Once I Started Adding This to My Coffee, I Never Looked Back

I’m an unapologetic coffee drinker. I typically drink two mugs back-to-back every morning (that’s just what it takes to keep this train running). I try to draw the line at afternoon coffee, though. It seems like a bridge too far. Three cups of coffee in a single day? Get a hold of yourself. That said, I’m not a robot, and sometimes I need a treat.

Afternoon coffee for me is a “sometimes” affair, reserved for when I’m having a particularly stressful day or I’m going to some kind of evening event that is going to keep me up past 10 p.m. When I do indulge, I want that cup of coffee to be more special than my bare-bones morning cup. I’m not a big fan of the usual sugary sweet coffee shop fare. I like my coffee like I like my cocktails: strong and balanced. I welcome a complement to the flavor, but I still want to taste the coffee itself. 

The answer to my prayers came from a trip to a local coffee shop that had on its menu a coffee drink made with a wildly unexpected ingredient that I would never have thought to pair with coffee: bitters.

It sounds redundant — coffee is already bitter — but the flavor of the bitters really complements the coffee without taking over, making it more complex. On top of that, it’s inherently adaptable. Bitters come in many different flavors, so you can opt for classic angostura or switch it up with orange bitters, walnut bitters, or even spicy bitters. Honestly, it works so well I struggle not to add it to every single cup I drink.