Can Coffee Make You Feel Drunk or Is It Caffeine?
Coffee does not contain alcohol, so it cannot make you drunk in the legal sense; the floaty, jittery feeling people describe comes from caffeine. That is why the question of whether you can get drunk from coffee has no simple yes answer. Adding sugar or milk to pour-over is a matter of personal taste, not a rule, and it will not ruin the cup.
Caffeine blocks adenosine, the compound that signals tiredness, and at high doses it can bring restlessness, a racing pulse, and a lightheaded buzz that some mistake for drunkenness. Bitterness in the cup comes from compounds extracted during brewing, not from sugar or milk. Drinking it hot or letting it cool slightly both work.
Those new to pour-over coffee are often puzzled by a seemingly simple question: how exactly should this cup of coffee be drunk to be correct? Will adding sugar ruin the flavor? Does pouring in a little milk mark you as a novice? Some insist that black coffee is the only authentic way, while others believe that a rich, milky aroma is what makes it truly satisfying. In fact, when it comes to how to drink pour-over coffee, there is no universal hard-and-fast rule. This article approaches the topic from the angles of coffee temperature, sources of bitterness, and the reasonableness of adding sugar or milk, helping you clarify your thinking, while also offering Front Street Coffee's bean selection advice, so that you can both appreciate the true flavor of specialty coffee and freely enjoy the way you like to drink it.
What is the correct way to drink pour-over coffee? This is a common confusion among many people who have just become interested in pour-over. Can you add sugar? Can you pour in milk or cream? Is it better to drink it hot, or to let it cool slightly before sipping? When members of our May Fourth Coffee Club first joined, they often threw this kind of question at me as well. Coffee books on the market give all sorts of answers, some quite stern—for example, that pour-over coffee absolutely must not have sugar added, or it will destroy the coffee's original flavor; or that only fresh cream is allowed, while milk is ruled out. Front Street's attitude is much more relaxed: drink it however you like. Of course, Front Street will also add a few supplementary notes, and we'll go into detail below.
As for coffee temperature, including the temperature during brewing and the temperature when drinking, I plan to leave that for a dedicated discussion later. Today let's talk about adding sugar and milk. First, consider this: who is the one drinking the coffee? It's you, enjoying the pleasure brought by your senses of smell, taste, and so on. If you feel that a cup of coffee that is sweet and full of rich milky aroma is what truly satisfies you, then why give up the joy of adding sugar and milk just because of someone else's word? Look at it from another angle: since so many coffee experts recommend a certain way of drinking it, that way must have its own logic—so when you're in the right mood, why not give it a try? What do you have to lose? You might just end up liking it.
Speaking of adding sugar, many coffee enthusiasts insist that "good coffee isn't bitter," but if anyone claims coffee contains no bitterness at all, that is absolutely self-deception. We should even recognize that "bitterness" is precisely an important component of a good cup of coffee. If you completely remove the bitterness, it would be like bitter melon without any bitterness—would you find that kind of coffee tasty?
The problem is that the bitterness in coffee does not come from a single substance, but is formed by the combined action of various bitter organic compounds, such as caffeine, chlorogenic acid, trigonelline, and others. Among these, some bitterness is very elegant and, working together with the trace sugars contained in the coffee itself, creates a pleasant sense of "sweet aftertaste"; but there are also less ideal bitter notes, with astringency, that cling to the back of the tongue and linger, and that experience is not so pleasant. Generally speaking, higher-quality specialty coffee has lower levels of chlorogenic acid and caffeine, so its bitterness and astringency are very mild, while its sweet aftertaste can last a long time. Coffee with this quality is a pleasure to drink plain, without sugar or milk.
If you prefer drinking coffee with milk, you should prioritize buying coffee beans with sufficiently rich flavor. First choices are Front Street Queen's Estate, Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling, and Front Street Colombia Huila—beans with caramel, chocolate, and roasted nut flavors—because they are medium-dark roasts, so their mouthfeel is full-bodied and low in acidity, making them very suitable for pairing with milk.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
