Low Calorie Coffee Options

Just coffee made arab/balkan way in a pot on the stove top. No sugar or anything.

I'll repeat my answer from the "Recipes" section:

mtaratoot wrote: »

I used to use half-and-half in my coffee. Before that I even used honey. I stopped using sweetener. I got used to it pretty quickly.

I switched from half-and-half to a coconut-based creamer that had very few calories. That was easy.

Eventually I stopped using any additions to my coffee. My dentist approves - polluting your coffee isn't good for your teeth. I was surprised how quickly I adapted, and now I don't even LIKE anything in my coffee.

One really important thing is to get very good coffee. Freshly roasted if possible, but not too fresh. The beans have to rest a day or three for the oils to mature and come to the surface. Grind daily. Use the right amount of beans: 55 grams per liter. I make single-serving pour-over coffee in a mug about 16 ounces. I use 24-25 grams of coffee per cup. Experiment with the roast you like best. I alternate among light and medium roasts and sometimes a little darker roast Sumatra.

If you use instant coffee, get a high-quality one. Then there's another trick: mix a tiny bit of COLD water in with the freeze-dried coffee and stir it to make it a liquid/slurry BEFORE you add the hot water. Adding boiling water to freeze-dried coffee makes it bitter. This was told to me by a friend who roasts his own beans and actually drinks instant from time to time. It's shocking. I'm still planning to try this as sometimes I will use instant when I'm on self-support multi-day kayak trips where we have to carry everything we need inside our boats (clothes, food, tent, portable toilet). Using ground coffee doesn't take THAT MUCH more room, but then you have to pack out the waste, and it's wet waste to boot. Instant leaves nothing to pack out.

My choice is a small amount of a decadent protein drink as creamer. I used premier protein pumpkin spice when it was in season. Lately I've been using chocolate Core Power Elite. 20 ml per 1 cup of coffee is about right for me-- 11 or 12 calories. My upper limit is probably 4 cups/day, usually 2 cups?

lizabellarose1234 wrote: »

mtaratoot wrote: »

I'll repeat my answer from the "Recipes" section:

mtaratoot wrote: »

I used to use half-and-half in my coffee. Before that I even used honey. I stopped using sweetener. I got used to it pretty quickly.

I switched from half-and-half to a coconut-based creamer that had very few calories. That was easy.

Eventually I stopped using any additions to my coffee. My dentist approves - polluting your coffee isn't good for your teeth. I was surprised how quickly I adapted, and now I don't even LIKE anything in my coffee.

One really important thing is to get very good coffee. Freshly roasted if possible, but not too fresh. The beans have to rest a day or three for the oils to mature and come to the surface. Grind daily. Use the right amount of beans: 55 grams per liter. I make single-serving pour-over coffee in a mug about 16 ounces. I use 24-25 grams of coffee per cup. Experiment with the roast you like best. I alternate among light and medium roasts and sometimes a little darker roast Sumatra.

If you use instant coffee, get a high-quality one. Then there's another trick: mix a tiny bit of COLD water in with the freeze-dried coffee and stir it to make it a liquid/slurry BEFORE you add the hot water. Adding boiling water to freeze-dried coffee makes it bitter. This was told to me by a friend who roasts his own beans and actually drinks instant from time to time. It's shocking. I'm still planning to try this as sometimes I will use instant when I'm on self-support multi-day kayak trips where we have to carry everything we need inside our boats (clothes, food, tent, portable toilet). Using ground coffee doesn't take THAT MUCH more room, but then you have to pack out the waste, and it's wet waste to boot. Instant leaves nothing to pack out.

I am not huge fan of Coffee - but I drank it to keep my Energy up and well now I have to have it or I got into withdrawal - I actually love Instant Coffee - I prefer it over all the rest. This was helpful - Thank You - I been drinking Can of Red Bull Watermelon with Apple Juice for Energy the last couple weeks cause I get in these moods where I just can't drink coffee anymore - I just can't take the dairy/cream part of it I think - it's almost gagable - I have to find a perfect energy drink that's Not Coffee and Not High Calorie Non-Healthy Energy drink

Have you considered tea? Black tea has more caffeine than green. I enjoy several varieties of both green and black teas. I actually really like Genmai Cha - a green tea that I think uses Sancha tea and also has roasted and "puffed" brown rice. I have heard it called, "Dieter's Tea" because the rice can make you feel fuller. Historically the rice was used as a filler so poorer Japanese people could afford it. I used to be able to find it in bulk, but now I can only find it bagged in an Asian market.

You can, if you wish, slowly quit using caffeine and get past the withdrawal. I love coffee, and I don't have any problems with caffeine, so I'm not planning to stop. When I get sick, sometimes I skip coffee. It helps me get more sleep. When I start drinking it again, it sometimes feels like someone strapped a jet-pack to my back.

Two humorous anecdotes:

Many years ago, I just felt like I was dragging. It happened for a week or so. Then one day it stopped and I felt more energetic than I remembered feeling for MONTHS. I realized that some employee at the grocery where I had bought coffee must have accidentally put decaf in the bin I had got my coffee from. My energy returned when I started using a fresh bag of coffee.

Years before that, I was working on a ski lift at a local ski hill. I'd often have coworker friends stop by on the way home and we'd enjoy a home-brewed beer or two. There was a couple weeks when I was having trouble sleeping. I realized that the shelf I had been grabbing beer from (in a closet that was up against an exterior wall and kept the beer at a really nice temperature) was a batch that I had made with a bunch of espresso.

I use liquid creamer but apparently I don't use much, because one time I counted how many servings I got and it was nearly 3x the number on the side of the bottle. So that lowered the daily calories significantly from what I previously assumed it was, to now being basically noise.

I second getting some beans and grinding it yourself! Good coffee should be drank black.

This little gizmo will rock your world. 30 seconds of pumping 1/4 c skim by hand and 30-45 seconds in the microwave yields almost a full cup of creamy rich froth.



If you need sweeteners, there’s a whole world of zero cal ones. I prefer Jordan’s, but there’s also Torani, Moni and others. You can buy big bottles to try at Tj Maxx and sister stores for about $4.99 for a huge botttlw. If you hate it, leave it in a break room somewhere for someone else to try.

Jordan’s also makes a zero cal caramel “sauce” that is delightful drizzled on top of frothed milk.

I have a giant 2+ cup mug of coffee and milk every morning for about 25 calories.

I also make a terrific milky and rich sugar free chai for under 60, with froth, fat free half and half, some salted caramel syrup and powdered Blue lotus instant Malala chai.

I use a Nesspreso machine & pods. I pour a espresso shot of coffee and then a ristretto shot of water, consume with no additions. I am now used to this used to have a flat white instead, now I don't miss it, especially the milk.