With all the talk about pumpkin spice lattes, salted caramel lattes, and soon to be gingerbread lattes, I am personally getting a little disappointed. Whenever I go to Starbucks or any coffee shop, I stand next to a slew of people who are hunched over the coffee bar, ripping open countless packets of sugar, Splenda, Sweet-N-Low (is that still a thing?) and the latest-and-greatest TruVia. I see them snapping those packets sharply to shake back the sugar crystals, and dump one after another into their tall, grande and venti coffees. And then there are those tiny cream pods: French vanilla, hazelnut, I even saw an eggnog-flavored one once. They rip, shake, stir, sip, rip, shake, stir until they find the right combination of sugar and creamy goodness.
My question is this: what is that, in the end? Is that still coffee? If you have to hide it that much, do you even like coffee?
I'm not here to judge anyone (okay, maybe just a little if you put beaucoup d'amounts of sugar and cream into every cup of coffee), and I'm not really talking to the people who only tweak their coffee a little -- but what I want is a call for the return of black coffee! Let's get back to the basics. Coffee (for me, preferably dark roast) in its undoctored state is the best there is out there. Here are a few arguments that I hope will bring you to the Dark Side (punny yet?).
1. The taste
First and foremost, do it for the actual coffee taste! Without covering it with all that cream and sugar, you can appreciate what real coffee actually tastes like. Just make sure you get the good, dark stuff, not light-roast Folger's.
2. The energy
If you're really doing it for the energy spike alone, black's the way to go. All those additives only slow down the caffeine's absorption so you won't get the energy boost as quickly.
3. It's easier.
Because you have to do nothing to it. Simple is beautiful.
4. It's quicker.
Grab and go. That's it.
5. It's healthier!
No sugar, no extra fat, no extra fake additives. You'll cut a bunch of calories, fat and sugar if you just take it black, especially if you're ordering lattes -- that stuff can have a lot of nasty surprises in it when you actually check out its nutritional profile. (Dare to find out? Go to Starbucks's website.)
6. It's a lot cheaper.
No ordering lattes or buying all those extra TruVia packets if you're making it at home. Cheaper! Who doesn't love that?
7. You can find out if you actually like coffee or if you're just covering it up with add-ins and latte flavorings.
8. You'll feel pretty good about yourself.
Believe me. Just give it a try. Just like switching from milk to dark chocolate or from boxed wine to the good stuff, you can become a true connoisseur.
If you are going to drink coffee at all, drink it black. That's how it was made and how it should be appreciated.
