Here’s Why You Should Add Salt to Your Coffee

I’m firmly on team black coffee here, but sometimes my coffeemaker spits out a cup that’s so bitter it simply needs something. But I don’t have to break out milk, creamer, or even sugar to smooth out the flavor in my mug. I just need to grab a salt shaker.

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Salt and coffee sure seem like an unlikely pair, but that’s exactly what makes these two work so well together. If you haven’t yet tried dropping a pinch of salt (not sugar) into your morning brew, you’ve got to try it.

How Salt Can Improve Coffee’s Taste

Salt adds, well, a salty, brine-like flavor when it’s sprinkled over meat, veggies, and even sweet foods like fruit. But what you might not expect is how salt can balance flavors and taste not-so-salty—and when it’s added to coffee, it can smooth out a particularly bitter brew,

Even the best coffee is naturally bitter once it’s been brewed, as Bon Appetit notes. But, if what comes out of a not-so-well-maintained brewer is any indication, sometimes you can be surprised by an extra-bitter cup. And if your mouth is puckering thanks to a very bitter sip, salt could turn your morning around.

Coffee tends to increase in bitterness when it’s brewed for a longer period of time, when beans are over-ground, or your beans or grounds go stale. But, if you add some salt into the mix, salt’s sodium ions will bond to the salt receptors in your mouth. Essentially, as Serious Eats explains, the salt will tell your brain to ignore the bitter taste (or trick it into doing so), allowing your taste buds to pick up other flavor nuances.

Oh, and this trick works on flavored coffee, too, without changing the usual flavor profile in a negative way.

Your coffee won’t technically change―it’ll still brew in exactly the same manner, and you can add as much milk, your newest creamer flavor, or sugar (or even extra flavoring) as you’d like. But your mouth will notice a difference in the bitterness level, allowing you to experience your usual cup of joe in a different way.

All Your Coffee Needs Is A Pinch Of Salt

Before you grab a spoon and start mixing tablespoons of salt into your morning mug of coffee, know that a little goes a long way. You don’t have to add a handful to “season” your coffee and improve its bitter taste.

There’s no specific amount of salt that you can rely on every time. Instead, opinions are mixed—some say all you need is a small pinch to do the trick, while others (like Alton Brown) say adding as much as ¼ teaspoon is the right idea. 

And if you’re wondering when to add that salt, it’s entirely up to you. Some say adding it before brewing (yes, right into the grounds) is the best approach. In my opinion, sprinkling salt into your mug after the coffee is ready is the better option. If you’re planning to brew an entire pot, you may want to wait until the coffee is finished, just in case you add a bit too much and accidentally oversalt.