What’s the Deal with… Butter in Coffee

Yahoo ^ | Jun 4, 2014 | Julia Bainbridge

[kingattax]

People have taken to putting butter in their coffee.

The practice is polarizing—it sounds awesome to some, disgusting to others—but really, it’s not about how the mixture tastes. “Clarified butter is a great source of energy, satiates you: I get the draw,” coffee writer Oliver Strand told us on Twitter. “But it’s more about diet than flavor.”

Let’s discuss.

Where It Comes From: Putting butter in morning tea has long been a “thing” in Tibet. “The heart and soul of Tibet” is butter tea, chef Vikas Khanna told us. (Khanna’s cookbook, Return to the Rivers: Recipes and Memories of the Himalayan River Valleys, was nominated for a James Beard Award this year.)

It’s almost exactly what it sounds like: tea, brewed normally, and then served with a float of yak butter and Himalayan salt. “It is hard to drink initially—it’s so strong!—but it’s the best thing Tibet taught me.”

It was Dave Asprey, though, who most recently imported the idea to States, switching the tea to coffee, adding some other ingredients, and branding it Bulletproof Coffee. Then came the attention from Paleo diet experts and followers of the Traditional Foods movement.

[trebb]

BUT....it was a big pain in the butt to have to whip it up every morning. Using a blender at 6 am is not a good idea for me. I went back to my heavy cream.

Never tried the butter, but the heavy cream has been a staple for years - the half-n-half (or non-fat) users have no idea what they're missing

[jstaff]

And, you should be able to eat it with a knife and fork, IMO, good old Army field coffee.

[Paine in the Neck]

I prefer cocoanut oil; about half a tsp. in black coffee for the first cup of the day only.

[ArtDodger]

When people ask me how I take my coffee, I say, “black, like my..” and they wince expecting the old catch phrase. but I finish up by saying, “Like my ink pen”. It is fun to watch the faces go through the gamut of expressions.

I do enjoy by bit of fun...

[PistolPaknMama]

Would one of those little juicer things work in lieu of a blender?

[AppyPappy]

The secret to great coffee has always been an egg broken into the pot.

[Arrowhead1952]

Coffee is served very strong, black and unadulterated with any kind of sweetener or flavoring. That’s coffee.

My wife will not drink my coffee. She says I may as well cut a slice and eat it. She likes her coffee so weak, you can read a book through it.

[muir_redwoods]

My wife says the she would drink coffee if it tasted like it smells. I say, drink it the way I make it and it does

[Arrowhead1952]

I get my coffee ready late, at night and just plug the percolator in when I get up. My wife always wants coffee after I get mine ready. She says it smells so good.

[GailA]

I’d pour her half a cup, add hot water to the rest of the cup and stir. Or you could get those coffee bags, like tea bags and let her make her own.

I’m with you Arrow, I like my coffee, robust, black no sugar. Good thing the Mr. is Ret. Navy and likes his the same way. The coffee pot it the first thing turned on after getting up. Even before the dogs get let out! I’m a grouch with out my 2 cups of Java.

They can keep star bucks, that stuff is NASTY. And supports the Wrong side. I can but a big can of coffee for what 1 cup of their crap cost.

[Sherman Logan]

Then came the attention from Paleo diet experts

Now that's funny!

If you want to follow a Paleolithic diet, dairy wouldn't be on the list. No domesticated animals in the Old Stone Age.

[Arrowhead1952]

She got one of those one cup coffee makers you see at some places lately that have the little cups with just enough grinds for one cup. I tried a cup of that and was not impressed.

I’ll never set foot in Starbucks. We had their coffee at a conference years ago, and I poured about half of my first cup down the drain. Went to the hotel restaurant for the rest of the week.

[Sherman Logan]

Used to go ski-camping in CO. Believe it or not, in such a circumstance getting enough calories in a day is a problem. Enough calories is necessary to generate body heat.

So we used to carry a stick of butter per person per day, which is about 800 calories.

Added it to just about everything, especially tea. Didn’t try it with coffee, not being a coffee drinker at the time.

[taildragger]

Tried it... Smmmooooothh. But always having to wash the blender?, I am not sure about it. It is interesting it gets a bit of a froth almost like a cappuccino and changes it color a bit...

[Future Snake Eater]

My wife uses real maple syrup to sweeten her coffee. I’m too much a traditionalist since I’m still on sugar and creamer.

[Lazamataz]

I enjoy saying this:

“I take my coffee like I like my women.....

(pause, waiting for everyone to adopt a knowing smile)

.....COLD, and BITTER.”

[NonValueAdded]

We don’t do it only because we lack access to a yak.

[dljordan]

Yak butter tea. MMMMMM!

[moovova]

3 fingers of tap water in a plastic tea glass, 60 seconds in the microwave, 2 heaping teaspoons of Taster’s Choice, a quick stir...that’s my “coffee” for the day.

[Hotmetal]

People think they don’t like strong coffee, when really, they don’t like bitter coffee, there is a difference. When making coffee, use more grinds and less water to get rich, strong coffee. The more water that passes through the grinds, the more bitter the coffee is. If you make it too strong you can add a bit of hot water.