One-Ingredient Coffee Boost (You Already Have It)

The Surprising Secret to Better Coffee

You might not realize it, but there's a simple trick that can transform your coffee experience. It’s something you likely have on hand right now. A tiny pinch of salt added to a bittersweet or just “so-so” cup of hot coffee can significantly smooth out the flavor and reduce bitterness. When used sparingly, salt doesn’t make the coffee taste salty; instead, it enhances the overall flavor and gives it a fuller mouthfeel. Only a very light sprinkle is needed, and it’s best to use cleaner salts like sea salt or kosher salt—iodized table salt can leave a metallic aftertaste.

The Classic Coffee Dilemma

“Cream or sugar?” It’s the question you always hear when you order regular drip coffee. Some people go for both, some choose one, and others prefer their coffee black. But there’s another surprising addition that has been gaining popularity among coffee enthusiasts in recent years. If you’re eating out at your favorite breakfast spot, it’s right there next to the sugar packets and tiny metal pitcher of creamer: salt.

How Salt Can Upgrade Your Coffee

Salting coffee may sound unusual, but it really can enhance the flavor of a so-so cup. It only takes a little shake. I first heard about this technique a few years ago in an article written by cookbook author and molecular biologist Nick Sharma for Food52. For a long time, I wanted to try it but only recently decided to give it a shot. Maybe because the gallons of coffee I drink with my boyfriend every weekend are always lacking in nuance, with a charred edge. He likes the dark roast of a brand I won’t mention, and because he’s kind enough to brew the pot in the first place, I always pour myself cup after cup, thinking “maybe this time it’ll taste better.”

Of course, it never does, so I finally gave the salt trick a go. All I did was stir a small pinch into my steaming mug. It really did make a palpable difference.

The Science Behind the Trick

Salt can lessen the perception of bitterness in foods. That’s why bitter vegetables like radicchio or broccoli rabe are often paired with salty ingredients like Parmesan or pancetta. On the science tip, of course, there’s more to it than that. To pull off this parlor trick yourself, all you need is some hot, bitter coffee and a very light hand with the salt. It’s a fun little experiment.

What Does It Taste Like?

Not salty, for one. When you add a pinch of salt to a cup of coffee that’s merely drinkable, it rounds out that flavor. I find it feels a little fuller in your mouth. And yes, not quite as bitter. I was curious what knowledgeable coffee people thought of this salt thing. I asked Irvin Lin, Simply Recipes’ resident coffee expert. “I do not add any salt to my coffee,” he said. “Personally, I find a properly brewed cup doesn't need any help at all.” That said, he did offer some tips for the salt-curious: “A tiny pinch is all you need. It's easy to sprinkle too much salt in coffee, making it...salty. And I highly recommend a cleaner salt like sea salt or kosher salt. Don't use iodized table salt. It will lend a metallic taste to your coffee.”

Coffee Nerds Take It Even Further

Next, I asked Tony "Tonx" Konecny, cofounder of the fresh roasted coffee subscription service Yes Plz Coffee. I’m a Yes Plz subscriber and I love their coffee. Drinking it is like imbibing a story with a beginning, middle, and end. It’s coffee I linger over, never guzzle. His response didn’t surprise me. “I confess I haven't tried the salt trick in many years, but I think it's the sort of thing you treat as a last resort for particularly bad or bitter coffee,” Konecny said. “As a tangent, there are a lot of coffee nerds formulating their brew water to get better tasting extractions by adding magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). So in a way the pinch of salt thing is just an earlier version of the same sort of kitchen counter chemistry.”

If you’re not familiar with the behavior of coffee nerds, know that many will go out of their way to make a simple thing more complicated. Konecny is a little more diplomatic. “People will do a lot of fiddling around with toys or additives rather than make the simple switch to starting with really good fresh roasted beans.”

When to Salt, if at All

I’d never sully the coffee I get from my Yes Plz subscription with salt, because it does not need correcting. It’s lovely just as it is! But not everyone wants coffee with citrusy top notes and hints of crisp toasted bread. It’s simply not what’s universally desired of the coffee drinking experience. And that’s okay. I mean, I still have a great time drinking pots of my boyfriend’s scorched-earth coffee on the weekends. Context is a highly overlooked factor in sensory experience. If the coffee or the company is bad to begin with, no amount of salt (or anything else) will help.