How do people just casually drink black coffee without flinching?

r/

I’ve tried to be that person who drinks black coffee and looks all cool and grown-up but every time I take a sip it just tastes like hot dirt.
Do people actually enjoy it or do you just get used to it over time? Is there a trick to making it taste better or do you just suffer until you like it?

Comments

  1. hellshot8 Avatar

    you’re probably just having bad coffee. good black coffee tastes good

  2. respighi Avatar

    They don’t flinch because they like it. Acquired taste.

  3. brock_lee Avatar

    You get used to it. It’s really just easier than having to add cream and sugar every time. 🙂

  4. -Bonehilda- Avatar

    Different coffee is different levels of bitter, and different brewing methods impact bitterness more.

    I’m a super taster, bitter flavors and flavors in general are stronger to me.

    I can drink good cold brew black coffee plain still ( iced or heated up, the concept of heating cold brew confuses people who don’t understand how much less bitter it is)

    And I eat grapefruit plain

    It’s part method of brewing and part acquired taste.

  5. rootshirt Avatar

    Half the questions on this sub are boiled down to “how do people like this food/drink I don’t like”

  6. Jim777PS3 Avatar

    You have to first start getting actually good coffee.

    Whole bean, light roast, not 100 degrees, and even then, I add a splash of milk just to cut the acidity.

  7. Consistent_Dig_7915 Avatar

    Because at some point, my soul gave up… and my taste buds just adapted to the bitterness of life.

  8. Bobbob34 Avatar

    It’s apparently going to come as a surprise, but people like different things.

  9. SuspiciousSeaweed757 Avatar

    me multiple times a day…it’s so good

  10. preparingtodie Avatar

    Poorly brewed coffee tastes awful unless it’s mixed with sweeteners, flavors, cream, etc. A good roast that’s properly brewed tastes awesome on its own. “Good roast” and “properly brewed” are still subjective, though.

  11. Hollow-Official Avatar

    ? If you don’t like black coffee don’t drink it. Unsurprisingly those who do enjoy it, you’re not required to also enjoy it, no different than spicy food.

  12. AskMeAboutTimOrDie Avatar

    I will drink instant coffee black room temp. I’m a fucking coffee junky though I don’t even “prefer” the taste I am just willing to drink sludge to get that sweet sweet coffee in me.

  13. Tarrenshaw Avatar

    For me, I learned to like the taste. Didn’t always have access to milk at work, so I started drinking it black with two sugars.

  14. Angola1964 Avatar

    Temperature is huge factor, there is a “golden hour” to flavor with black coffee and you can’t mask it if its too watery or too strong so the brew quality matters a bit more.

  15. JackhorseBowman Avatar

    Because it’s delicious, but like I can’t drink beer without slightly cringing so to each their own.

  16. Plot-3A Avatar

    Good coffee is a must. 500ml of a good medium-dark roast brewed with a V60, topped off with four shots of dark roast espresso. Divine.

  17. HygieneWilder Avatar

    I’ve had issues with alcohol in the past so in my case, I like black coffee because it has a bite similar to liquor.

  18. JohnCharles-2024 Avatar

    I like the bitter taste.

  19. Immediate-Worry-1090 Avatar

    I ran out of milk one day so had my coffee black… I never went back

  20. HolyFlyingPizza Avatar

    I drink straight espresso every day.

  21. ladz Avatar

    Do you like beer, wine, whiskey, bitters, kimchi, and the like? Some people just don’t really like those sort of bitter or astringent flavor profiles. They drink mixed drinks and sweet milky coffee.

  22. dox1842 Avatar

    You gotta drink fresh grounds. I grind mine fresh every morning before I brew a shot.

  23. RomeIfYouWantTo1 Avatar

    It’s kind of like booze. At first, I liked those sugary malt beverages, like mikes hard lemonade. Then got into light beer. Now I drink super bitter IPAs.

    I like the occasional oat milk latte (and strawberry margarita). But my standard is black coffee.

  24. louse_yer_pints Avatar

    I used to have milk and sugar in my coffee then one day the milk just made the coffee taste rank and it has since and I’ve no idea why. So after a while on black with sugar we went on holiday self catering and I took my coffee but forgot sugar and every day we went out I forgot to buy some so had a week on just coffee and that’s how I still drink it. Think you appreciate coffee more when it’s black and unsweetened because there’s nothing to mask bad coffee so you tend to stick to nicer stuff.

  25. ConfusedLlamaBowl Avatar

    Cheap coffee typically produces real bitter coffee. Coffee from fresh beans is borderline sweet. The older the bean, the more bitter. That can of Folger’s on the shelf may be good for post-Apocalyptic scenarios, but while we still have live plants it’s worth paying a little extra to get good food and drink. Not hating what you intake is important.

  26. Desperate_Mortgage59 Avatar
  27. Meme_Theory Avatar

    I drink a bucket of crappy black coffee a day; it’s an acquired taste.

  28. Secret-Management310 Avatar

    It’s an acquired taste. I started drinking lattes in college but the calories and cost were adding up so I switched to black.

  29. hausccat Avatar

    I could drink it black when I lived at home cause my dad bought the good shit, before Keurigs existed.

  30. Capital-Pepper-9729 Avatar

    Good coffee isn’t hard to drink.

  31. Repulsive-Media1571 Avatar

    It was an acquired taste for me. It also greatly depends on the variety of beans, the roast, and the method. We get the medium dark roast San Francisco Bay Rainforest blend whole beans from Costco and use a regular drip coffee maker.

    I rarely drink black coffee at restaurants anymore. I have to add cream and sugar to make it palatable.

  32. sixthtimeisacharm Avatar
  33. Leather_Door9614 Avatar

    I like the bitterness it makes it feel more like a drug

  34. Rearviewmirror93 Avatar

    Of course good quality helps (so no Starbucks). But, for me, it’s completely tied into the caffeine addiction part after 30 years plus. Whether it’s actual science or a placebo, I don’t get nearly the same wake up if I add something. And now that it’s pretty much a dependency, nothing beats the taste.

  35. Blackharvest Avatar

    I became too lazy to add cream or sugar. That’s how I started drinking black coffee. 

  36. JoeBuyer Avatar

    I just didn’t like how much sugar I was drinking many times a day so I just stopped one day. Took a few days to get used to it, maybe a week.

    I do primarily drink espresso though so it’s easier to drink black.

  37. IceManYurt Avatar

    How much refined sugar do you consume?

    I found when I quit drinking sugary sodas and really processed sweets, black coffee started tasting good

  38. Used_Fisherman7526 Avatar

    I went from milk in my coffee my entire life to black a few years ago and will never go back. I love the ease. But I did it intentionally. I was sick of being dependent on milk. So I started adding less and less milk and just a bit of honey. Eventually just a bit of honey. And now just straight black. I never liked sweet coffee (and still don’t) but the honey helped the process.

  39. Used_Fisherman7526 Avatar

    I went from milk in my coffee my entire life to black a few years ago and will never go back. I love the ease. But I did it intentionally. I was sick of being dependent on milk. So I started adding less and less milk and just a bit of honey. Eventually just a bit of honey. And now just straight black. I never liked sweet coffee (and still don’t) but the honey helped the process.

  40. rhythm-weaver Avatar

    Light roast, high quality

  41. squirtlemoonicorn Avatar

    It is a reflection of my soul; dark and bitter.

  42. notthegoatseguy Avatar

    I found it to be an acquired taste.

    I started with espresso with flavor syrups added and milk. Then just espresso and milk, then eased into more flavorful drip coffee then into dark roast drip coffee, which is the standard for the US.

    As for at home, I think there’s two things that people commonly do that fuck up brewing coffee at home:

    • grinding beans at the store or buying pre-ground coffee: this ruins so much about the coffee.
    • If you are using a Mr Coffee machine or other similar machine, it tells you to turn off the burner once the coffee is prepared but a lot of people do not do this. This causes that weird after-taste that just lingers in the pot, so you’re getting fresh coffee mixed with burned remains of several day old coffee.

    Personally, I do a French Press every morning and I grind the beans before each brew. Nothing fancy, just whatever is the cheapest beans at Costco.

  43. Large-Investment-381 Avatar

    I was putting 2 teaspoons for years but realized it was affecting the taste for me too much. Then I did 1 and realized that it didn’t taste any different than if I had put in zero. It’s been decades.

    The thought of sugar in it makes me gag lol.

    Milk just seemed unnecessary at that point, sort of like putting chocolate morsels on a chocolate cupcake.

    I love a sugary iced coffee though.

  44. BurnerLibrary Avatar

    A few grains of salt in a cup. You don’t even taste the salt, but suddenly, your coffee is less bitter, bbut still black.

  45. Colorado_Jay Avatar

    For the longest time I thought I just didn’t like coffee. Turns out I just don’t like the stuff that people put in coffee to make it taste not like coffee. Once I went black I never went back.

  46. usernameistkn Avatar

    I started drinking black coffee because I was broke and i wanted every drop in my cup to be precious caffeine. Then after a while, I grew to really like the taste. Now it’s the only way prefer my coffee. In my opinion, the stronger the better. Soon your mind will associate that flavor with the pleasure it will shortly be receiving. This goes for any drug really. The same thing applies to cigarettes and booze too. At first they’re disgusting, but a means to an end. Then you get addicted and crave that flavor you once despised.

  47. coffeekate81 Avatar

    Haha I was just taking a sip when I saw your post. Idk I just like it plus it’s safe to drink when I fast. I drink it with a straw to protect my teeth. Sounds weird but I add just a little bit of cold water so I can sip it easier.

  48. FinanciallySecure9 Avatar

    If the coffee is fresh and smooth, I can drink it black, and prefer it that way. It’s the aged old grocery store coffee that needs to be doctored up

  49. Any-Concentrate-1922 Avatar

    When I started drinking coffee, it was cream and sugar. Then milk and less sugar. Then milk and even less sugar. Then just milk or milk substitute. Sugar now tastes WAY too sweet in my coffee. But I can’t stand black coffee. If I don’t have milk in the house, I have to go get some.

  50. amalamagaera Avatar

    Because it’s tastes like overtime 🫡🦖

  51. ExtremelyFilthyWhore Avatar

    Make it with one shot instead.

  52. H_I_McDunnough Avatar

    How do people drink that sweet shit that smells like a candy bar massacre and tastes like diabetes?

    Doesn’t matter, just drink what you like. Nobody cares.

  53. IHSV1855 Avatar

    Just drink it until you like it.

  54. tallbutshy Avatar

    >looks all cool and grown-up

    Do you know what is actually cool and grown-up? Drinking your coffee, or.other drink of choice, the way that you want it.

    If you want to have your coffee with triple cream, five sugars, two different flavour syrups and whipped cream on top, do it and if anyone complains you can think on how empty their lives must be that someone else’s drink choice bothers them.

  55. beetnemesis Avatar

    Definitely can vary in how it’s made. Burnt black coffee is bitter. Well made black coffee is much smoother

  56. ReptarrsRevenge Avatar

    i like it, there are all different kinds of coffee so maybe try a bunch until you find one you actually like the taste of. for example if you have any local coffee options and get the whole beans and blend them yourself and see if you notice a difference. there’s also a difference in taste depending on what you use. like a french press is gona have a way different flavor (better) than a keurig will provide. and a regular drip coffee machine will be different from those, etc.

    there’s nothing wrong with adding stuff to make it more preferrable though. when i’m out at a coffee shop i’ll get a fancy/flavored espresso drink. if i make espresso at home i usually add some almond milk but also enjoy it plain. but if i’m just having a regular coffee, i prefer it without anything extra. life is short drink it how you like 🙂

  57. Rezboy209 Avatar

    When you’re 40, married, and have three pre-teen children in the house you’ll understand

  58. Deplorable_username Avatar

    I’ve always liked it, I’m not one for cream and sugar. That goes for everything else I drink too though.

  59. StewFor2Dollars Avatar

    I like it 🤷🏻‍♂️

  60. cowlinator Avatar

    How do you know what dirt tastes like?

  61. Luser5789 Avatar

    Started off by having lactose issues, so grew to like it
    Now if try a milk based coffee it taste awful to me,l

  62. Some_Girl_2073 Avatar

    Honestly, it starts with drinking GOOD coffee

    You can drink any coffee if you put enough sugar and milk in it. But good coffee is best, and can only be enjoyed black

    Source: I was someone who was adamantly against coffee until i went on a road trip to Spain with a friend… it set the bar terribly high, and that first cup of continental coffee back in the states was very jarring

  63. olesia70 Avatar

    Just like they drink whiskey neat.

  64. obolobolobo Avatar

    ‘Hot dirt!’ What a wonderful phrase. That’s why I’ll take a double espresso to kickstart a day when I’m hungover.

  65. InevitableStruggle Avatar

    Yeah, I’m some kind of a freak when I go to Starbuck’s and order black coffee. The whole place stops to look at me. But—they do make a decent cup of coffee.

  66. xxrambo45xx Avatar

    I drink nothing but black folgers everyday… i do actually like it

  67. maccrogenoff Avatar

    I’ve been drinking my coffee black, no sweetener since I was twelve. I am now sixty-five.

    My parents and grandparents also drank their coffee black, no sweetener.

  68. Willing-Cherry8554 Avatar

    You start using less and less sugar until the day it’s weird to drink it with sugar. That’s what I did. I started swapping regular sugar to brown sugar (actually, moscovado sugar) and then I started adding less and less, until I stopped adding it. I drink it black now, BUT I still prefer to have my coffee with something sweet to balance the flavors.

  69. onomastics88 Avatar

    I got tired of running out of milk or sugar and started drinking coffee black. I lived in an apartment and didn’t want to carry any more groceries upstairs from however far away I parked than I needed or have to get these things at random any time I ran out just to have coffee. I can’t put stuff in it anymore, tastes weird.

  70. Weak-Mission-2728 Avatar

    I started drinking coffee black as a teenager to prove I was manly. At a certain point it became more palatable than any other type of coffee. Not sure why or how it happened, just did.

  71. redcobra96 Avatar

    I only drink my coffee black. The key for me is to get a good medium roast. Don’t get dark roast and drink it straight. Dark roast is much more acidic and bitter and meant to have sweeteners added to it to balance it out. Medium roasts aren’t like that. They don’t have much acidity and bitterness, and are more geared toward not needing anything added.

  72. cheesewiz_man Avatar

    My daily black coffee ritual:

    1. Cool it off (with ice if necessary).
    2. Chug it.

    Drink it fast enough and you don’t notice the taste.

  73. blergargh Avatar

    I used to put an ungodly amount of cream and sugar in my coffee. Like .. so much. So I stopped.

  74. Waltzing_With_Bears Avatar

    finding good coffee, stuff like Stabucks is burnt as fuck, go to a local coffee place that you have heard good reviews for, and try a few different types, like a nice light roast

  75. Thanatol Avatar

    Growing up, I never understood the phrase it requires an acquired taste. Then I heard my father in law say that about coffee and then I understood. You drink it until your taste buds just give up and say ok I can handle it now. I never pushed it to that point. I still drink it like it’s a desert. Full of dairy products, sugar and flavoring. Foofoofied I call it.

  76. Lickable-Wallpaper Avatar

    Some people need a catalyst to be bitter and hate life.

  77. Von_Bernkastel Avatar

    I drink one to two pots of black coffee everyday, but I got 5 sense amnesia, so good bad I wont remember the flavor in moments, so my trick is, I don’t care because I wont remember it.

  78. firekeeper23 Avatar

    Yeah its awful… all hot, bitter and watery… I don’t understand the facination with it at all.

  79. Dazzling-Ad-748 Avatar

    I genuinely like my coffee. ☕️

  80. SobahJam Avatar

    Also, different people like different things. It’s just that simple.

  81. Used-Progress-4536 Avatar

    Absolutely love back coffee. I get whole beans from a local roaster. They get beans from all over the world. Grind them fresh for every cup and use a French press. It’s one of my favourite pleasures in life.

  82. butagooodie Avatar

    I have always loved the smell of coffee, then started drinking it as a teen. My parents drank coffee black, so that’s what I did. It was bitter, sure, but the smell was amazing, and I didn’t mind the bitterness. Now i love it.

  83. BeautifulStick5299 Avatar

    For some reason unbeknownst to me, about 25 years ago one day I just got a cup of coffee and drank it black. It opened the coffee world up to me. I started using French press, percolater, espresso, pour over, and every way imaginable. Never put anything in my coffee again.

  84. czaremanuel Avatar

    Not trying to be cheeky by saying this: buy & brew better coffee. 

    This is how I felt before trying high-end coffee from an expensive hipster coffee joint. They advised me to try it black because it tasted really good that way, I was shocked black coffee could taste good. Then I got home and started down the rabbit hole of googling how to make coffee. 

    A good burr grinder, quality fresh beans instead of something in a can, weighing beans rather than using a measuring scoop, using properly filtered water, and brewing with something like a pour over instead of the Mr. coffee all make a huge, huge difference. 

    If nothing else, a burr grinder + fresh beans. Don’t buy a bladed grinder. Black coffee made well is better than a milky sugary coffee made poorly. 

  85. seajayacas Avatar

    If you truly like the taste of coffee, you add nothing to it when drinking it

    If you do not like the taste of coffee you add sweeteners, cream and other flavors to disguise the taste of the coffee that you do not like the taste of.

  86. contentatlast Avatar

    I love black coffee. Why do something to just try and seem grown up? Lol. Just do what makes you happy you sausage. I love the bitterness. The stronger the better.

  87. Sarcastic-Joker65 Avatar

    I drink it dark, bitter, and scalding as my ex-wife’s soul.

  88. subiegal2013 Avatar

    I add salt to it and the bitterness is gone. Try it…it works

  89. twYstedf8 Avatar

    I like the bitter taste and the heat. Black coffee is only good when it’s still very hot, IMO. After it gets cold, I put it over ice with cream.

  90. ApatheticRart Avatar

    Black with honey is the way.

  91. Pale_Height_1251 Avatar

    If you get good coffee, black coffee really isn’t that bitter.

    If you’re American it might just be you’re drinking shit coffee.

  92. Bucsbolts Avatar

    I started drinking my coffee black when working an overnight shift. Worse, it came out of a machine. Now I can’t stand stuff in my coffee nor do I like flavored coffee. I compare black coffee to wine—you do learn to appreciate the varieties of beans more when it’s black.

  93. Less-Depth1704 Avatar

    Work night shift with free coffee. After a month, you just snort the grounds.

  94. Enough_Scale38 Avatar

    You just have to stop giving a fuck

  95. caick1000 Avatar

    Bad coffee and good coffee are vastly different in flavor. Good coffee is not bitter.

    There’s a lot of things involved in getting a good coffee though, but if you just want to try it, search for a “specialty” coffee shop around your area.

  96. GreenZebra23 Avatar

    Anthony Bourdain once said everybody should drink black coffee and red wine and eat dark chocolate just to retrain their brains to enjoy food and drink beyond just being bombarded by sweetness. I think it’s just that. I think good black coffee tastes amazing. (Shitty black coffee is a different story, but I’ll still drink it.)

  97. oister66 Avatar

    All coffee just tastes like burnt asshole to me. Drink tea!

  98. ophaus Avatar

    Good coffee doesn’t need crap put into it. Bad coffee does.

  99. shit-n-giggle Avatar

    Love the taste of rich dark coffee ☕️

  100. Danvers2000 Avatar

    We actually like coffee

  101. bulfin2101 Avatar

    It tastes like dirt because it was ground this morning.

  102. Carlpanzram1916 Avatar

    Because unlike you, we like coffee. You like milk and sugar. We aren’t the same.

  103. velenom Avatar

    Black without sugar is the only way to drink coffee.

    Don’t get me wrong, you’re totally fine if you like to have a mocha venti frappuccino pumpkin spice with cookies and bacon, just don’t call it coffee.

  104. GreenleafMentor Avatar

    I was only able to drink it after purposefully cutting down on sugar a few years ago. It did taste horrible at first for several weeks, but I was determined to keep doing it because i was tols that my tastebuds were super out of whack due to all the processedfoods and sugars i was eating. now i can just drink it with a little half and half and its great. I actually enjoy it. Really cuts down on sugar and calories in my day. I still go for a half sweet peppermint mocha at my local coffee shop once or twice a month.

  105. EquivalentPain5261 Avatar

    I drink black coffee and I enjoy it.

  106. doji_1024 Avatar

    I’m not cool because I drink black coffee, I just like black coffee. I don’t “eeewww” to someone that puts cream and sugar in their beverage, I just drink my black coffee while they compromise their dignity.

  107. inscrutiana Avatar

    Black coffee with a ahitty bean or destroyed through shitty prep or by being overly diluted is really awful. Maybe you need a really freshly ground well roasted bean to change your mind. If you can taste the difference between chocolate beans of one region vs another, or the same grape grown in different regions but then also hate black coffee, that perfect brew is still in your future.

  108. Jumpy-Grand7196 Avatar

    I used to hate it. Then a few years ago, I started liking foods I always hated: black coffee, onions, bleu cheese, etc. I can eat all kinds of foods now! Still hate olives, but I try them every now and again to see if they’ll join the party.

  109. Bangkokserious Avatar

    My journey to black started with 2 creams 2 sugars.
    Then to 1 cream 1 sugar. Then just one sugar and finally to black. It makes a difference what kind of coffee you are drinking. If it is big chain coffee store or grocery store coffee it won’t taste great black. It is the nerdy single origin beans with light to medium roasts and roasted with in the last 2 weeks that typically have good flavour on its own. Try finding some coffee roasters and try their coffees out

  110. vibeisinshambles Avatar

    In my opinion it’s strictly a matter of having the right coffee

  111. ShineFallstar Avatar

    Try black cold brew, it’s seriously good. Must be brewed cold though, there is a difference.

  112. Jameswestfeld Avatar

    Light roast. It’s smooth yet carries a lot of caffeine.

  113. Glad_Researcher9096 Avatar

    i use a french press and good quality local medium roast. Game changer.

  114. pirate40plus Avatar

    Really good coffee tastes great black, anything else is gross. I’ll try a cup black, but often than not put a splash of cream to smooth it out.