Can You Drink Single Origin Coffee With Milk? (Find Out Here)

Can you drink single origin coffee with milk? The coffee community has a long-running debate on whether or not you can add milk to single-origin coffee. Single-origin coffee is a specialty coffee that some enthusiasts revere, so why is milk taboo? Let’s find out. 

Milk can be an addition to a cup of single-origin coffee. However, experts do not recommend adding milk to the cup. Milk will change the unique flavor and taste of single-origin coffee. Thus, making milk a counterproductive element to the single-origin coffee experience. 

Experts define single-origin coffee as the purest type of coffee. It does not contain a mix of other coffee beans from different regions and represents its geographical location. But where lies the problem when it comes to adding milk?

Can You Drink Single Origin Coffee With Milk?

There has been an increased demand for specialty coffee, otherwise known as single-origin coffee, in the coffee market. But with this increasing demand comes consumers that generally prefer to have their coffee with milk. 

Milk is one of the additions coffee enthusiasts will add to their cup of coffee. Of course, there are sweeteners, spices, and even desserts. However, milk is a common element in the industry. 

The purpose of milk is to get rid of the bitter taste of the coffee. Not only that, but baristas use milk to make the foam that floats on top of the coffee. Foam is a popular favorite and must-have among coffee enthusiasts.

So far, milk has brought good things to the table. So why is it taboo to add milk to single-origin coffee? 

The Change In Taste

Single-origin coffee is a coffee representative of a region. Manufacturers do everything from growing the coffee beans to harvesting, processing, and packaging in that specific region. Why do they do this? 

To ensure an uncompromised taste in the coffee. Milk contains several elements. According to the coffee science organization and health experts, here are some of the features present in milk:

• Milk fat
• Milk proteins
• Calcium
• Vitamin D
• Riboflavin (B2)
• Vitamin (B12)
• Potassium
• Phosphorus
• Selenium

Please note that these elements only qualify for a single cup of cow milk. You might find different components in other types of milk like plant milk, soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, etc. 

The fat and proteins present in the milk change the specific taste and flavor of the single-origin coffee. After adding milk, what you have left in your cup is unlikely to fall into the category of single-origin coffee. The milk will have utterly changed the coffee’s flavor going you without the single-origin coffee experience. 

Is Single Origin Coffee Good With Milk?

Whether blended coffee or single-origin coffee, adding milk will yield different results depending on the consumer. Adding milk to single-origin coffee is possible, but whether it’s good or not is a personal preference. 

It’s one of the reasons why the coffee community has had a long-running debate regarding adding milk to single-origin coffee. It all boils down to the taste. Some coffee enthusiasts prefer the unique taste (whether bitter or not), while others need a little bit of milk to their coffee to help balance out the flavor. 

If you want to know whether single-origin coffee is good with milk, it would be in your best interest to conduct your experiment. 

Brew two cups of single-origin coffee, add milk to one cup and leave the other without milk. Then, try them both (starting with the one without milk to cleanse your palate) and decide which one is good for you. 

It might seem tedious, but if you’re hell-bent on trying single-origin coffee, then it would help to find out which flavors suit you best. With or without milk is in your hands, godspeed. 

Lastly, if you want to taste the flavor in a cup of coffee, it would be in your best interest to try it without milk. It might not be enjoyable, but you can better understand the coffee’s overall flavor. 

What Are The Benefits Of Single Origin Coffee?

One sole benefit of single-origin coffee is tasting the coffee flavors found only in specific regions. 

Blended coffee is trendy because the coffee is a combination of different types of coffee from other regions. Why do they do that? To balance out the different flavors found in different coffee beans. What about single-origin coffee?

Single-origin coffee gives you both the good and bad coffee beans grown and harvested in a specific region. For example, Kenyan coffee, developed in the Mt. Kenya region, gives a more fruity flavor. On the other hand, Ethiopian coffee, grown in the Ethiopian Highlands, gives a floral taste. 

Kenya and Ethiopia are neighboring countries in the Eastern African region; however, they produce different types of coffee because of a few reasons:

• The type of soil found in these coffee-growing areas
• The different climates in these areas
• The growing methods

However, there is a theory that Ethiopia is the source of all the different types of coffee found worldwide. The theory suggests that the coffee variants come from the ancient coffee trees in the Ethiopian highlands.

Another benefit of single-origin coffee is traceability. Consumers can trace the coffee beans back to where they are grown. It’s one of the main reasons single-origin coffee has risen in popularity. 

The final benefit of single-origin coffee is its quality. As shared earlier, experts consider single-origin coffee to be the purest coffee. As a result, farmers and manufacturers pay close attention to its processing, and because of that, they produce it in small quantities. 

Where Can You Buy Single Origin Coffee?

The prominent place you can buy single-origin coffee is coffee shops. This is because coffee shops are the best places to try and get single-origin coffee. However, if you want to buy and brew single-origin coffee in the comfort of your home, here are some notable brands: 

• Trade Coffee
• Blue Bottle Coffee
• Verve Coffee Roasters (highly recommend)

If you’re starting and want to try different single-origin coffees, Verve Coffee Roasters is an excellent place to start. They offer a single-origin coffee subscription service where consumers get different single-origin coffees every week. 

Not only that, but if your local coffee shop doesn’t offer single-origin coffee (which is pretty unlikely), you can ask them where to get some. You can also check your local community websites for more information on where you can find single-origin coffee. 

What Are The Single Origin Coffee Flavor Profiles?

The Specialty Coffee Association of America introduced the Coffee Taster’s Flavor Wheel, which showcases the different flavor profiles found in coffee. 

The coffee taster’s flavor wheel builds upon the following flavors:

• Fruity 
• Floral 
• Sweet
• Green
• Sour
• Roasted
• Spicy
• Nutty

Unfortunately, there isn’t a general flavor profile for all single-origin coffees. Different single-origin coffees will have different base flavors according to the wheel. Fortunately, you can find the flavor profile written on the packaging; it has become an industry standard for all single-origin coffee beans. 

Conclusion

Single-origin flavor has risen in popularity as coffee enthusiasts focus on unique flavors other than the more common mixed blends. Whether you want to drink it with milk or not is up to an individual and their tastes and preferences. 

Adding milk to single-origin coffee is possible. Experts may not recommend it, but the choice is up to you.