What is it exactly in milk and cream that reduces the acidity of coffee, i.e. that makes the coffee easier on the stomach?
Is it the proteins?
Or the fat? 
or both?
Is there anything else that reduce coffee acidity? … I’m ADHD and sort of self-treat it with coffee so I like to create the best natural “buffer” or delivery system, a bit like they do with prescription medication; e.g. eating a lot of food is a good way to buffer coffee, especially coffee grinds so they don’t suddenly hit the stomach so much
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The calcium in the milk is what counters the acidity. Skim will work just fine in that respect.
I understand that coldbrewing your coffee will reduce the acidity quite a bit - it just requires a little more planning.
Try the Fairway filtered skim if your grocer carries it. It is a much thicker formula, with more protein and calcium.
Agreed on the cold brew. I recently bought a filterlike this oneand am very happy with it. I add a half-cup of grounds to it and then set it in a gallon pitcher of water. It takes a bit of stirring to get the grounds wet in cold water, but eventually they do sink.
Then I can pour cup of coffee from the pitcher all week and each ones tastes perfectly fresh. Heat in microwave if desired.
It’s not skim milk but I’ve found that Nestle Coffee-mate prevents coffee from burning a hole in my stomach.
Add a pinch of cinnamon to the grounds before brewing. It will cut the acid.
thanks guys.
won’t cold brewing reduce caffeine? a quote from a website at the top of google for this search says so. you might as well just consume less coffee, what’s the point? do you mean cold brewing only reduces a little bit, while it significantly reduces acid, so it’s worth the exchange?
Right, but contrary to popular belief, milk is actually acidic as well, despite the calcium that is present. The acidity comes from the lactic acid that is present in milk (which is buffered by the casein and calcium compounds also present). The buffer action of these compounds acts to counter the acidity present in the coffee (which is itself more acidic than milk).
No cite, but I suspect the protein and fat in milk and cream also have an effect. Coffee with skim milk tastes markedly different than coffee with cream.
Egg shells in the coffee while brewing.
If your primary concern is total intake, why not just take a pill and precisely regulate how much caffeine you get? No joke - I took one most mornings for years. If you want to spread it out, break the pills into halves or even quarters.
No acid, no calories. Just caffeine. As with any other drug vector (like coffee itself), be careful that you don’t overdo it.
I can’t speak to whether coldbrewing is ‘worth it’ because I don’t have issues with the acid. I do happen to enjoy the taste of coldbrewed coffee, but I’m also good drinking break room sludge provided I’m the one who made. There’s sludge and there’s sludge.
I hate skim milk in my coffee because it has zero cream and zero fat. And I like creamy coffee. Even whole milk doesn’t do it for me, though it’s light years better than skim.
But if you don’t care for creaminess, and just want to cut the bitterness a bit, I suggest putting a teaspoon of salt in with the grounds before brewing. It smooths out the flavor, cutting bitterness and acidity, without making the coffee actually taste salty. Makes for an excellent cup of black coffee, if that’s your thing. Which it occasionally is for me, even if I prefer cream most of the time.
I’m not sure what the purpose of skim milk in coffee is, except to water it down and cool it off. Whatever floats your boat I guess.
Buy high quality fresh roasted beans in small amounts. Grind it yourself for each pot of coffee. Learn to make good coffee, far from a punch in the gut or a drug delivery device a good cup of coffee is a culinary treat that also wakes you up. I make it with half and half, and the 1st cup is always topped with real whipped cream. Salt, coffee mate, skim milk? Barbarians! Good coffee, like good beer, is proof god wants us to be happy!
I hate to sound clueless, but clueless I am. What is meant here by acidity? I always thought the milk (or even better: cream or half-and-half) was intended to take a watery drink and make it creamy, give it some thick richness.
Are there people who get an upset stomach from black coffee, and need the milk to prevent this?
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This is better suited to Cafe Society, so let’s move it there (from GQ).
Yep. Coffee acidity is pretty variable, but people who are sensitive to acidic foods can definitely get a rumbly in their tumbly from drinking black coffee - especially if they drink a lot of it.
This. My tummy is pretty sensitive to the acid, too, so I’m always playing around with decreasing it. If you don’t like cinnamon, you can add a dash of salt or a sprinkle of unsweetened cocoa powder.
I also second the Coffeemate mentioned upthread. It’s my default creamer.
It has been suggested that coffee promotes gastro-oesophageal reflux in some people. Whatever that means? Personally, I cannot drink black coffee without getting a feeling that something is trying to burn a hole in my stomach. Milk, ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, coffee-flavors), and some powdered creamers, prevent the burning sensation. I have the same reaction to plain tea. Adding honey, or Christian Brothers brandy, or both, makes me feel much better.
How would salt reduce acidity? I’ve read comments on recipes that recommend adding a little sugar to reduce the acidity in spaghetti sauce; it seems to me you’d end up with slightly sweet, acidic spaghetti sauce. Does salt actually reduce acidity, or does it merely affect our ability to detect acidity in our mouths?
I am here to report that this morning I sprinkled a little cocoa powder in the coffee grounds and it was AWESOME. 