What's the Best Sugar for Coffee? What's the Difference Between White Sugar and Brown Sugar? How to Make a Caramel Latte?

Early coffee had a very prominent bitter and burnt taste due to inferior bean quality and baking techniques. This led many people who couldn't handle the bitterness but still wanted caffeine to dilute it by adding various flavorings. For many people, sugar was undoubtedly the best choice, as it could provide sufficient sweetness to neutralize the bitterness to the greatest extent possible.

Even today in the 21st century, although coffee quality has significantly improved and no longer has that harsh burnt bitterness, many people still enjoy adding sugar to their coffee. Reducing bitterness is one reason, but at this point, sugar serves more than just neutralizing bitterness. People also add sugar because it can enhance the texture of coffee, making it smoother and richer.

Just recently, a friend came to FrontStreet Coffee with a question: There are so many types of sugar, which one pairs best with coffee?

Indeed, there are many types of sugar. It can be refined from fruits and vegetables or come from secondary processing. Different sugars provide varying levels of sweetness and flavor. But if we're talking about which sugar is most suitable for coffee, to be honest, FrontStreet Coffee believes there isn't one. Just like the milk-based coffees in the espresso system—although they're all espresso with milk—they have completely different flavor profiles due to differences in ingredients and preparation methods. The same principle applies to sugar; different sugars bring different influences to coffee based on their own characteristics. Therefore, depending on different needs, the sugar paired with coffee will also vary. That's why FrontStreet Coffee says there's no "most suitable" option.

However, not all sugars are suitable for adding to coffee. Although there are many types of sugar, only a few are commonly found in coffee shops today. (This refers only to sugars used for hot beverages, not syrups)

White Sugar

White sugar is not only common in coffee shops but also in daily life. White sugar is refined from the juice of sugarcane and sugar beets. Because it undergoes multiple purification processes during production, the resulting crystals are very white and free of impurities. However, due to this multiple purification, white sugar is a pure sweetener without any flavors other than sweetness.

Although white sugar is suitable for all coffees, in most coffee shops, it is primarily paired with milk coffees like lattes and cappuccinos. Because these coffees have lower temperatures, the small crystals of white sugar dissolve more easily. Sugar cubes also belong to the category of white sugar.

Yellow Sugar

Like white sugar, yellow sugar is one of the most commonly used sugars in coffee shops! However, what sets it apart from white sugar is that it's a less refined variety, meaning it hasn't undergone excessive purification. The advantage of this approach is that its sweetness is not only higher than white sugar but also less "pure." Simply put, it retains more minerals and trace elements, carrying some of sugarcane's natural flavor.

Yellow sugar is typically served with black coffees like espresso and Americano for two reasons. First, because yellow sugar has larger crystals, it's harder to dissolve in lower-temperature milk coffees, but dissolves well in black coffee. Second, the sweetness of yellow sugar is more natural and carries additional aromas, giving coffee richer layering (albeit subtle).

Caramel

"Caramel" is the substance obtained by heating other sugars above 170°C to undergo a caramelization reaction. Because it's produced by caramelizing sugar, its sweetness is relatively lower compared to the previous two types. However, it carries a very distinct burnt aroma, which pairs well with coffee's natural flavors. Therefore, after adding caramel to coffee, besides increasing sweetness, the coffee's aroma also becomes richer. The caramel latte that gained popularity online in recent years specifically uses block caramel.

So above are several common types of sugar found in coffee shops. Of course, there are many other sugars that can be added to coffee, just not as common! Finally, FrontStreet Coffee would like to briefly mention that although drinking coffee without sugar has become mainstream today, this doesn't mean adding sugar to coffee is "unorthodox." Not everyone can accept coffee's bitterness, so we shouldn't develop biases against those who add sugar to their coffee.

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