# Sacrilege?



## Beemer (Jun 19, 2012)

Is it Sacrilege to add sugar to espresso or cappuccino?


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

No.

As far as espresso goes, Italians, who invented the stuff seem to favour it sweet. And many espressos you get in this country are so bad you have to add something to them to make them drinkable.

I drink my espresso without sugar, but I don't hold religious views on the subject. People should be able to drink their coffee how they want, but one could say the better the espresso, the less likely you are to want to sugar it.

Cappucinos to me are a sort of hot milkshake. I don't drink them and have no views on how they should served.


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## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

It is sacrilege to blindly throw sugar into a drink without first tasting it, however if ones preferance is to add sugar then so be it.. I would urge anybody though to try and refame from this practice and learn to appreciate coffee without it. Before I developed an interest in coffee I used to drink builders tea with 4 teaspoons of sugar and lived on energy drinks(I have always hated instant coffee). The moment I took an interest in coffee, sugar immediately stopped making sense, it doesn't take very long going sugar free in tea and coffee before you start wondering why on earth you used to have it! Adding sugar only means that A) the drink will be horribly sweet in totally the wrong way and just won't be the way the coffee was intended B) you will never learn to appreciate a coffees natural sweetness, each and every coffee has its own unique sweetness which makes up a major part of its character, by adding sugar you are mearly burrying that sweetness and thus removing a defining feature of the coffee. you wouldn't put sugar in a fine wine or beer or fruit juice or basically any other drink, so why put it in coffee?


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Let me turn it around. Do you add sugar, and if so, why? Habit? Preference?

Italian espresso isnt speciality coffee so sugar can arguably be said to be part of the experience, as it is more naturally bitter. Speciality coffee has less bad-tasting defects and retains more of the fruit carbs/sugars so if roasted and extracted well, the natural sweetness means sugar actually makes it taste worse, even to those who always add sugar.


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

Try it without, try it with, and drink what you prefer....

....but, with espresso you can change the sweetness and indeed the bitterness by the way you extract (some coffees more than others) and so you don't want to be masking a bad extraction with sugar if there are things you could do to sweeten it up.

This is worth a read:

http://www.home-barista.com/tips/espresso-101-how-to-adjust-dose-and-grind-setting-by-taste-t16968.html

I find I don't want to add sugar to decent beans, but I do if it is Italian style robusta blends (which have their place)


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## SlowRoast (Sep 24, 2010)

I prefer without, sugar gives it a funny sour like caramel taste in my opinion, and far too sweet. I have had a few "espresso" shots so bad even with sugar it's undrinkable, I don't want to remember those ...

I've gone off cappuccino and latte especially now, I'm more at the end of flat white, espresso, ristretto and macchiato.

A lot of people will take sugar just through habit, some will take it to cover up the coffee flavour. I.e. large skinny decaf half shot caramel latte, plus three sugars ... I don't need to say any more!

But remember, been said by many people before on here ... coffee is a personal thing, drink it how you like, but don't try to call a drink like I mentioned above "a coffee" to me.


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## jimrobo (Aug 5, 2011)

I always used to put sugar in pretty much out of habit. Once I'd tasted a properly extracted espresso though the sugar went out of the window. I couldn't believe how balanced it could be even naturally sweet. At least give it a try without anyway!


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## Beemer (Jun 19, 2012)

MikeHag said:


> Let me turn it around. Do you add sugar, and if so, why? Habit? Preference?
> 
> Italian espresso isnt speciality coffee so sugar can arguably be said to be part of the experience, as it is more naturally bitter. Speciality coffee has less bad-tasting defects and retains more of the fruit carbs/sugars so if roasted and extracted well, the natural sweetness means sugar actually makes it taste worse, even to those who always add sugar.


I never take sugar in tea or when I used to make filter coffee. I am aware that the sweetness of espresso can be altered by various methods all without using sugar. I was just curious as to whether some here found it acceptable (easier?) to use some sugar rather than alter what might be a normally okay setup.

I'm still enjoying the learning process but as I'm making for two most time it is more awkward to experiment. I have to admit that I still cannot tell to which side of the optimum is my espresso, i.e. harsh side or bitter side? Litmus paper


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## Milesy (Mar 8, 2012)

Having once upon a time been a habitual sugar user I would say that most people who use sugar just use it because they are used to it. Once you start to wean yourself away from it you can actually start to taste the natural caramels and sweetness in things.

My granny says "If you like sugar in your tea it is because you like the taste of sugar, and not tea"


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

I may have to give your granny some commission when I use that line, Milesy.


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## Stevenp6 (May 17, 2011)

Really got no time for people who put sugar or flavourings in their coffee. Coffee has such a great flavour, why mess it up?


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## jimrobo (Aug 5, 2011)

Steven, it's easy to get into the habit of putting sugar in. Most people will have never tried a properly extracted espresso drink. I used to put sugar in all the time just because i was used to it being bitter but it was only once I really got into making espresso correctly I discovered it was far nicer without.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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