It may seem incredible, but there are many heated debates in the coffee world. There are many movements that claim that the way to prepare and drink coffee is better than the opposite, but to simplify it, we can divide coffee drinkers into three groups: Those who prefer it without additives, those who sweeten it with sweeteners, and those who drink coffee. Those who add milk. The better the coffee, the less necessary it is to sweeten its flavor, as specialty coffees are not bitter and have a range of easily recognizable notes.

But there is a cultural association between sugar and coffee/tea that will stay with us for a long time, and research shows that 38% of Americans add sugar to their coffee. What if we added spices like pepper, cinnamon or even cardamom to coffee instead of sugar?

Fashion. At one of the productive weekly meetings in Xataka the other day, my colleague Javier Jiménez was dressed as a coffee shop. Not just any coffee: but a pumpkin spice latte. Some regulars at Starbucks, the chain that helped popularize this version (and others like ‘oleato’), knew exactly what they were talking about and what they were talking about this fall season. Others not so much.

“How?” Our colleagues at Directo al Paladar have a recipe that I encourage you to try, but it consists of a coffee to which spices such as cloves, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon are added, among other things (like pumpkin). Also, too much sugar for my taste. The result is a coffee unlike any you’ve ever had before; because it’s ‘warm’ not in the sense that it’s hot, but in the sense that it transports you to a cold autumn afternoon. Coffee guru James Hoffman has another great recipe:

nothing new. Really, beyond trends, this spicy coffee thing is neither a North American trend nor anything new in the first place. Although in Europe or Latin America it may seem disrespectful to add spices to coffee (sugar is not uncommon, it’s okay), in other parts of the world it’s a very normal thing. An example of this is Arabic coffee, to which spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cardamom or cloves are added.

Of course, the quantities of spices are taken into account in the recipe, but in very traditional areas, such as the stalls in Missour, Morocco, they prepare the mixture with the spices they have and by measuring them by eye. The result is a very very fine grain with a strong, very strong flavour, but without ‘stinging’ on the throat and with a rather mellow flavour. After all, these spices serve to enhance the natural flavor of coffee, as when we mix chocolate and salt, and the coffee and spice mixture has been with us for centuries.

Be careful, I’m a neurologist! We talk about taste, but there are those who think that adding spices to coffee can give us much more. One example of this is Dr. D., a neurologist specializing in brain health and healing, who shared his recipe for making coffee an even healthier beverage with She Finds a few months ago. Brandon Crawford.

Coffee is a beverage that already provides us with elements such as antioxidants due to its nutritional properties; But Crawford thinks adding certain spices may have a positive effect on our brains.

Spices. Spices are the spices we have already mentioned, but below we will see one by one the properties that contribute to our daily cup according to Crawford:

• Cinnamon– Regulates blood sugar levels to maintain good cognitive function and prevent neurodegenerative diseases. It is also an effective way to accelerate weight loss.
• Turmeric: It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that may help reduce inflammation and oxidative damage in the brain linked to diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
• Ginger: It is another anti-inflammatory that also helps balance neurotransmitters necessary for concentration and cognitive agility.
• Nutmeg: Thanks to its neuroprotective properties, it improves mood and can contribute to a more focused and positive mental state.
• Black pepper– Piperine increases the absorption of curcumin (from turmeric) by 2,000%. This combination enhances curcumin’s brain benefits, improving digestion and increasing nutrient absorption.

Problem. When we read this, we see that if we don’t take good care of our brains, it’s because we don’t want to. There are studies investigating the properties of these spices, and there are also those who state that some, such as cinnamon, are superfoods. The problem is that there are those who think that these properties of spices will significantly improve our health (coffee may have this effect more directly), and Crawford seems to be the only voice in this area.

We must keep in mind that the amounts we take in are very small and although it has many properties, daily health habits such as sleeping well, disconnecting from digital media or doing endorphin-producing activities will have a faster and stronger effect on our body. and mood.

The key is grinding. Be careful, this doesn’t mean it’s wrong to add spices to coffee and other foods, but if you do it’s good to think of flavor as the main motivation. And it’s not so much about adding powdered supermarket spices to coffee (like we might do by adding cinnamon to a coffee shop cappuccino), but rather directly grinding the beans along with all the spices. Just like when we grind the coffee before preparing it, all the taste and aromas of the spices are released and further enhance what we want to achieve: a different taste in our coffee.

Spicy coffee is a thing. If you don’t know that adding spices to coffee is something that has been done (as we said, for centuries), you may be wondering where to start. It’s not as simple as adding a handful of cloves and half a cinnamon stick to the coffee grinder, because if you overdo the amounts you’ll ruin the cup. It is a much more exotic taste and there are baristas who recommend starting by adding ginger and cinnamon, as these are, in principle, the two that go best with coffee. There are people who share spicy recipes, but I didn’t dare.

If that also means giving the brain a little boost, all the better, but when it comes to replacing the sugar in our coffee with something more exotic, flavor is what should motivate us. It will be interesting to wait for in-depth research on the effects of spicy coffee on our body. Studies are coming to light about how coffee affects our brain.

Pictures | Tamanna Rumee, Nathan Dumlao

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