# Black coffee
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** coffee
**Created:** [July 5, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954 "2009-07-05T02:58:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/1 "2009-07-05T02:58:58Z")
Does black coffee mean coffee with no creamer (or milk or whatever) or does it mean coffee with no creamer _and_ no sugar (or sweetner or whatever)?
I used to think it meant one way, then came to think it meant the other way, but sometimes see it used for either way, so now I’m just confused. 😕
I really hope this isn’t controversial… but I know how people get about their coffee! 😃
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### Author:  [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/2 "2009-07-05T03:37:47Z")
I’ve always taken black coffee to mean coffee with no additives whatsoever.
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/3 "2009-07-05T03:39:26Z")
likewise
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### Author:  [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/4 "2009-07-05T03:41:45Z")
To me “black coffee” means no milk and no sugar, though I suppose restricting it to no milk would make perfect sense. (If someone asked me whether the coffee I was drinking were black, but it had sugar, I would feel the need to clarify this.)
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### Author:  [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/5 "2009-07-05T04:16:19Z")
I would say black refers to just the milk or cream.
I hear people order coffee, “I take it black, no sugar.” or “Black, 2 sugars.”
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### Author:  [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/6 "2009-07-05T05:37:19Z")
Black coffee has always meant no cream to me. I’ve always taken my coffee black with a few sugars.
When I used to occasionally serve coffee at the lunch counter at the bowling alley, it was almost always specified “black, no sugar” or “black with sugar”.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/7 "2009-07-05T05:43:34Z")
Around here, “black coffee” means Turkish coffee - dark as night and sweet as sin. Possibly with cardamom.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/8 "2009-07-05T14:27:30Z")
Upper midwest roots here: Black means no additives of any kind.
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### Author:  [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/9 "2009-07-05T15:22:25Z")
To me, if you asked for black, with no mention of how much sugar, I’d assume no additives. But I might still bring out some sugar, just in case.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/10 "2009-07-05T15:35:59Z")
I don’t drink coffee, but I have always understood black coffee to mean nothing added.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/11 "2009-07-05T16:08:28Z")
Coffee with nothing in it is default for me; so ‘black coffee’ to me is just ‘coffee’.
When I hear ‘black coffee’, [this is what I think of](http://www.viddler.com/explore/darealmoflight/videos/1/) (video).
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### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/12 "2009-07-05T22:33:05Z")
Okay, just going by posts here, looks like there’s no real consensus, so at least now I know that. Thanks for all the responses!
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### Author:  [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/13 "2009-07-06T00:44:25Z")
To me black coffee is coffee with nothing else added. If I ordered it and got coffee with sugar in it (bleah!) I’d be really peeved.
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/14 "2009-07-06T02:10:49Z")
I always order “black, no sugar” to forestall any confusion.
If I wanted a cup of cream and sugar I wouldn’t have asked for coffee.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/15 "2009-07-06T02:27:30Z")
Black Coffee, to me, means straight-up, nothing in it, just black right from the pot.
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### Author:  [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/16 "2009-07-06T02:30:40Z")
I wonder if there is a regional thing here. I’ve never ordered no sugar and never gotten it. I’m from the Chicago area. Black means no additives as far as I know. Admitedly, most places I order coffee, the sugar and cream are on the table.
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### Author:  [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/17 "2009-07-06T02:44:19Z")
Black coffee is served with no additives in NYS. When I was visiting a suburb of Chicago, I ordered coffee “light and sweet” and was met with a blank stare. Is that normal or was she new to the coffee world?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/18 "2009-07-06T02:52:12Z")
> [@Nutty\_Bunny](#):
>
> When I was visiting a suburb of Chicago, I ordered coffee “light and sweet” and was met with a blank stare. Is that normal or was she new to the coffee world?
I think most places leave it to the customer how to spike his coffee.
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### Author:  [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/19 "2009-07-06T03:01:01Z")
I wouldn’t have known for sure what light and sweet meant. If I wanted coffee “light and sweet” I would order it with cream and sugar.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-coffee/501954/20 "2009-07-06T03:22:54Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> Around here, “black coffee” means Turkish coffee - dark as night and sweet as sin. Possibly with cardamom.
Sweet from sugar or sweet from the coffee?
My Assyrian friends made it that way, except with cream (real cream) and only a hint of sugar. With the right pastries it could bring nations and faiths together.
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