Not a Mix-Up: Why people are adding salt to their coffee instead of sugar

Salt has a great ability to reduce bitterness. Pixabay[/caption]Since salt and other flavours together produce an unpleasant taste, it can also stimulate our taste buds for sour and bitter flavours.While salt shouldn't be added to every cup of coffee, it can help to mellow the overall flavour if the coffee is particularly bitter.Coffee website Homegrounds quoted specialist pediatric dietitian Clare Thornton-Wood as explaining this process in an article for the Royal Society of Chemistry, “Salt tastes good as it is picked up by receptors on the tongue. It blocks bitter and sour flavours, which is why it’s often added to foods to make them more palatable.”Also read: Avoid coffee, keep gadgets aside: Things to help you sleep comfortably in long flightsThis is not a new phenomenonThere are numerous examples of various civilisations seasoning their coffee.Vietnam is one of the countries where salt is frequently added to coffee to improve its flavour.The result is a wonderful concoction that tastes like caramel.Adding some salted cheese or pork is a Swedish Arctic coffee custom.US Navy personnel used to drink coffee with salt since their saltwater extraction equipment wasn't entirely effective during World War II. They found that the salt actually helped to lessen the bitterness and improve the flavour of poor-quality, bitter brews, as per Science Alert.Hungary, the Scandinavian nations, Siberia, Turkey, etc. all have a long tradition of producing coffee that includes this practice, according to Homegrounds.There are coastal areas where fresh river water and salty ocean are mingled to make their coffee taste better.Also read: How many cups of coffee or tea you should drink in a dayThe "Alton Brown" trickAccording to Homegrounds, the hack of adding salt grew popular after renowned cookbook author and food scientist Alton Brown in a 2009 episode of his show proposed adding a pinch of salt to balance the bitterness of coffee.He believes that one should combine two spoons of ground coffee with half a spoon of kosher salt for every cup of water she/he use to brew coffee.Explaining this method on his Facebook page, the food scientist said, “Not only does salt cut the bitterness, but it also smooths out the “stale” taste of tank-stored water. I've taken to adding a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt to every six tablespoons of grounds. That isn't really enough to taste, but it'll do the trick. And by the way, research has proven that salt is actually better at neutralizing bitterness than sugar.”