I'm with you there, milk alone is almost too sweet for me because I rarely add sugar to anything. But I think I need it for the creaminess (fat?) to cut the bitterness (and adding oil/butter is probably worse).

You could try finding some different coffee, or brewing it differently. I never add anything to coffee, and find that the flavour differs markedly between blends / origins / brewing methods, for me covering the whole spectrum from "undrinkable" to "delicious".

I have read that cold brew coffee is less bitter.

I did read about a guy who cold brewed coffee, left the jug in the fridge, then just microwaved it every morning. That sounds tasty and convenient so I need to check it out.

the fat is very useful in the palatability of coffee. a little coconut butter does the trick, and is also aligned with a low calorie intake

Y’all need to be learning to make better coffee.

Your coffee should taste great without any milk much less sugar.

Are you using freshly roasted beans, with a burr grinder, and grinding just before brewing?

Use a $15 gram scale from Amazon and a $5 melita pour over paper filter holder and paper filter.

1 part of coffee to 15 to 18 parts water. So for a cup: 23 grams of coffee to 380 grams of water

You don't have to go quite that far to get better tasting coffee. You start with a good quality roast, pre-ground is fine, because average grind size is medium to coarse, which is a good general size (esp. if you don't wanna over-extract).

For a brew method, immersion brewing (like an aeropress) is uncomplicated, fast and can make larger batches at once. Brew at ~205F for 2 minutes, extract gently, and add water if it tastes too strong. You can use that method to make a large batch at once and keep it in a thermos, or make coldbrew and then warm it up to ~160F. No need for a scale or constantly grinding the coffee, and you don't end up with a single lukewarm cup of pour-over.

For "fancy" coffee you can do the same, except instead of adding water you can add frothed hot 2% milk. And if you really just want a "coffee ritual": clean everything of old coffee residue, filter the water, bloom the coffee before brewing, wet the filter before extraction, and get your coffee:water ratio, temperature, and extraction time to match the roast. All of that and no hardware besides an aeropress.

I disagree, I’ve found a very significant difference between pre-ground and freshly ground coffee.

There are volatile organic compounds in coffee that begin to dissipate and react with oxygen as soon as they are exposed to the air by being ground.

I’m no coffee snob, I’m not advocating a high end burr grinder, the cheapest one on Amazon will do (~$60).

Same with the brewing method. Aeropress is great too, but anyone can find Meltia pour over filter holders and filters for $5 at their grocery store.

I use cream to fatten it up a little (makes it much more enjoyable having nothing to do with taste) and it also does wonders against teeth staining.

> Are you using freshly roasted beans, with a burr grinder, and grinding just before brewing?

If bitterness is a concern, people should also look for beans that are medium roast (which tend to be more balanced) or lighter (more acidic/sour).