switching to black coffee? anyone done it?

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laptop-girl
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switching to black coffee? anyone done it?

Post by laptop-girl » Thu Jul 24, 2008 1:02 pm

Some people are lucky enough to just have a natural preference for black coffee and have drank it that way all their life.

So many benefits to this -- it's zero calories, you can "taste" the coffee, you don't have to rely on artificial things like powdered creamers.

I've always loaded my coffee up with splenda / nutrasweet, milk, creamer etc. It adds a lot of "junk" calories. I don't want to put sugar in my coffee either.

Anyone here make the switch from light sweet coffee to drinking it black?

My *hope* is that I can get into the habit of drinking it black on N days and maybe have some soy creamer in it, or a latte on the S days.

wosnes
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Post by wosnes » Thu Jul 24, 2008 1:16 pm

I'm not sure I can be of help to you because I'm one of those who has always taken my coffee black.

Having said that, I sometimes drink a cafe au lait type drink and put sugar in it. If I were going to wean myself from the sweetener and cream, I think I'd eliminate the cream first and then the sweetener. Personally, I think sweeteners enhance the bitterness of coffee and it would then be easy to eliminate the sweetener.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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ThomsonsPier
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Post by ThomsonsPier » Thu Jul 24, 2008 1:39 pm

I switched to black, unsweetened coffee as a student. My first experience of coffee was the heinous powdered stuff with milk and saccharine. I no longer drink my mother's coffee.

This was about ten years ago now, but I seem to recall switching to sugar from sweeteners first, finding it too sweet and scrapping both. Being students, we never had any milk in the fridge anyway. I now like my coffee like my moods, black and bitter.

Oh, and I consider creamer to be the work of the devil.
ThomsonsPier

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bonnieUK
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Post by bonnieUK » Thu Jul 24, 2008 1:56 pm

Hi laptop girl!

I think the variety of the coffee makes a huge difference, I only have about 2 brands of coffee I can drink black (Starbucks, Lyons Rainforest Alliance and Sainsbury's own brand strength grade 3), others are too bitter for my liking. So I'd say try some different brands, and try them black to see if you can find one mild enough to enjoy :)

p.s. the brands I seem to like aren't exactly the most premium or fancy, just the ones that my taste buds seem to like most for no apparent reason :)

vmelo
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Post by vmelo » Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:03 pm

Yes, I made the switch, partly for dieting reasons and partly because at my workplace, the people responsible for coffee stuff would frequently forget to bring in real milk or half-and-half, and I can't stand Cremora. Drinking coffee black seemed so much easier.

However, I used to drink my coffee with both cream and sugar. I don't remember how much sugar I took (I quit using sugar in my coffee so long ago), but I do remember that I weaned myself off of it gradually. For example, if I used to take two teaspoons of sugar in my coffee, I cut it down to just one. I had it that way for two weeks, and then I cut it down to half a tsp., etc. You can go slower or faster, but I find that the slower you go, the easier it is to do. Initially, I did the same with half and half. I'd cut down a bit, making my coffee a bit darker. Finally, after a couple of weeks, I went all black. Later, I decided that I'd add back in the half and half since now I really only drink one mug of coffee a day, and I think it does enhance the flavor of coffee (contrary to popular opinion).

I've tried this same "weaning" process with espresso. I drink one or two espressos at night with Sambucca in it to sweeten it. I never measured my Sambucca; I just poured it in. I noticed over the years, that I was pouring in more and more Sambucca :). About six months ago, I decided to cut back (especially when I learned that 1/4 cup of Sambucca is 100 calories!). I decided to measure out 1 tbsp. of Sambucca (which is 25 calories). My espresso was more bitter at first, but within a week, I got used to it. Now, I've cut back even more. I now have only 1/2 tbsp. of Sambucca in my espresso, and again, within 3-4 days, I've gotten used to it.

To me, I can tolerate black coffee more easily if I drink it while I'm eating something (especially something sweet). So, if I'm having a flavored oatmeal for breakfast, I don't mind black coffee. You might try that.

kccc
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Post by kccc » Thu Jul 24, 2008 4:08 pm

I love my cafe au lait too much to try to give it up. But I limit the amount, make it at home with low-fat milk (just prefer it for drinking) and use only 1 tsp of sugar... so I am going to keep this particular vice. :)

I do think fake creamer is horrendous - I'd go to black before using that.

Interesting how many different opinions folks have on coffee. In my office, we wanted to bring in a coffeemaker and share, but one person liked his where you could stand up a spoon, and another liked hers where you could see through it... Another liked hazelnut flavor, but someone else turned up her nose at flavors in coffee... we ended up just making our own and bringing it in, and observing that we all "like our coffee like we like it."

Good luck in making the switch. I did switch from sweetener to sugar some years ago (it was the last place I was using it, and I really wanted to give the stuff up entirely), and found that a gradual transition worked best for me - partial replacement over time. And I did used to use the equivalent of 2 tsp, and cut to 1, same way.

blueskighs
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Post by blueskighs » Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:01 pm

laptop girl,

not a coffee drinker but straight green tea may be another alternative .... is there coffee bean and tea leaf www.coffeebean.com anywhere convenient to you?

I drink their machine brewed green teas iced or hot and enjoy them without anything, i.e. "black", my favorites are jasmine dragon phoenix pearl and Lung Ching Dragonewell,

Blueksighs
www.nosdiet.blogspot.com Where I blog daily about my No S journey

lindalou
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Black coffee

Post by lindalou » Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:17 pm

I started drinking my coffee black about three weeks ago because I wanted to cut out the sugar. It was not easy at first. But I started using less coffee ground went making it. Now I don't even go for the sugar

Dawn
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Post by Dawn » Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:21 pm

Lots of luck with that. For me that would be like fries without salt or pancakes without syrup. I'd rather give it up completely if I had to drink it black. I have one cup per day and I measure out 3 Tbs of my favorite CoffeeMate liquid non dairly cream - french vanilla. Its aroud 105 calories and I enjoy it will all my heart and soul.

It is good that you are thinking of ways to cut back. I've done that with a lot of things, just not my AM cup a Joe.
Dawn

resting52
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Post by resting52 » Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:44 am

I switched about 2 years ago. Never thought I would be able to go without the cream, but I learned, like another post here, that if the coffee is good enough it can stand alone. I always grind fresh. Makes a huge difference to me.

Resting

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ou812
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Post by ou812 » Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:27 pm

Yes, I switched. On the weekends I would do some cream and sugar. I wanted to cut out the sugar and fat. I found that I enjoyed the simplicity of just pouring a cup of coffee. Nothing to add, or stir.

CatholicCajun
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Post by CatholicCajun » Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:39 pm

I only add powdered creamer to my coffee, I only drink one cup a day, and to be honest, if I don't drink it, I really don't miss it that much, I do not add anythink except the creamer. Have a blessed day.
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Shirls
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Post by Shirls » Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:12 pm

I drink coffee black at home where it is freshly ground filter coffee, but the instant at work tastes so awful that I show it the milk jug. At least I've weaned myself off creamer because although I liked the taste, I preferred to save my calories for real food. Tea I've been drinking black for over thirty years as a result of some diet or other which said if one drank it black for three weeks it would become a habit 8) And so it has. Would that other habits could be so easy to acquire :wink:
Don't wait for the storm to be over - learn to dance in the rain.

3aday
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Post by 3aday » Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:21 am

I wish I liked black coffee! :shock:
But, alas, I don't.
I use cream in my coffee.
I do drink all my tea plain now. Black, green, herbal.
Hubby's had some palpitation issues so he stopped drinking coffee and other caffeinated drinks throughout the day and is just having hot tea in the morning so I am trying to make the switch to support him.
(He does physical labor outside and had become quite dependent on those energy drinks which are full of caffeine.)
But, I really enjoy coffee and cream. :(

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