What’s yer fave coffee sweetener that won’t break the bank?

[robintemplin]

Coffeeholic here. That’s not gonna change. I take it sweet with heavy whipping cream, all the live long day. Decaf after 5PM. (Follow each cup with a big glass of water.) I have been using SweetLeaf Sweet Drops, clear stevia. Yummo. Without sneaky sugars. But expensive.
My question… How do YOU get the most bang for your buck as sweetener in your coffee?

[PaulL]

Can’t help here, since I am at the point where I highly dislike sweetness in coffee, and actually prefer it black (though I find it tolerable with heavy cream in it).

[amwassil]

Also don’t particularly like ‘sweet’ coffee although I don’t drink it black either. My keto mix (whey, collagen, MCT, coconunt oil, ghee, whipping cream) adds enough of a flavour profile I don’t need nor want a ‘sweetener’. One of the two whey powders I use contains a total 40mg of stevia and sucralose per 30 gr ‘serving’. Since I use only 8.7 gr per ‘my serving’ that’s negligible. I experimented to come up with a keto mix that tastes pretty much just like heavy cream but adds a mix of fats and proteins to match my macros. Makes my morning coffee into a meal that generally gets me through a third of the day.

[islandlight]

Where I live, an ounce of pure white stevia powder costs CAD 12. This might seem like a lot, but some years ago I did the calculation and figured it lasted as long as $12 worth of sugar. So to me, stevia is cheap. It’s the drops, blends, etc., that get expensive. (For further savings, you can buy pure stevia powder in larger sizes online.)

[kyarn]

I use Nutpods for my creamer because HWC tastes like dead cow to me after going so long without milk. Interestingly, butter and cheese taste good. As far as sweetener goes for your coffee I have gotten Lakonto vanilla drops on Amazon for as low as $5. Sweetleaf drops are doing a promotion where you can get a free bottle (usually a flavor of their choice) free when you make a purchase and shipping is free. I’d be happy to let you know when I see them on sale. It’s hard for me to pass up a deal. When the Lakonto was on sale I bought 8 of them.

[robintemplin]

I would LOVE a heads up for sales. Thanks!!! I use nut pods too. They do cut down on the amount of stevia I need.

[Shortstuff]

I can’t stomach sweet coffee, sorry not helpful

Mother always used to make sweet drinks then when I was 9 I wanted to try without and never went back.

[Aqua_chonk]

My shopping strategy for all non-perishables is to check the expiration date. Then I buy absolutely all the product I will use up to that date. Even if there isn’t a sale or coupon available, it will never be cheaper than it is right now, so stockpiling makes sense. A billion squirrels can’t be wrong.

Which explains the 5 bottles of Trader Joe’s Organic Liquid Stevia in my cupboard. Should last me until 2023 just fine considering I only add half a dropper full to each massive batch of extra strength cold brew coffee that I make. I don’t take it sweet, this just dials down the bitterness to a respectable enough level that it neutralizes my morning face.

PS: There are 4 bottles of Trader Joe’s Organic Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract next to that stevia. My coffee tastes gooood.

[kyarn]

Costco in my area just start carrying Nutpods French Vanilla. It’s $10 for 2 large containers. Any chance you have a Facebook account? If you go over Sweetleaf you will probably see the sale they are having on the BOGO. It was in an Ad that popped up on my FB.

[Carnivoor]

Coffeeholic

Fellow Coffeeholic here, bigtime.

From 4 shugars to lots of other artificial sweetners and slowly eased out of it over period of about 12 months.

The sweetners are a habit you can controll slowly if you want.

Now I drink my coffee lighter, black. Half desert beans, half decaf beans. 2 to 3 liters a day

Teach yourself to enjoy it black, you’ll love it in the long run.

[Aqua_chonk]

a habit you can controll slowly if you want.

Can confirm.

desert beans

What the–?

[Carnivoor]

Oeps, spelling should use ones of those spelling checkers

Dessert beans are locally sold in red packs, they are a mild blend, less bitter.

Its the bitteness that wants sweet to counter.

[Shortstuff]

Its the bitteness that wants sweet to counter.

Salt helps with this too, I now cannot stomach coffee without salt added.

[PaulL]

The darker the roast, the bitterer the flavour, so for a milder brew, use a medium or light roast. But that means more caffeine, since the longer coffee is roasted, the less caffeine it contains, or so I am told. So espresso made with a dark roast would the strongest in flavour, but with less caffeine. Whereas a drip brew made with a medium or light roast would be much milder-tasting, but with more caffeine.

Older methods of brewing coffee, such as the percolator or those large urns favoured by churches and banquet halls, tend to overcook the coffee and make it bitter. The drip makers were invented to keep the water temperature at precisely the right temperature, which greatly improves the flavour—though of course if the pot stays on the heated burner for too long, the taste will get progressively bitterer. I solve that problem by using a drip machine with a hot plate that shuts off after an hour or so (not long enough to make the brew taste noticeably bitterer). If I want a cup after the pot has cooled off, I just pour one and heat it in the microwave, which warms it up without adding bitterness. Or you can pour the hot brew into an insulated carafe. A good carafe will keep the coffee warm for hours.

[amwassil]

Another method to extract the flavours and leave the bitters and acids behind is to cold brew. Most of the compounds in coffee that result in ‘bitterness’ and/or ‘acidity’ are mostly extracted by high heat brewing. So most don’t end up in your cold brewed coffee.

The chemistry of cold-brew coffee is so hot right now

[Janie]

I am in your camp - love my coffee sweet and creamy. The only time I drink it black is when fasting and I do not enjoy my coffee then but drink it to stave off the caffeine-withdrawal headache.

I use the sweet leaf stevia drops in mine, my husband uses erythritol in his. When we are not home I carry Truvia packets in my fanny pack – part stevia, part erythritol. The packets are pretty cheap if you buy a large box. A small box is inexpensive also if you want to try before getting a large box.

[Shinita]

I rarely like sweet coffee… My sweetener is cream. It has sugar, it is sweet. Not really apparent with my 5ml per cup of coffee amount but still
If I want it even more sweet (it happens once in a blue moon and I even have a lot of whipped cream in my coffee then), I add dessert flavorings that always makes things feel sweeter (vanilla, maybe rum) but if I truly want sweetness, I use whatever I fancy. Erythritol is lowest in carbs but it’s the least flavorful. It’s fine as I have my cream and coffee, full with flavor (I often add egg yolk too). Xylitol is much better and honey is the best. Going off keto happens way more often than drinking sweet coffee I really like it just with cream and/or egg yolk, sweetness usually disturbs me but my lots of whipped cream luxury coffee is the exception.

What I never do, no matter what: drinking sweet black coffee. It’s one of the worst things I can consume, it’s awful. Well anything with stevia is the most awful to me but if it works for you, it’s a good option as a sweetener. That’s the cheapest by far (if you buy the right kind, I had pure stevia powder, leaves and stevia mixed with erythritol/xylitol) but my family members don’t even feel it nearly as sweet as it should be while the taste bothers us. Even when mixed with 500 times more xylitol and then used in a food sparingly, I felt the horrible stevia flavor and it wasn’t worth it looking at the perceived sweetness per price for us. It was more tolerable in already sweetish things and worst in coffee or cocoa, we never attempted that after the first tries. But as we know, sweeteners are very individual, we feel them totally different. Some people hate erythritol as I hate stevia

Surely there are fancier sweet things for coffee but I am not familiar with those.

My black coffee is sometimes naturally sweetish too. Of course, it’s very subtle but it matters which coffee you use and how strong it it. I choose the least bitter instant kind and drink it extremely weak (but in big quantities). So my little cream has an easier time to make it nicer.

The sweetners are a habit you can controll slowly if you want.

It definitely was true for me. I came from coffee with milk/cream and sugar/sweetener… And now I prefer it without sweetener. I still have a huge sweet tooth, mind you but my coffee shouldn’t be sweet, usually.

2 to 3 liters a day

And I thought my 1.5 liters was much… And it doesn’t happen just on any day…

I can tolerate black but it’s not really good. I need my few drops of cream for that. I drank not instant coffees in my life, fragrant, wonderful ones… They still needed a ton of water and some cream to be good for me.

Why I had to write down every important thing about my coffee drinking again? Sigh.

[Aqua_chonk]

leave the bitters and acids behind is to cold brew

Oh, hells yeah. There was no going back after discovering my cold brewing method turns a dark nutty roast into a cup of brown velvet smoother than a Lexus salesman.

I’ve gotten take out java from many lauded local coffeehouses since then but not one of them even comes close to mine. And I live in Portland, Oregon.

[PaulL]

Another method to extract the flavours and leave the bitters and acids behind is to cold brew.

I suppose I should try cold brewing, but I have a hard enough time waiting fifteen minutes for the coffee maker, lol!

[ctviggen]

You actually put the coffee in the container overnight or 24 hours. I’ve tried both and can’t say there’s much difference, though have never done a head-to-head.

Then, you drain into a container and get concentrated coffee. I dilute mine by 3/4 cup coffee concentrate to about 2 cups total, so about 1:1. I used to go a little less, 1 part concentrate to 2 parts water.

Then, you can heat in the micro if you like it warm. I don’t mind cold, so I often drink it cold.

I drink mine black at times and with a tiny bit of cream (don’t measure, but maybe a teaspoon or two) at other times.

I make the concentrate only once per week or so, since my wife stopped drinking coffee.