Most people are scared of black coffee because they think it’s (absolutely) bitter. Most people first tried coffee in its instant form. Therefore most people associate sugar and creamer as essential ingredients for a proper cup of coffee. Sugar, aside from the cons of consuming too much, I can understand. Creamers, and I’m talking about non-dairy creamers here, I just cannot.
Credit: farmerdir/pixabay.com
Yes, they are supposed to be substitutes for milk and/or cream to be added to coffee (and even tea). They’re called non-dairy because, well, they’re supposed to not contain dairy (or lactose to be exact). However, some apparently have a form of a milk derivative. If you are lactose intolerant, then you’ll definitely have to go with non-dairy creamer if you want your coffee creamy. But why do you need your coffee to be creamy in the first place?
Did you know that another term for these things is “Coffee Whitener”? Anyway, non-dairy creamer is made to replicate the effect of milk when added to coffee. They should blend in it without making any lumps and more importantly have the same mouthfeel of milk fats. To achieve the latter one, most of these non-dairy creams contain hydrogenated vegetable oils. Apparently these things, which can be coconut oil, takes good fat and turns it to trans-fat to help it last longer. Barring potential health hazards, why do you need creamer in your coffee?
I know you have to add all these things to crap coffee because, well it tastes like crap on its own. Instant coffee is the main culprit for this, but according to this article from Eater there are also people who brew their own coffee at home and still hate the taste of their coffee. Thus, they also depend on creamers (especially flavored ones) when all they can get is their “daily maintenance coffee” when they can’t make it to a proper coffee shop. Bottomline, since most people have been introduced to coffee in a crap form, they thus associate the need for sweeteners and creamers for them to enjoy the supposed benefits of coffee. You can’t fault them for that, but you do want to help steer them in the right direction.
credit: StockSnap/pixabay.com
However, when you’re served perfectly good coffee and you still think you need creamer to make it drinkable, without even trying it? That’s where I want to put my foot down. Take a perfectly cooked piece of steak. The last thing you want to do is add ketchup (commercial grade at that) to it because it will mask its entire flavor. All that hard work to get all the subtle nuances of the flavor of a fine piece of steak, destroyed by something either too sweet (banana ketchup) or too acidic. That’s similar to adding artificial flavoring to a perfect cup of coffee, killing all of its flavor profile. Don’t be afraid to try coffee on its own, especially if you’re in a good coffee place. How do you know you’re in a good coffee place? Either listen to the friend who brought you there or check the damn internet.
This is why coffee shops are important and we must continue to support them. You keep reading about the health benefits of coffee but that will only be optimized if we enjoy coffee in its truest form; it is here in these proper coffee shops where you get coffee prepared for you well. It’s important to have at least one in a community, it’s important to have some near offices. It helps people appreciate coffee better and in a way educate us about the goodness that is coffee.
Another con from creamers, they add to single-use waste
We all want to eat good, quality food for a healthier lifestyle but why would you jeopardize that by drinking crappy, poorly processed coffee? Why would you get coffee blended in with other processed and fatty ingredients? Why the hell will you only drink coffee if it has creamer in it?
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-dairy_creamer
Please subscribe so you will never miss a post. Follow #shareyourkape on social media:
Instagram: @shareyourkape
Twitter: @shareyourkape
Facebook: facebook.com/shareyourkape
Categories: serious Kape
Share Your Kape 