on going to unsweetened coffee

uschi · Post by **uschi** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 3:10 am

Hi everybody, I don't post often but try to visit once a week.

I do have a cool discovery to share. I've noticed something interesting about switching to unsweetened coffee-- I thought I would mind very much but it actually tastes fine and, shocking to me, IT LASTS LONGER/SATISFIES MORE.

Earlier in the year I thought I might give up sugar in my coffee for Lent-- I associate coffee with my afternoon break and thus an indulgence. I realized I was pretty anxious about giving up my sweet milky coffee treat and made myself try it sans sugar or flavoring syrup a couple of times when I was in a hurry anyway, long before Lent.

As I said already, I was stunned. The coffee tasted more like... coffee. I didn't drink it down as fast (as mindlessly?!) as when it's sweet. Even though it cooled before I finished it, it still tasted fine to sip. (If my sweetened coffee lasted long enough to cool, it always tasted better warmed up). The Dove chocolate I occasionally had with my coffee tasted better. And I didn't get that fuzzy-teeth feeling I get after a sweet drink. I stopped sweetening my coffee... and found other penances for Lent! (I do think giving up the whole milk in there would be a penance, but, like others, I find it helps tide me over between meals.)

Your mileage may vary depending on your habits. I almost always only have one cup a day since I started "using" coffee again just a couple years ago, when I succumbed to the influx of quality coffee product in the house from my barista daughter. I'm guessing I thought part of what I liked about the prepared drinks my daughter was bringing home and I was tasting was the sweetness. Yet many years ago when I was way too tough and cool

I drank lots of straight black coffee which I dropped when I quit cigarettes. I've never otherwise liked sweet drinks--I'd rather eat those soda and juice calories as sweets or fruit.

I've probably gone on too long but posted in case this helps someone else. I don't think there's anything inherently evil in a sweetened coffee-- but I know for myself, sugar on an empty stomach can lead to the blood sugar spike and plummet that turn into the slippery slope of raging hunger!

gingerpie · Post by **gingerpie** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:59 am

Thanks for sharing. Sometimes it is the little things that surprise us the most.

lin47 · Post by **lin47** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 11:44 am

I gave up sugar in my coffee about 20 years ago, and despite the fact that I have a major sweet tooth, I cannot stand sugar in my coffee now. If I pick up my husband's coffee by accident, I cannot drink it because he puts a tsp of sugar in it. Unfortunately, my penchant for sugar has not faded in any other area of my eating!

I know what you mean about the chocolate with the coffee. I much prefer anything sweet with black coffee. I like the contrast of the bitterness and sweetness.

jess1538 · Post by **jess1538** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 2:35 pm

Interesting. I have been trying to give up sugar in coffee for a while now, but I keep going back to it. This year I'm training to be a teacher, and there's lots of late nights and early starts so coffee has become a real necessity - I can't bear to give up the one little thing that makes it nice!

I don't have a great deal in each cup, less than a teaspoon full, so I'm not overly worried about the calories, but I know having a few of these every day, especially between meals, is bad for my teeth.

My current plan is to get some sweetener to protect my teeth and ween myself of it once I'm not going to be such a zombie without it.

Dale · Post by **Dale** » Thu Apr 09, 2015 6:08 pm

I've never got into the habit of sugar in coffee, but I use to a spoonful in tea when I was in my teens. I decided to stop and cut back by reducing the amount until it was a few grains, then stopped completely. You don't really notice if you reduce it bit by bit.

noni · Post by **noni** » Sat Apr 11, 2015 10:17 pm

My husband and I are heavy hot tea drinkers. He'd put two tsp of sugar in his and I would drink it with milk and one sugar, the way I was raised on it, like an Englishman (not English, tho'). Out of laziness of getting out milk from the fridge and sugar from the cupboard, I omitted the milk and started to whittle down our sugar. I used the excuse of "better for our health." This deception served us well for 37 years.

It worked for our coffee, too, although I take a bit of cream in mine.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 5:05 am

I'm envious. I still think coffee tastes terrible unsweetened. It would be nice to have the option, though I don't think it would serve the same purpose at times. But it's such a nice little way to have a break.

Travis · Post by **Travis** » Sun May 03, 2015 6:12 pm

I've noticed the same thing about black coffee lasting longer. I usually drink it black and can sip on a cup for a good hour, but if once in a blue moon I add some creamer, sugar, and/or that flavor stuff that some people have, I'll finish a cup in about 5 minutes. It taste more like a dessert (sp?).

I do like to add some Bailey's here and there.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sun May 03, 2015 11:49 pm

I think that's called a cocktail.

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Mon May 04, 2015 8:17 am

Sugar in tea in my family is frowned upon.

For coffee, my test of a good coffee is "can I enjoy this without sugar?". If the answer is no, then the coffee isn't good enough. I make an exception for espresso, but as I only really drink espresso at the end of fancy meals out, it's hardly ever an issue.

bonnieUK · Post by **bonnieUK** » Tue May 12, 2015 10:18 am

ironchef wrote:Sugar in tea in my family is frowned upon.

For coffee, my test of a good coffee is "can I enjoy this without sugar?". If the answer is no, then the coffee isn't good enough. I make an exception for espresso, but as I only really drink espresso at the end of fancy meals out, it's hardly ever an issue.

No S instilled a "quality over quantity" mindset in me, plus I try to do "glass ceiling" with caffeine (especially now as I'm breastfeeding). I now won't drink instant coffee or poor quality tea, it has to be good stuff to be really worth it, and I find the best coffee and tea needs less in terms of additions