A Brief History of Adding Milk and Sugar to Coffee
Originally Published: 23 February 2020
According to an old Turkish proverb: “Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.”
The caffeinated pages of history are filled with renowned individuals who may have taken the "sweet as love" part, a bit too far. The late US president – Teddy Roosevelt – used to add five to seven lumps of sugar to his coffee until he later substituted saccharine. The Danish philosopher- Søren Kierkegaard would hold a bag of sugar (around 30 sugar cubes) and pour it into his coffee cup. Like a slow ocean wave, the black coffee would gently dissolve the sugary mountain. While lacking the same sweet-tooth energy, many people do treat their coffee more like dessert. However, coffee was originally drunk without sugar – or milk – just plain, black.
Legend has it, that coffee was first discovered by an Ethiopian goat herder, by the name of Kaldi. Upon awakening from his deep sleep, he noticed that his goats were dancing. Approaching the pandemonium, he found his goats chewing on what looked like red cherries. Pulling a Snow White, he put the unusual fruit in his mouth, without a second thought. Thereupon, he became galvanised by a shot of inspiration and he too, began to waltz. Now, there are multiple versions of how this story progressed, but we shall proceed with one of them. Benefit of hindsight would tell us that this precious fruit was actually a coffee cherry, with the pulp covering the beans. Our man Kaldi rushed to the local monastery to share his delight. The monks were horrified and threw Kaldi's beans into the fire. Alas, a pleasant aroma filled the air. Enchanted, the monks decided to consume this peculiar black brew. Although, it is likely that despite coffee's Ethiopian origins, the first cup of coffee was brewed in Yemen by a Sufi monk, around 1400AD. The Sufis would drink coffee to keep them awake at night for prayer and remembrance of God. It soon became known to Europeans as the "Wine of Islam." Although, Europeans did not initially appreciate coffee as much as Kaldi's goats.
Around 1670, the Polish poet, Jan Andrzej Morsztyn wrote:
In Malta, I remember, we tried coffee A drink [...] for Turks, but so very nasty A beverage like vile poison and toxins That doesn't let saliva pass through one’s teeth A Christian mouth let it never sully
The story of how the first coffeehouse opened in Vienna is contested but many historians attribute its introduction to a spy – Georg Franz Kolschitzky. After the Turks were defeated during the 1683 siege of Vienna, they abandoned sacks of coffee beans. Kolschitzky took these coffee beans with him and opened the Blue Bottle Coffee House. In 'Coffee: A Global History', historian Jonathan Morris writes that three years after Kolschitzky's death, the "Brotherhood of Coffeemakers" introduced adding milk to coffee, with customers being able to choose their preferred shade from a milky caffeinated colour chart. Morris contends that sweetening coffee and the addition of milk, "symbolically transformed the black Muslim brew into a white Christian confection." Though, across Europe, this symbolism encompassed more than just religious and cultural difference.
The first coffeehouse in Britain opened its eyes in Oxford. While that street may appear insignificant to a passerby today, there still lies the sign "Here stood the first London Coffee House at the sign of Pasqua Rosee's Head 1652." While this coffeehouse is commemorated for inspiring the birth of an intellectual era in England, a recent walking tour called “Slavery and the City" deeply dims this picturesque view. Posters with reward money for slaves that had run away were plastered outside the coffeehouse walls, with one reading, “A Negro boy named James … whoever brings him to the Jamaica Coffee House in Cornhill shall have ten shillings reward.”
Against this grim background, it should be noted that the transatlantic slave trade made sugar cheaper, allowing it to become a British staple. Like other Europeans, plain black coffee did not suit British taste buds. In the iconic 'Women's Petition Against Coffee' of the 17th century, British women describe how their husbands "spend their Money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking, nauseous Puddle-water." Hence, as the intake of coffee became more popular, coupled with the already prevalent diet of tea, the use of sugar increased as a sweetener. Adding sugar to coffee may have masked the bitterness but the reality of the enterprise was anything but sweet.
In other parts of the world, particularly Asia, adding milk and sugar also owes to the regional climate where coffee is grown. For example, Vietnam is the world's largest producer of the coffee bean variety ‘Robusta’, which tends to be much more bitter than the higher quality ‘Arabica’ used by specialty coffee shops. Given this taste difference, even coffee connoisseurs would not find it ideal to drink Robusta coffee on its own. Thus, the traditional method of preparing coffee in Vietnam includes beating egg yolks with sugar to create a creamy texture or pouring condensed milk. Most recently, the world became acquainted with South Korean 'Dalgona' coffee, also known as TikTok coffee for its prevalence on the platform during lockdown. This has a milk base, topped with an instant coffee and sugar infused layer.
Given the colonial hangovers, regional factors and culturally influenced diets, it is likely that many people can only imagine drinking coffee with added milk or sugar. However, drinking plain black coffee can be an enlightening experience, given that some Arabica coffee beans are naturally sweeter and have distinctive tasting notes. While slurping through a cupping spoon and making pretentious comments about coffee flavour notes is not a prerequisite to drinking black coffee, the advent remains reserved for a smaller group of coffee lovers. However, this should not deter the Frappuccino-lover from at least trying the experience. As Joshua, one of The Minimalists – writes, "Black coffee is a synecdoche for life: when you eliminate the excess—when you deliberately avoid life’s empty calories—what remains is exponentially more delicious, more enjoyable, more worthwhile." He describes life as an "acquired taste," encouraging people to re-evaluate their relationship with black coffee.
Though black coffee is appreciated by a particular clientele, coffee’s global expansion would not have thrived as much without milk and sugar. With that said, it may be interesting to re-introduce the original brew to yourself. Whether you dilute your coffee with a waterfall of milk or create a sugary mount Everest over your cup, take a sip through history by trying it black this time.