As impossible as it may seem, not everyone lives for a great cup of coffee in the morning. Drinking coffee has health benefits that are not to be overlooked, not to mention the energy boost it gives you. Yet some people still find that coffee just doesn’t agree with them. If you are one of those people that want to enjoy coffee and its benefits then read on. We will talk about the benefits of drinking coffee, the answer to the question “why don’t I like coffee?”, and how to fix it.
For some people, coffee just tastes too bitter. This can be a huge factor, especially if you have a sensitive palate and are new to coffee. For others, the caffeine in coffee makes them too jittery. And for other people, coffee is just too expensive.
These are all valid reasons for not liking coffee. But if you want to change your opinion of coffee, there are also some simple fixes. First, let’s talk about the benefits of drinking coffee.
The Benefits Of Drinking Coffee
Aside from the obvious energy boost you get from drinking coffee, there are several other health benefits that you can enjoy by introducing coffee to your daily routine.
Author Note: Coffee can help you burn fat faster. Caffeine boosts your metabolic rate and might help you lose weight. Especially in combination with physical exercise. Other than that, coffee also improves physical performance, which is why many athletes drink it before practice.
While these might be the obvious reasons why coffee is an excellent addition to your diet, there are other benefits to take into account. Coffee might lower your risk of getting type 2 diabetes. It has also been linked to the possible reduction of getting Alzheimer’s, Dementia and even lowering the risk of getting Parkinson’s.
And if all this is not enough, coffee is a great source of nutrients and antioxidants. So the path to finding the perfect cup of coffee that matches your preferences is worth it.
Reasons Why People Don’t Like Coffee
While we are coffee geeks, some people just can’t get into coffee for some reason. We are not here to judge. Coffee might not be your thing if you have a sensitive palate or a sensitive stomach.
But no worries. We are here to tackle the possible reasons you might not be enjoying coffee and give you solutions for each of them. So let’s get into it.
Coffee Tastes Too Bitter
The biggest reason why people don’t like coffee is that they don’t like the taste of it. For most people, when they first start drinking coffee, it has a very off-putting bitter taste. It can definitely be an acquired taste – I definitely did not love the taste of black coffee when I first started drinking it. I do agree that it gets better as you get used to it.
But for some people, it doesn’t. And it is true, coffee can have a bitter note to it. But while some people enjoy this, others might find it that it doesn’t agree with their sensitive palate, especially if you are a supertaster.
There are ways to fix this. First of all, it all depends on the coffee. Some coffees have a more noticeable bitter note, while others a more subtle one. To be safe, you can look for a milder brand or if you are looking at roasts, stick to lighter roasts.
Light roasts have a sweeter taste, while darker roasts have a more bitter taste. Most stores will carry at least a couple of light roast coffee choices, so it shouldn’t be hard to find. If you have a well-stocked coffee shop nearby, feel free to ask for recommendations.
Top Tip: They might even offer you coffee blends from different origins. For example, African coffee tends to be sweeter. So you won’t go wrong with a light roast of coffee of African origin.
Ways To Improve Coffee’s Flavor
The second thing you can do to make your coffee taste less bitter is to adjust your brewing method. For example, you might want to look into making cold brew coffee. As opposed to hot brew, cold brew has a significantly less bitter taste.
Making cold brew coffee is easy, and the good thing is once you make a batch of cold brew coffee, it can last in your fridge for ten days, or up to two weeks.
If you still want to stick to hot brews, you might want to at least lower the temperature. Just lowering the water temperature a few degrees will make a difference in decreasing the bitterness of the coffee.
If you are using boiling water, chances are your coffee will end up tasting way too bitter. But if you only wait for a couple of minutes for the water to cool off, and then use it to make coffee, you will end up with a less bitter cup. This is because the more bitter compounds generally take longer to extract, but a higher temperature water will more quickly dissolve those into your cup.
A similar method to avoid over-extracting is to grind a bit coarser. This will decrease your brew time and help you stay away from extracting bitter compounds into your cup of coffee.
And if this doesn’t help you, and you are still on the notion that you don’t like coffee because it is too bitter, then tip number three might do the trick. You can always try adding milk or cream or sugar to your coffee. This will make the taste sweeter and more tolerable to drink.
Coffee Makes You Too Jittery
The second reason why people usually don’t like coffee is that they find that it makes them too jittery and may even interferes with their sleep patterns. Coffee can affect different people differently, so what might be a preferred caffeine intake for some, might be way too much for others. Researchers have even found a few likely genes that they think are linked to caffeine metabolism – this helps explain why some people can drinks many cups of coffee without feeling jittery.
If you find yourself that even a cup of coffee in the morning can make you feel jittery throughout the day, or interferes with your sleep at night, don’t worry, you are not the only one. You might be too sensitive to caffeine, and that’s ok. There is certainly a fix for that.
You can try watering down your coffee. You can use hot or cold water to do so, or even milk or cream depending on your preferences. If this doesn’t do the trick, you can also try mixing caffeinated coffee with decaf. This will help in making a weaker cup of coffee that you can enjoy without having to suffer the consequences of being jittery throughout the whole day.
Author Note: You will also want to drink coffee exclusively in the morning. And keep it to one mild cup. Drinking coffee even just a bit later in the day might mess with your sleep during the night. So stick with a watered-down cup of coffee in the morning.
You might find that after time your body gets used to the caffeine and then you may be able to switch to a full cup of caffeinated coffee. This is great, but make sure you don’t overdo it.
Coffee Can Be Too Expensive
If you take a look at the price for a single cup of coffee, then yes, coffee is affordable. But if you have ever walked into a boutique coffee shop and taken a look at all the gourmet coffee blends then you might think otherwise.
Coffee enthusiasts will happily spend a small fortune for a bag of good coffee blend. And let’s not get into all the coffee gear and machines you can buy. I am guilty of spending way too much on perfecting my coffee set up at home.
But not everyone wants to spend way too much just to be able to have a mild cup of coffee in the morning. And not everyone should.
You can enjoy coffee made in the comfort of your home by brewing in the humble equipment that you already have in the house. Everyone has a water heater, right? A pour-over coffee maker can cost from $10 to $30, and you will use it forever.
This way, you are avoiding spending way too much on a cup of coffee that you bought at the coffee shop. Plus there are so many great coffee blends that don’t cost a fortune. So instead of going into the fancy coffee shop, try your supermarket instead. Chances are they still have a great selection of coffee at a more affordable price.
Personally, I don’t mind spending a bit more for specialty coffee. At $15 for a 12oz bag, I usually get 18 double shots of espresso – that’s less than $1 per drink. Even after adding in the cost of milk and condiments, it’s way less than a $4-$6 latte from a cafe. And still a bit cheaper than a black coffee from most cafes.
Best coffee for people who don’t like coffee
As mentioned earlier, if you don’t like the bitter flavors of coffee, switching to a lighter roast may help lessen the bitter flavors in your brew. However, I’d advise to sticking with a medium roast. Going too light can start to introduce some bright or acidic (or sour, depending on how you look at it!) flavors, and that is not something everyone wants in their coffee. Some of the trendier and fancier coffees are very light roasts, but do not feel that you have to like that profile.
Also, I really am picky about buying only freshly roasted coffee. I’m sensitive to stale flavors, and I try to order directly from the roaster or at least check the roast dates when buying from the local grocery store.
Conclusion
Saying you don’t like coffee is like saying you don’t like pizza. Chances are you have probably just tasted a couple of types and still haven’t found the one you like best. But there are so many types of coffee and so many ways to prepare it – I think that you will undoubtedly find at least one that will suit your palate and your stomach.
Coffee has so many great benefits, and I really think that you try out the different solutions and give it a real effort to find something you like..
For one, it is a great energy booster and will increase physical performance. Other than that it helps with burning fat and speeds up your metabolism. Daily coffee intake might even lower your chances of getting type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.
It is also a great source of nutrients and antioxidants which means it will be a great addition to your daily diet.
There are however a few setbacks, especially if you are new to coffee. The most common one is that coffee tastes too bitter. We’ve gone through a few tricks that can help with this. You can choose a lighter roast for a sweeter tasting cup of coffee.
You can also adjust your brewing method and parameters. And you can even sweeten your coffee by adding milk, cream, or sugar to it.
If you find that you don’t like coffee because it makes you too jittery during the day, switch to a milder blend. You can dilute the coffee by adding hot or cold water or again, mild or cream. You can even mix it with decaf to get a milder cup or just go full decaf. Nothing wrong with decaf!
However you make it, make sure you find the perfect cup for you so you can enjoy it.
We hope you found this article on why you might not like coffee useful and informative.
Stay caffeinated, friends!