I Put Salt in My Coffee and Now I Can’t Drink It Any Other Way 

Last week, I told the internet that I put sesame seeds in my food on a daily basis. The response? Crickets. No one cared enough to agree or disagree with me about the viability of that weird food habit. But what if I told you guys I always put salt in my ground coffee before brewing? What then, internet? Would you finally stand up and try to fight me in the parking lot? (C’mon! I wanna fight someone in a parking lot!) 

Ariana, I will definitely fight you in the parking lot for putting salt in your coffee. That’s dumb. Why would you even do that? 

*Puts on boxing gloves* Llookj,. peopple— *Removes boxing gloves* Man those are hard to type with. Look, people: I don’t just put salt in my ground coffee. I also add a little brown sugar and vanilla extract into the mix, too. 

I learned this little coffee hack from a nice man on TikTok some time ago. Full transparency: I just spent the past hour trying to find that very creator on the app again. I cannot. I’ve found other people giving the same advice, but I would love to shout him out specifically, because he changed the trajectory of my life for the better. (Also, he suggested using flaky salt specifically, which I think is genius—but not a requirement.) 

In general, there are a lot of TikToks about the benefits of adding salt to your coffee—allegedly, salt alone can make your coffee taste less bitter and amplify the sweeter notes. You know, like salt does to most food. I’m not unveiling some huge culinary mystery here. 

My advice: Don’t forget the brown sugar and vanilla extract. 

I don’t drink sweet coffee. I never add sugar into my coffee post-brew, and I always avoid flavored syrups in my lattes. But adding salt, a sprinkle of brown sugar, and a couple drops of vanilla extract into the grounds turns your average Folgers into something noticeably more nuanced and rich. I always feel like I’m sipping from a much more expensive bean, if that makes sense. 

So it definitely makes a difference in your coffee?

Like my colleague Gwynedd Stuart admits in this video, I, too, am very susceptible to the power of suggestion. But in this case, I always taste a difference. I won’t brew coffee at home without these ingredients anymore. (Though sometimes I don’t have all three on me, so I settle for one or two.) Even if it’s all in my head, my head has excellent taste. Placebo or not, I’m in too deep now, guys. I can’t ever go back.