How to Make the Perfect Cup of Keto-Friendly Coffee
If you’re a coffee lover, one of the hardest parts of starting a ketogenic diet is saying goodbye to traditional sweeteners and coffee creamers. Of course, black coffee is naturally carb, sugar, and calorie free. So it is perfectly compatible with the low carb lifestyle, but if you’re like me and prefer a little sweetness in your morning java, don’t worry. We’ve got the secret to the perfect cup of keto coffee. Let’s get brewing!
Step 1: The Roast
The first step to the perfect cup of coffee is the perfect coffee bean, and not everyone likes the same thing. Read on to learn about the 3 most common types of coffee roasts from Java Presse, and find out which one is your favorite:
Light Roast: Light roast coffee is a light brown color and has no oil on the surface of the beans. These coffees typically have a crisp acidity, a mellow body, and bright flavors.
Medium Roast: Medium roast coffee is a brown color and rarely has an oily surface. These coffees have a medium acidity and body, as well as a rounded flavor profile.
Dark Roast: Dark roast coffee is a dark brown color and often has an oily surface. These coffees have a low acidity, heavy body, and tend to reveal deeper, darker flavors.
Step 2: The Sweetener
Obviously sugar is a no-go in a truly keto-friendly coffee, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find some sweetness elsewhere. The ChipMonks like to keep things all-natural, so we won’t be recommending any artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols today. Instead we recommend AlluMonk, a special blend of all-natural Allulose & Monk fruit that acts as a true 1:1 replacement for sugar in your coffee. It dissolves easily, and unlike pretty much everything else we’ve tried, it doesn’t have any weird aftertaste.
Step 3: The Milk
Unfortunately cow’s milk, oat milk, rice milk have to much sugar and/or too many carbs to be compatible with a ketogenic lifestyle. Fortunately there are also a couple of delicious milk options to help give your morning coffee that smooth, creamy taste. Check out what our friends over at SuperCoffee have to say about our personal favorites: Almond Milk & Coconut Milk
Almond Milk: As long as you’re buying unsweetened almond milk, it’s an excellent choice as a keto coffee creamer. It only contains 0.3 carbs per teaspoon, just about as low as you can get without being completely carb-free. It’s high in Vitamin E and potassium, it’s vegan and gluten-free (as are most of these keto coffee creamers), and it’s a good source of calcium despite the fact that it’s not “real” milk. It also has a “mouth feel” that’s almost identical to dairy milk – and it tastes really good, too.
Coconut Milk: Speaking of tasting good, drinking your coffee with added unsweetened coconut milk may make you feel like you’re on a tropical beach. (Well, a little imagination is required, too.) It has about the same amount of carbs as almond milk and provides the same health benefits, with a rich mouth feel and a delicious nutty taste. It’s also a common ingredient in other types of keto recipes. Coconut cream is another good alternative, but it has a slightly higher carb content.
Let’s Get Creamy:
If you prefer a coffee creamer to a simple sweetener and milk combo, check out this recipe for the perfect keto-friendly coffee creamer:
Simply mix together:
- ½ cup of heavy cream
- ¼ cup AlluMonk sweetener
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted grass-fed butter
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, a pinch of salt