I love coffee, and chances are, you do too. From personal experience, I can say that a good coffee is a good coffee, but some of the coffee fads are bad. Coffee trends range from weird, to genius, to really gross. As coffee trends can be intimidating and expensive, I'm going to try them out so you have a better idea of what you're getting yourself into.
1. Bulletproof Coffee
I am not a die-hard coffee nerd. I love my coffee, but I would not classify myself as a coffee snob. When talking about bulletproof coffee, I know that some authentic coffee fans won't like it because it's not traditional. This article compares it to putting fruit in your wine. Sangria lovers will like it, but die-hard wine nerds won't.
I'm not so particular about my coffee–I take mine with cream and sugar and admittedly on some days I also put in a spoonful of Nutella. I'm fine with the taste of black coffee, but I have a sweet tooth and I like my coffee to taste like someone melted a chocolate bar in it. Let that be a disclaimer, because I really disliked bulletproof coffee. I would rather drink my coffee plain and black then blend it with grass-fed butter again.
The taste was weird. It was thick and fatty and had the after-taste of butter. I was expecting this result since Bulletproof coffee uses grass-fed butter, coffee and MTC oil blended together. I was not a fan, but I waited to see how I would feel throughout the day. Bulletproof coffee is supposed to make you more energized, full, and even kick-start weight loss. I didn't feel fuller or more energized, and I'd probably have to keep drinking it to see if it helped with weight loss, which I do not plan to do.
I also didn't use the upgraded coffee and I used coconut oil, which is 65%-80% MTC oil. Maybe it would be different if I used MTC oil, as it is more concentrated than coconut oil, or if I used the coffee brand they recommend.
2. Cold Brew Coffee
Cold brew coffee is brewed with cold water over a long period of time. It is supposed to taste sweeter and less acidic than regular brewed coffee. The pH is of cold brew is more alkaline and has less of an impact on your body's pH levels. You can also make cold-brew at home, or buy it at a coffee shop such as Starbucks.
So, does it actually taste better? I honestly didn't notice much of a difference between the cold-brew iced coffee and the regular iced coffee. I'm pretty neutral about cold brew coffee because I just didn't notice a huge taste difference.
3. Nitro Cold Brew
Nitro Cold Brew is infused with nitrogen. I couldn't make this one myself, so I tried it from Starbucks. Compared to the regular cold brew coffee, I found Nitro to have the sweetness of a cold brew and the smoothness that the nitrogen adds. I don't know for sure that this trend is worth the price it costs to buy from a coffee shop, but making it at home isn't possible. I probably won't be having this regularly but it is a nice treat every once in a while.
4. Espresso Tonic
I had to read up on what an espresso tonic is. This was just a no for me. I made espresso at home using the french press method, bought tonic water and tried to make this. The first one just tasted bitter and bubbly. I added a coffee syrup (sugar and water boiled together and then cooled) to it and this did help, but it still tasted like a coffee flavoured soda.
There's no coffee shop in my area that makes an espresso tonic, so it is entirely possible that it would be completely different from a café that specializes in it. Based on what I made, this coffee trend is a no for me.
5. Sea Salt Coffee
This was a success. Sea Salt Coffee can be done in a cold brew style, but I decided to try it hot first. Basically, you whip heavy cream until it is a little less thick than whipped cream, and then you whisk sea salt into it. According to the recipe I tried, you also whip in sugar and add brown sugar to the coffee. I followed these directions and really enjoyed it. The salt brought out the flavour in the coffee and the brown sugar added a kind of caramelized taste. This coffee trend is definitely worth a try.
Coffee is a magical invention, but coffee trends? Well, some are also quite magical, and some just aren't. The ones that worked for me were sea salt coffee and nitro cold brew. I also don't mind the cold brew as the at home DIY is an easy way to make an iced coffee that apparently has some great health benefits. I will most likely replace my iced coffee with cold brew.
To all my fellow coffee addicts: I wish you luck on your quest for the perfect cup of coffee and am sad to say that not all the trends are really worth trying at all.