The Least Bitter Coffee You Never Heard of

What’s the least bitter coffee and what really makes coffee the least bitter? 

If you want to find out what sort of coffee is the least bitter and affects the bitterness in coffee, stick around, I’m going to chat about different coffee types and brands to help you choose coffee that suits your needs. 

Let’s jump straight into it.  

What’s the least bitter coffee? 

The least bitter coffee is Arabica as it doesn’t contain as much caffeine as Robusta coffee beans. Light and medium roasts produce less bitter coffee than dark roast which is roasted longer than the other 2 roasting types. 

Least bitter coffee brands you should know about 

Let’s chat about a bunch of coffee brands that it’s worth trying out. 

St Helena coffee – medium roast 

ST Helena coffee grows in on St Helena island situated in the South Atlantic Ocean. It’s medium roast coffee and comes in tins of 125g or 250g.  

How does it taste? 

It has a subtle taste that makes your coffee smooth, and you can also notice its citrus hints producing enjoyable coffee. It’s worth giving it a shot if you want to brew delicious coffee. 

Koffee Kult – dark roast

Koffee Kult is known as a gourmet coffee bean producer. They acquire Arabica coffee from 50 different countries including Indonesia and countries in Central and South America, and Africa; they prioritise quality over quantity and they have been certified by ‘fairtrade’ ‘rainforest alliance’ and ‘USDA Organic’.  Their coffee packs come in 12oz, 32oz, and 80oz and you can benefit from the offers they have on their website such as free shipping for orders over $50

Caribou Coffee – light roast 

Caribou Coffee is Arabica coffee and Kosher which is good if you follow a special diet. It has a distinctly fruity and nutty taste, the perfect choice for your morning brew to kickstart your day. It’s also worth mentioning that is Rainforest Alliance certified, roasted in small batches, and hand-packed in Minneapolis, all these features make Caribou coffee a brand worth trying out.

Death Wish Coffee Company

Death Wish Coffee company has plenty of options including medium, dark, and espresso roast with Valhalla Java coffee, all of them are Fair Trade and USDA Certified Organic. They use Robusta coffee beans for all their roasts and different types of coffee and their coffee is often described as chocolatey with hints of citrus fruit. It’s vital to mention that because they use Robusta coffee beans, their coffee is high in caffeine. 

How bitter is espresso compared to other coffees? 

Is espresso the most bitter coffee? What makes it really bitter and how bitter it is compared to cappuccino, latte and americano? 

Let’s get real, espresso is a bitter brew compared to other coffees. During the extraction, a lot of flavours and aromas end up in your cup which makes your espresso bitter. And as you might have guessed, espresso without sugar, stevia or any other product that sweetens coffee is going to be extra bitter. 

On the other hand espresso with milk like cappuccino, latte or macchiato isn’t as bitter as espresso as milk contains lactose, a natural sugar that gives a subtle sweet taste to milk and makes your milky espresso sweeter than espresso.

The same goes with americano while the extra added water takes a lot of the espresso bitterness away. 

Let’s talk about americano cappuccino and latte and compare them with each other in terms of each one’s bitterness.

Does Americano taste bitter?

Americano is slightly bitter, but I’d say it’s not as bitter as espresso is. 

Practically, an americano is espresso with hot water, and in this case, hot water is enough to make americano less bitter. Believe it or not, there are many out there who find americano bitter and put milk, creamer, or sugar to make it taste sweeter. 

Overall, it’s fairly easy to make an americano and you can always brew cold americano as the only thing you need to do is brew americano and pour it over a glass filled with ice. 

Which coffee is less bitter cappuccino or latte?

The short answer is: latte 

Why is that? 

To make a cappuccino you need almost equal parts of milk and coffee, while 2/3 of a latte is milk and only 1/3 of it is coffee, and since latte contains more milk, latte tastes less bitter. 

But this also depends if you follow the best practices of making a latte or a cappuccino. For example, if you brew your coffee longer than what’s recommended, the odds are that your coffee is going to get burned meaning that no matter how much steamed milk and foam you add to it, it will still have an unpleasant bitter taste. 

Let’s wrap it up 

Let’s wrap up the main points of this article.

Arabica and light roast coffee makes the least bitter, coffee most of the time. There are different brands you can try and enjoy their coffee. I personally suggest you try different brands of the ones I mentioned above to really find out what you enjoy most. Let us know which of these coffees you enjoyed most.

FAQ

Do you have a burning question? Let’s go over a bunch of the most common questions of the topic. 

Why Robusta is more bitter than Arabica 

It takes longer for Robusta coffee beans to grow than Arabica, meaning that each coffee bean contains more caffeine than Arabica ones. Because they contain more caffeine this affects the taste and makes Robusta coffee beans more bitter than Arabica.

Is light coffee less bitter?

Yes, light coffee is typically less bitter than medium and dark roast. The reason being is that the longer coffee beans are roasted the more bitter coffee they produce. During the roasting process, coffee chlorogenic acids break down and they turn into Phenylindanes which make coffee bitter.

What makes coffee less bitter?

One of the best ways to avoid brewing bitter coffee is to follow the best practices of the gadget/machine you use for brewing as these practices change slightly from one another. For example, when you brew with a machine you’ll only need 30-40 seconds at between 92°C and 96°C (197°F and 205°F), while when brewing with a Moka pot the ideal time is 3-4 minutes at 250°C (482°F) at the start until the coffee starts flowing. 

What is the least bitter Starbucks coffee?

If you can’t stand bitter coffee, I suggest you try Starbucks frappuccinos that are delicious and they don’t taste bitter at all as Starbucks coffee is mixed with milk and other flavours to create decadent brews. For example, Caramel Ribon Crunch Frappuccino is a top-notch drink made with coffee blended with caramel syrup, milk, caramel sauce, and whipped cream.