People love adding stuff to their coffee to make it taste better. If you don’t like the harshness of black coffee, then you can add milk, creamer, honey, maple syrup, and other ingredients to your cup to make it taste better. But are aware that you can also add baking soda to your cup of coffee or even when it is brewing?
Adding baking soda to coffee is a neat little trick to enhance the flavor of your coffee. Sodium bicarbonate helps to mask the bitterness in your coffee and delivers a smooth drink. It helps with heartburn and other gut-related health problems that coffee causes. You can add baking soda while brewing your coffee or to a cup of ready-to-drink coffee.
Why Add Baking Soda to Coffee?
There are so many additives you can add to your coffee to make it better.
Why should you add baking soda to your cup of joe? What does it bring to the table? Let’s see why.
Coffee’s Acidic Nature
Did you know that coffee is acidic?
Yes, coffee has a pH value from 4.85 to 5.10 which puts it in the mildly acidic category.
When you compare it with other drinks and food on the pH scale, coffee is not that acidic. But even then, coffee can be hard on people with sensitive stomachs.
If you have the habit of making coffee in your coffee maker from cheap beans, there is a good chance that it has high acidity. Cheap coffee will be made from cheap coffee beans that are lightly or medium roasted.
When you buy expensive coffee, you can be somewhat sure that the coffee won’t be as acidic as compared to the cheaper ones.
If you have the habit of drinking coffee more than once a day, then you should pay attention to the acidic nature of your coffee. More acidic coffee on a sensitive belly will surely cause problems.
So you should find a way to bring down the acidity in your coffee. That’s where baking soda comes in.
Also Read: Is Instant Coffee Less Acidic?
Baking Soda’s Alkaline Nature
Baking soda is alkaline in nature with a pH value of around 8.
Adding baking soda to your coffee, during brewing or to a brewed cup, is an easy way to tame the bitterness and acidity of your coffee.
Sodium bicarbonate is cheap and won’t bring any additional risks to the table like some additives like sugar, milk, or cream.
You don’t increase the caloric value of coffee which makes it a good choice for people who are trying to lose weight.
What Happens When You Put Baking Soda In Coffee?
When you’re brewing coffee, you can 1/4 teaspoon (for brewing a pot of coffee) of baking soda to your coffee grounds so that you can soften the bitterness of your coffee during the brewing stage itself.
You can also add a tiny pinch of sodium bicarbonate to your cup of coffee to eliminate the bitterness in your coffee.
Baking soda will fight the acidity in your coffee and make it more suitable for your sensitive stomach. By taking care of acidity, you also get a drink that is no longer bitter.
In addition to handling the bitterness, it can also help in smoothening the drink and bring out a little flavor as well.
Is Baking Soda in Coffee Good for You?
Baking soda brings home several benefits. When used in moderation, you will find this to be more useful than many other additives.
Health benefits of baking soda in a coffee
Let’s discuss some health benefits you get by adding sodium bicarbonate to your coffee.
Prevents Heartburn
When you consume coffee regularly, there is a good chance that may have felt the acidity of coffee in the form of heartburn.
This is very much the case if you use cheap coffee that comes with a lot of caffeine. When we say cheap, your coffee may have been made from Robusta beans which are more acidic in nature and also come with twice the amount of caffeine as Arabica beans.
The type of roast also plays a role in the acidity of your coffee. When using a light or medium roast, you will have more acidity and this could easily cause heartburn.
By adding baking soda, you can neutralize the acidity in your coffee. You can follow the methods listed above to add sodium bicarbonate to your cup of coffee and not get heartburn anymore.
Not only in coffee, adding this magic powder to any liquid like water can help neutralize its acidic nature.
Deals with Gut Problems
If you’re someone with a sensitive stomach, then even half a cup of coffee can trigger a stomach ache. People with digestive issues face this commonly and the effect can be anywhere from a light ache to serious pain.
If you have found the main cause to be the consumption of coffee, then you can easily take care of your gut problems by adding a pinch of baking soda to your cup of coffee.
Thanks to the intrinsic properties of baking soda, your coffee will be less acidic and you won’t have to deal with stomach aches regularly.
Fights Acid Reflux
Enjoying a nice cup of coffee should be everyone’s right.
If you suffer from acid reflux, people would suggest you reduce your coffee intake as it could trigger it easily. But by adding baking soda to your coffee, you can get relief from your acid reflux.
keep in mind, that the acidity in your coffee is the main reason for triggering your acid reflux. Acidity can be high for a number of reasons. Whether your coffee is cheap or expensive, there will be some level of acidity as it is the nature of coffee that gives it the taste.
Depending on how sensitive you are, even the least acidic coffee could cause you a serious case of stomach acid reflux. In this case, adding baking soda during the brewing process or to your hot cup of joe can be truly beneficial.
In addition to these three benefits, putting some baking soda in coffee can give you some relief from gout (a form of inflammatory arthritis) and stomach ulcers.
How Much Baking Soda to Put in a Cup of Coffee?
As we have mentioned above, if you have already brewed your cup of coffee, you can add a tiny pinch of sodium bicarbonate to your cup to make it taste better and less bitter.
If you’re going to brew your coffee, you can add around 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to your coffee grounds. This measurement is for brewing a pot of coffee. So if you’re going to brew less, reduce the amount of baking soda accordingly.
Side Effects of Adding Baking Soda To Your Coffee
Baking soda a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate can make your coffee better only when added in the right amounts.
If you add more, then you will have introduced more sodium into your system and it could have the effect of having more salt in your system.
Overconsumption of baking soda can increase your blood pressure and can even cause kidney and heart problems in people. So keep your baking soda habits in moderation to be safe.
Adding Baking Soda to Coffee – Wrap Up
Baking soda is something you can find in your kitchen.
A lot of coffee drinkers will be relieved by what we have just shared as it would allow them to enjoy their cup of coffee without going through any hardships. Indigestion, stomach aches, heartburn, and acid reflux are all covered here.
In addition to the health benefits, you can also devour a smooth cup of coffee that comes without any bitterness. You may even find improved notes of taste in your next sip.
If you’re not a fan of baking soda or baking powder, then make sure you get the best coffee beans out there to make an amazing cup of coffee.
Do let us know if you have any questions and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
