10 Amazing Coffee Tips

If you're going to do something you love(drink coffee, make coffee, love coffee, live and breathe coffee), you better be at your best. Here are 10 amazing coffee tips, from brewing it to drinking it.


Skip cream, add butter.

No, that isn't some advice from Paula Deen. Yes, it sounds very strange but trust me on this. Add butter to your coffee. When you replace cream with butter, you will reduce calories and it'll give you an extra energy boost. Make sure to use unsalted grass-fed butter. 


 Don't water it down.

When you're making iced coffee, don't use regular ice cubes. Use coffee ice cubes instead. The next time you have some leftover coffee, freeze it in an ice cube tray and you're all set. Now the next time you drink iced coffee it will get stronger instead of weaker as it sits. You can opt to add milk/creamer into the coffee before freezing it as well.

Add salt.

Alright, you probably think I have some weird obsession with adding things to my coffee at this point. First butter and now salt?! Again, trust me on this. Sprinkling salt over the coffee grounds before you brew will give your coffee a smoother taste. Salt is actually better at removing bitterness from coffee than sugar. Kosher salt is best and you want to add 1/4 tsp per 6 tbsp coffee grounds. Ugh, math. I know.

Add flavor before you pour.

If you're adding flavor to your cup of coffee, you're kind of doing it wrong. Try adding the flavor before you brew a pot of your beloved liquid gold. This allows everything to dance and romance into warm deliciousness. Want cinnamon coffee? Add ground cinnamon or broken cinnamon sticks into the filter along with the coffee grounds. Add vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, cocoa powder, coconut...get creative and get to drinking!

Downsize.

We all love coffee and we all love as much as we can get. However, if you want to better control your energy levels, it's best to drink smaller cups of coffee throughout the day instead of a couple large cups. Harvard suggests replacing 16 oz in the morning with 2-3 oz every hour. That sounds like it'd be pretty incovenient and maybe even impossible for quite a few people, so just drink the smaller portions that work for your situation.

Cold + Cold = GOOD.

The great thing about coffee is that it tastes good hot or cold. If you're like me, you absolutely love to drink iced coffee even in the winter time. If you're making your own iced coffee at home, here's a tip: cold brew it. You may have heard of cold brew coffee before. If you're not familiar, it is coffee that is brewed cold instead of hot. Okay, maybe that was obvious but why you should cold brew may not be. Cold brewing your coffee lessens the aciditiy and gives your coffee a smoother taste. This is Java Alive tested and approved.

Add to your pre-workout.

Besides giving you energy, doesn't drinking coffee make you happier? I know it does for me! That's why it's perfect for your pre-workout routine. Drink a cup of coffee 15-45 minutes before your workout. When you've got an extra boost and you feel good, you can bust out a great workout sesh.

Press it real good.

Ahh, press it. Press it good. Ahh, press it. Pr-press it real good! If you're not familiar with Salt-n-Pepa, you probably have no idea what you just read. That makes things awkward... So, let's just get right to the tip! It's a good idea to invest in a nice French Press. Why? Because the delicious natural oils from your coffee actually end up in your cup and not as a film inside your coffee maker. You get to truly enjoy the full taste of coffee. You also don't have to worry about burning your coffee and a French Press takes up way less space.

Get warmed up.

Like wine, coffee is best enjoyed at an optimal temperature. I won't get all scientific but a lot of coffee makers do not properly heat up the water to this temperature. How can we fix that? Add in some foreplay. Get things nice and warmed up before the magic happens. It's pretty simple. If you have the time, brew a pot of water before you brew your pot of coffee. Bonus tip:  We all know just how fast a nice cup of hot coffee can cool down. It's depressing. Warm up your coffee mug pre-pouring to keep your coffee hotter longer. You can preheat your coffee mug by filling it with hot water and letting it sit while your precious coffee drips.

Filter before you filter.

Last tip! Have you ever heard the saying, "Once you go tap, you don't go back"? No? That's because it's totally not true, and it also makes no sense. Enough of this nonsense. The tip: Filter before you filter. Use filtered or spring water instead of regular tap water. This will improve the taste of your coffee. You'll never go back to your old ways again.