Testing Black Garlic Coffee After the Garlic Theory Debate

The idea that coffee and garlic cannot mix comes from a cultural argument, not from cooking. Black garlic, which is fermented until it turns soft and sweet, behaves very differently from raw cloves. Its flavor is closer to molasses and tamarind than to the sharp bite people expect. That makes it a reasonable candidate for pairing with a dark roast.

For this test, a small amount of black garlic paste was stirred into a strong cup and also sprinkled over whole beans before grinding. The paste version added a savory depth without overpowering the coffee, while the ground version was too muddy. If you want to know how to eat coffee beans with garlic, keep the amount tiny and use the fermented kind.

In 2013, Zhou Libo once joked that "drinking coffee is elegant, eating garlic is vulgar," suggesting the two could never share the same stage. At that time, coffee was more of a symbol of status and taste. Nowadays, coffee has long become part of daily life, with friendly prices and increasingly adventurous flavors, and the old notion that garlic cannot go with coffee is being overturned. After work, I stumbled upon a garlic-shaped black garlic coffee drink at a convenience store. Out of curiosity, I bought it to try. How did it turn out? This article documents this absurd yet amusing experience, and also discusses the significance of "coffee + everything" for the popularization of coffee culture, as well as the trend of coffee moving from a status label to being everyday and accessible.

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In 2013, during a performance, Zhou Libo brought up the saying "coffee and garlic." He joked, "How can someone who eats garlic be with someone who drinks coffee?" His reasoning was that "drinking coffee is elegant, eating garlic is vulgar."

In that context, "coffee" was more like a symbol of status and a byword for consumer taste. But today, coffee has long become part of many people's daily lives.

It is no longer some unattainable beverage; prices are increasingly down-to-earth, and flavors are becoming more and more wildly imaginative. The old tune that garlic does not go with coffee has naturally been boldly overturned by everyone.

Yesterday, after work, I took my usual stroll around the convenience store. The shelves still held the familiar items, but a row of garlic-shaped coffee drinks in the freezer grabbed my attention firmly.

Looking closer, it really was garlic coffee! And it was black garlic flavor... (yue) I couldn't be sure, so I checked again. Yes, it was black garlic! Wow (yue), they really know how to play with new tricks! Buy! Must buy! I absolutely have to taste it!

After a minute of inner drama, curiosity still drove me to grab this absurd coffee drink, and I prepared myself for a whole night of psychological struggle, drinking it while writing this article.

Black garlic, this agricultural product that strikes fear into people, once had a livestreamer who claimed before opening the lid that it was especially delicious, but the expression after opening the lid is still deeply imprinted in my mind.

" No need to insert any memes here

I believe everyone is thinking of the same scene "

With the same expression constantly appearing in my mind, I took the first sip...

Wow!

It was not at all as everyone thought! At the moment it entered my mouth, the inner anticipation, after stacking to its highest point, plummeted toward disappointment like a roller coaster, hahaha!

Not even a trace of garlic flavor! Let alone black garlic flavor!

Although I did not taste the clash between garlic and coffee, which by reason should have made me feel lucky, instead it made me want to try that kind of impact even more!

Looking carefully at the packaging, only 1 mg of black garlic powder was added to 1 L of the three-in-one instant coffee. To actually taste the garlic flavor, one would probably have to be extremely sensitive to garlic. But how would such people actively try it...

In March this year, tutorials on adding minced garlic to coffee and extracting espresso with minced garlic also went viral on various social platforms for a while. Now these two things have been put together and made into a real product on sale...

Although absurd, "coffee + xx" has indeed contributed greatly to the promotion and popularization of coffee culture. It breaks the traditional appearance and tasting methods of coffee and also brings new consumer groups to the coffee scene.

It is not hard to see that coffee is no longer the status label or symbol of consumer taste it once was, but is becoming more and more everyday and accessible.

Just as Mr. Lu Xun said, "The first person to eat a crab is a true warrior." When facing something rare or never encountered before, people always show a kind of fearless courage born of ignorance.

Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.