An excellent way to spice up your favorite cup of coffee is by adding some extra flavor. How do you add flavor to ground coffee? We find out.
In the US, our normal coffee additives are sugar and milk or creamer for those who don’t mind the extra calories. If you’re a coffee explorer like me, you probably may have tried finding out how other guys from other countries flavor their coffee.
After thoroughly researching and digging deeper into the coffee world, I learned that other countries use different ingredients to spice their coffee. For instance, Portugal uses lemon, Mexico uses cinnamon, Saudi Arabia uses a blend of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and saffron, while Ethiopia uses ginger.
If you enjoy flavored coffee, it’s quite prudent to think about your health first. That’s why I do not recommend buying already flavored coffee, as it may contain certain components that could harm your health. With that said, here is the list of top natural additives you can use to improve your cup of Joe.
How Do You Add Flavor To Ground Coffee?
1. Spices
You can never go wrong with spices, just check what you have in your kitchen cabinet and flavor your coffee grounds before brewing your coffee. Choose from flavor-enhancing options like nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, lavender, ginger, and cloves. They are the simplest and most natural calorie-free way of adding flavor to your coffee.
2. Extracts
Extracts take your coffee to a whole new level. Depending on how strong you like your flavoring, you can add the extracts to your coffee grounds before brewing or right into the cup after brewing.
You can try nuts, cinnamon, raspberry, peppermint, vanilla, maple, or almond. Try mixing one of the two types to determine which taste works for you.
All the above choices are healthy options that won’t affect your calorie consumption. Almonds add a sweet, nutty flavor, especially when combined with milk.
Peppermint is a stronger flavor. A drop or two is enough to get the desired flavor.
3. Citrus
Citrus may be the last thing you think of when trying to flavor your coffee, especially if you’re the milk, coconut, almond, and vanilla type. However, if you enjoy your coffee black, you can make your cold brew more refreshing by adding some citrus fruits. Citrus neutralizes some of the bitterness in your coffee, leaving you with a smoother yet healthy drink.
4. Cocoa Nibs
I know you’re going to ask, “why not just call it chocolate?” Cocoa nibs are the raw products of chocolate before it is processed and made into those sweet, smooth, nicely shaped bars.
Cocoa nibs taste much like dark chocolate with a slightly chewy texture. To flavor your cup with cocoa, simply add a 1/2 teaspoon to your 2-cup coffee grounds, mix together, and brew your coffee.
5. Coconut (Not Milk)
If you ask me, coconut should be added to everything we cook, which pretty much includes our cup of Joe. Coconut has a natural way of enriching everything, and if you stick around it, you will notice the richness in its unique taste.
For your cup, add dried, well-ground coconut to your ground coffee. Don’t use coconut milk if you are watching your weight as it contains high-calorie levels.
Final Word On How You Can Add Flavor To Ground Coffee
There are so many ways you can add flavor to your cup of coffee, so don’t just stick to the ancient milk and sugar. Spice your cup every day by experimenting with different spices, extracts, and other ingredients, to see if they match your taste. You will be surprised at how fun the entire experience can be and how quickly you settle on specific flavors.
I hope this article inspired you to experiment with different ways of adding flavor and taking your coffee to the global level. You owe yourself a delicious cup of coffee every day, so get it without regrets!
FAQs on How Do You Add Flavor To Ground Coffee?
How Can You Add Flavor To Your Coffee Grounds Before You Brew?
There is so much you can add to your ready-to-brew coffee grounds to enhance the flavor, such as vanilla extracts, citrus, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, or peppermint.
How Do You Sweeten Coffee Without Sugar?
For those who want to keep off sugar completely, there are various ways you can sweeten your coffee. You can use chocolate chips, honey, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla ice cream, molasses, or maple syrup. Brown sugar is also an option despite its rich, distinctive taste.
What To Add To Coffee To Make It Less Bitter?
If you prefer a less bitter cup of coffee, don’t put up with the bitterness. Milk and creamer are the most commonly used options to cut down on bitterness. However, if you don’t like milk, consider adding a dash of salt to suppress the bitterness. Sugar also helps counteract the bitterness by adding some sweetness.
