffee mug is. Cacao is pure dark chocolate and doesn't contain sugar. Add a pinch of vanilla bean powder or 1/4 tsp alcohol-free vanilla extract. Use your handy frother to blend it up and enjoy.

My Four Favorite Coffee Beans

After much experimenting, in my opinion, the best coffee beans are 100% pure Kona coffee from Hawaii! It's difficult to find in the USA though.

Aside from Kona coffee, I have found three other coffee beans I love.

First, Kicking Horse Three Sisters variety. I buy Kicking Horse at Natural Grocers. It's more expensive but frequently goes on sale, and it's worth the cost, IMO.

Second, San Francisco Bay Coffee Organic Rainforest Blend, which I buy at Costco! Great value.

Third, Lighthouse Roasters Roaster's Choice variety. On a scale of 1-5 for dark roast, this is a 4, so it isn't their darkest, but close. My only critique is it isn't organic.

I really make an effort to buy organic coffee to minimize pesticide exposure which is something I'm really passionate about.

Last, Consider Trying a new Morning Beverage

If you just don't like coffee at all but drink it for the routine, consider drinking a Matcha Green Tea latte or something you do enjoy. Matcha has amazing nutrition benefits, and my favorite tasting matcha is from Mizuba Tea Co. I've tried the less expensive brands off amazon and they were terrible tasting. Plus, Mizuba is a small Oregon business so I like supporting them.

Take-home Message

It's important to enjoy the flavor of your coffee or morning beverage of choice! Experiment with different brands and types of coffee to hone in on what you like about coffee. Liking coffee without sweetener may not happen immediately so give it time.

How do you like your coffee? Please let me know in the comments.

-Kelly xo