Testing Viral (and Questionable) Coffee Hacks
Words by Lauren Pemberton (she/her)
While I need plenty of food to get through the weekly uni grind, my primary form of sustenance is always a cup of coffee. Although there are many kinds of coffee out there, there are also many hacks on the internet to spruce up our good old cuppa. So, Salient readers, I decided to drink way too much coffee for one day and put some of these coffee conspiracy theories to the Ultimate™ test.
Baking soda to lower bitterness
Sounds funky I know, but apparently a small amount of baking soda is great for making coffee less bitter. I used about a quarter teaspoon in my cup and was instantly scared by the smell of science-experiment-gone-wrong that was wafting from my mug. I took a sip anyway and GOOD LORD IT WAS BAD. It tasted like pure disappointment and regret; a sharp, eggy, metallic taste worsened by bitter black coffee. I knew coffee could kill you, but I didn’t know it could upset you! I braved the bad smell and taste and had a measly teaspoon. It actually did make the coffee less bitter. I would recommend only a small pinch of baking soda so you don’t get an awful (and frankly scarring) mouthful.
Butter for a better taste
You would think this one would’ve worked. But my hopes were shattered. Supposedly, adding butter to coffee as a substitute for milk and cream can taste quite nice and can have various health benefits depending on the butter used. I added two teaspoons of butter to my coffee and noticed that an unpleasant film had developed on the surface. When mixing the coffee, the butter separated to form small, fatty particles that didn’t look appetizing at all. The butter didn’t do much for the taste—it was just a fatty, black coffee. Did not pass the vibe check.
A spoonful of sugar salt helps the medicine go down?
I was dubious about this one, but it worked! Adding a pinch of salt to my coffee did indeed mimic the taste of sugar. Of course, for lovers of sweeter coffee, adding more salt would not make the coffee sweeter. So take this hack with a grain of salt (pun intended).
The elusive Dalgona Coffee trend…
I couldn’t NOT do this one. Dalgona coffee is a creamy beverage that went viral on TikTok. It’s a mixture of milk and ice with a fluffy coffee mixture on top that’s totally Instagram-worthy. To test the trend, I first added two tablespoons of instant coffee, two tablespoons of sugar, and two tablespoons of hot water to a bowl. I whisked all of the ingredients together to get a fluffy mixture (this took 10 minutes and killed my right arm). After that, I filled half of a tall glass with milk and ice cubes, then used my inner coffee artiste to pour the whipped coffee on top. I had high hopes. OH MY GOD IT WAS AMAZING. Not only did it look boujee, but the taste brought out the very best in my cheap instant coffee—sweet, with the right amount of bitterness and coffee flavour. A lovely iced coffee remained when the coffee ‘fluff’ melted into the milk. I have a big sweet tooth, so it was pleasant for me. But you can lower the amount of sugar if sweetness isn’t your vibe! The sugar is also meant to create a fluffier texture. More sugar = more fluff. I would also advise using a straw to drink Dalgona coffee. I got a massive mouthful of coffee fluff when I went in for a sip. All in all, TikTok has done it again, and the arm workout was well worth it.
Coffee ice cubes (yes, they’re a thing).
If your iced coffee is getting watery and tasteless as the ice cubes melt, freezing coffee in an ice cube tray instead of water will fix this! When these Pinterest-approved ice cubes melt, they add more coffee and don't take away from the taste of the drink! If anything, my coffee just got stronger. There was a layer of melted-ice-cube-coffee that formed at the top, but this was easily fixed by simply stirring the coffee a bit.
After my coffee-hack odyssey, it’s safe to say that you definitely should not add baking soda or butter to your coffee! Coffee ice cubes and whipped coffee on the other hand? Total wins. At the end of the day, coffee is a university student’s partner in crime, regardless of how you make it. The power of a good coffee is second to none.