Why we should add salt, not sugar, to our coffee

Coffee flat white
Would you try it? [Photo: Pexels]

Some of us like sugar in our coffee, some of us don’t – and some people even avoid adding milk.

Whatever our preferences are, it tends to be a combination of these ingredients that we add to our favourite brew.

But there’s one essential ingredient missing from this list, apparently; salt.

If you usually add sugar to take the edge off a bitter cup of the beverage, you should actually add salt instead, according to coffee drinkers.

Salt and pepper on table
Maybe mixing up the salt and sugar on the table won’t be such a mistake any more [Photo: Pexels]

According to a study from the journal Nature, sodium ions suppress the bitterness in coffee and actually enhance its flavour.

But just a little bit of it, of course, unless you’re a fan of eating plain salt for breakfast.

The same goes for wine, according to vino experts.

According to The Wall Street Journal, former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold found that adding a little to some cheap plonk balanced the flavour of unbalanced wines.

Wine poured
Is wine a step too far? [Photo: Pexels]

He apparently discovered the trick at a dinner party, when Gina Gallo of E. & J. Gallo Winery sat next to him wished her wine was a little more savoury.

So he added a pinch of salt – and it worked.

These might seem the last taste combinations you’d want to try, but it’s hardly stranger than a Creme Egg pizza or chocolate crumpets, surely?

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