Black coffee is the best way to fully experience the character of different coffee beans and brewing methods. Low in calories, with numerous health benefits, black coffee is a clean and flavourful start to the day.
Floral notes and a hint of cacao aren't just fancy wine-taster talk. When you drink black coffee for some time, statements like 'complex flavor profiles' will start to make sense. The flavors were there all along, just hidden under double cream and sugar.
Here are some of our favorite black coffees for a bold and authentic experience:
- Best For Transitioning to Black Coffee — DaNang
- Best Dark Roast Black Coffee — HaNoi
- Best Arabica Black Coffee — DaLat
- Best Vietnamese Black Coffee — SaiGon OG
- Best Peaberry Robusta Black Coffee — BanMe
- Best Instant Black Coffee — Vietnamese Coffee 2.0 (Espresso)
Best Black Coffee By Roast Level
High-quality beans need to be roasted with skill to get you the perfect cup. The roast makes or breaks a batch of beans.
After being sorted and dried, heat caramelizes the sugar in green beans, turning them a rich brown while bringing out the aromas and flavors.
How dark a roast is depends on the time spent under heat. Each is associated with its own flavor profile, with light being bright and sharp, medium roast rounded and sweeter, while dark roast is bold and robust.
There are three roasts:
1. Best Light Roast
Light roasts can preserve more of the character of single-origin coffees but are also much more sensitive to over-brewing and can become bitter and acidic very quickly.
The best light roast coffees are typically specific single-origin, high-altitude beans. Arabica is the preferred species for almost all light roasts around the world.
Look for lighter tea-like coffees like Yirgacheffe or Sidamo if you prefer drinking your light roast coffee black.
2. Best Medium Roast
Medium roasts offer a balance between the nuanced flavors of lighter roasts and the rich, fuller body of darker ones. The best medium roast coffees are both smooth and versatile, often bringing out hints of caramel, chocolate, or toasted nuts without overpowering acidity.
Our DaLat blend strikes this balance perfectly, making it a versatile black coffee with a rounded finish for those who enjoy complexity.
3. Best Dark Roast
For those who love a deep, bold coffee with a smoky profile, dark roasts deliver intense flavors with low acidity.
The best dark roast coffees typically showcase rich, chocolatey notes and a robust body.
Our HaNoi blend exemplifies this, crafted for lovers of bold, strong black coffee that packs an intense caffeine punch.
4. Butter Roast Coffee
In Vietnam, butter is often added just before roasting to maintain a smooth, creamy flavor while hitting the darker roast levels.
Our SaiGon OG is a classic butter-roast Vietnamese-style dark roast coffee that makes a delicious black coffee.
Best Bean Variety for Black Coffee
The perfect cup of black coffee begins with understanding the two main types of coffee beans — Arabica and robusta. Both types have their strengths and weaknesses.
Arabica Black Coffee
Coffea arabica is the most commonly grown coffee species around the world.
Originally from Africa, these plants are now growing natively in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Usually soft and light, Arabica can be a bit more acidic, with hints of fresh flowers, fruit, and even spice or chocolate.
More than one hundred and twenty varieties of Arabia are cultivated around the world. Each variety has unique flavors further altered by how they are grown and roasted.
Arabica is the safest bet for the beginner black coffee drinker. Higher sugar content makes Arabica sweeter and less bitter, and brewing a flavorful cup with a quite smooth finish is accessible.
To truly appreciate Arabica's colorful, sweet characteristics, give our DaLat single-origin blend a try. Grown at altitude in Vietnam, pay attention to flavors of caramel, blackberry, and stonefruit while sipping a cup of these beans.
Robusta Black Coffee
Coffea robusta is the original coffee, a hardy, strong plant from Africa. Farmers love it for its resistance to pests and ease of cultivation, and robusta makes up about 40% of the coffee grown. A black cup of robusta is intense, earthy, and nutty.
Robusta contains double the caffeine of Arabica, and when roasted and brewed right, it has lower acidity. Strong and stimulating, robusta can be a lot for new black coffee drinkers, particularly because of its bitterness. But for those who acquire the taste, robusta can deliver its share of complexity.
For many, the bold buzz of robusta pairs best with cream and sugar, and we don't blame them. But they are missing out on flavors like pecan, hazelnut, walnut, pepper, and cloves, or even hints of rosemary and sage.
For those who like espresso, studies have even shown robusta creates more crema (the foam on top of espresso) than Arabica.
>>> Check Out Cafely's HaNoi 100% Robusta Coffee
Best Black Coffee For Health Benefits
Black coffee's health benefits are no secret. Longer life, improved mood, weight loss, and perhaps even reduced risks of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are just a few examples.
Coffee isn't some kind of miracle cure, but it's far more than just a stimulant. Black coffee contains essential minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, too.
- Best Dairy-Free Instant Black Coffee — Cafely Vietnamese Coffee 2.0 (Espresso)
- Best Low-Acid Black Coffee — Dark roast robusta coffees, such as our HaNoi or BanMe blends have the lowest acid overall.
- Best Mold-Free Black Coffee — Brands including Cafely, Lifeboost, & Peets specialize in mold-free coffee (each batch tested)
- Best Organic Black Coffee — Brands like Cafely, Kickinghorse Coffee, & Four Sigmatic are all certified-organic.
- Best Gluten-Free Black Coffee — Four Sigmatic Coffee, Bulletproof Coffee, & Cafely offer options that are gluten-free.
- Best Vegan-Friendly Black Coffees — Cafely, Equal Exchange, & Stumptown Coffee Roasters all provide vegan-friendly black coffee options.
Tips For Improving The Health Status of your Coffee
1. Cut Out Cream & Sugar
Cutting cream and sugar is a way to clean up coffee and cut calories. Evidence even suggests coffee suppresses appetite and improves metabolic health, potentially aiding with burning fat.
2. Use Coffee To Fuel Exercise
A nice cup of coffee can get you primed for a workout session, too. Researchers have documented improvements in endurance, strength, power, and performance for a limited time.
3. Combine L-Theanine With Your Coffee
Another of coffee's crystal-clear focus is also one of coffee's superpowers. Combined with other nootropics, research shows that, like L-theanine, caffeine may enhance cognitive performance and mood.
>> To understand what we are talking about, try our Vietnamese 2.0 — an instant espresso shot with L-theanine and Korean Ginseng for sustained cognitive performance and energy.
4. Drink Robusta
Robusta coffee is higher in antioxidants and caffeine compared to arabica. This makes it a powerhouse for energy, focus, and metabolic health while delivering a rich, bold taste.
Cafely’s robusta blends, like Saigon OG and BanMe, are excellent choices.
5. Limit Intake to Less than 400 mg Caffeine Equivalent/Day
While coffee is packed with health benefits, moderation is key. Consuming less than 400 mg of caffeine daily — roughly 4-5 cups of brewed coffee — ensures you avoid jitteriness, sleep disruptions, and other potential side effects.
Guide to Brewing the Best Black Coffee
Black coffee doesn't need to be stale, gut-rotting, jittery stuff from the bottom of a pot in some old diner. It can be silky and downright pleasurable if you brew it right.
To help you get started, here are our three favorite black coffee brewing methods.
Making Black Coffee with a French Press
We recommend a medium roast in the French press for black coffee. A highly efficient extraction method, the French Press can over-extract, but if you do a medium roast, it can be a bit more forgiving.
To brew good black coffee with a French press, use medium-coarse to coarse grounds. Too small, and the coffee will be very dark and intense. Too big means weak and watery.
The best way to get the ratios right is to weigh your beans and your water with a kitchen scale. We recommend 30 grams of coffee and 400 grams of water, but of course, you can adjust this to taste.
Let steep for about 5 or 6 minutes, plunge, pour, and enjoy.
A French press can have a tendency to bring out acidity, so try to find high-altitude beans, which typically have lower acidity are best.
AeroPress for Black Coffee
The AeroPress is an impressive machine. Espresso technically makes our top black coffee brewing methods, but not everyone has access to a good machine. And pulling amazing shots is hard!
The AeroPress, however, is affordable and consistently makes a darn good cup. Once you get to know this device, you can press out silky black cups wherever you go.
The AeroPress is pretty intuitive and quick to use, and you don't need a scale. To get the rich and warm flavors, keep the grind to coarse sand and use the levels marked on the side of the device to get the water level right.
To up your game, try preheating the AeroPress with hot water. This extra bit of heat retention can impact the final product. If you are feeling ready for a stronger black coffee, try a finer grind.
Pour Over Black Coffee
If you are looking for the ultimate black coffee at home — pour-over is the way to go. A truly enjoyable ritual and excellent tool for transition to black coffee, the pour-over is our top black coffee brewing method.
Popular pour-overs include the V30 and the Chemex. Chemex is ideal for those seeking super smooth black coffee without bitterness because of proprietary filters that remove excess sediments and oils.
Weighing out coffee and water is again the secret to success. A standard six-cup Chemex will take 55 grams of coffee and 917 grams of water.
A uniform grind will go a long way with the Chemex, too. Keep it fine, like sand. If you can, use a quality burr grinder to keep all grinds uniform and optimize extraction.
Taking the time to prepare the filter and Chemex with some warm water makes a difference in the finished product. So does a careful blooming stage and a slow pour with a gooseneck kettle.
It can take a bit of practice, but once mastered, the pour-over becomes a morning meditation with fine rewards. For a bold, dynamic coffee experience like no other, try a pour-over with SaiGon OG, a unique blend of Arabica, Robusta, and Peaberry.
FAQs: Black Coffee
1. What defines black coffee?
Black coffee is coffee served without any additives; no milk, cream, sugar, or flavors are added, allowing the coffee's natural flavors to stand front and center.
2. What types of beans are best for black coffee?
We recommend beans with distinct flavor profiles, such as single-origin beans, that can range from fruity and floral to earthy and spicy, depending on their origin. These beans are specifically roasted to highlight their unique characteristics.
3. How should I brew black coffee to best appreciate its flavors?
For the clearest expression of flavor, methods like pour-over, French press, or AeroPress are ideal. These methods allow for better control of brewing variables and can highlight subtle flavors and aromas.
4. Can I drink black coffee if I usually prefer it with milk or sugar?
Absolutely! Drinking black coffee can be an acquired taste, but starting with high-quality, well-roasted beans can make the transition easier. Try starting with a milder, naturally sweet coffee to ease into the flavors.
5. What are the benefits of drinking black coffee?
Black coffee is low in calories and can be healthier for those looking to reduce their sugar and fat intake. It also provides a purer coffee experience, which can help you develop a greater appreciation for different bean varieties and roasts.
6. How can I make my black coffee less bitter?
Choosing the right beans, such as those with lower bitterness and smoother profiles, and using the correct water temperature (about 195°F to 205°F) can reduce bitterness. Ensure your coffee is freshly ground and not over-extracted.
7. How should I store coffee beans for the freshest taste?
Store your coffee beans in an airtight container at room temperature, away from direct sunlight and moisture. Grinding beans just before brewing also helps retain their freshness and flavor.
