Black Coffee Drinks Explained
An ultimate guide to coffee drinks without milk
In this coffee guide you will find a list of 26 black coffee drinks, so if you are looking for some inspiration for trying or making coffee without milk, you’re in the right place. Like many coffee drinkers, I take my coffee black, but sometimes I feel like a change and like some variety, so I invite you to explore what you can add to an espresso or other black coffees.
There are different types of black coffee drinks and we can can divide them into:
- Espresso drinks
- Other pressure brewed black coffees
- Immersion brewed black coffee
Another aspect to take note of when talking about various black coffee drinks is that we can serve them hot, cold or iced. Having said that, let’s dive into more details.
Black coffee
What do we mean by black coffee?
By black coffee we mean any type of coffee without milk, just water and coffee. However, in this black coffee guide we won’t stick strictly to this definition of black coffee, as we want to show you how creative we can get with espresso-based or black coffee based drinks. Anyhow, everything in this article is related to non-milky coffees.
Below are different coffee drinks without milk – black coffee drinks every coffee lover needs to try out.
27 black coffee drinks
An ultimate list of black coffees
- Single espresso
- Espresso doppio (double espresso)
- Ristretto
- Espresso lungo
- Macchiato
- Espresso con panna
- Shakerato
- Espresso Romano
- Americano
- Cafe con hielo
- Cafe Zorro
- Sparkling Americano
- Moka pot coffee
- French press coffee
- Drip coffee (filter or pour over coffee)
- AeroPress coffee
- Manual press coffee
- Immersion brewing coffee
- Nitro coffee
- Turkish coffee
- Siphon coffee
- Cold brew coffee
- Red eye coffee
- Instant coffee
- Bulletproof coffee
- Japanese iced coffee (flash coffee)
- Black coffee with spices (cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, black pepper etc.)
Espresso-based coffee drinks
1. Single espresso
This is a single shot of espresso served in a shot glass or a small cup. A characteristic component of espresso is the crema on top. Espresso is often served with a small glass of water on the side and sometimes with a piece of chocolate. You can aslo add sugar according to your liking.
2. Espresso doppio (double espresso)
This coffee drink is made of two shots of espresso and in many coffee places it’s a standard espresso serving. Like single espresso, it’s served in a small cup or glass. Often a glass of water can be offered with it as well as sugar or chocolate.
3. Ristretto
What is ristretto? It’s an extra strong shot of espresso. The ristretto brewing method uses less water (half the amount) and finer grind to make the brew stronger.
4. Espresso lungo
This is a very strong espresso drink with a high caffeine content. To make cafe lungo we use a double amount of water, the same amount of coffee and a longer extraction time (which makes the coffee stronger).
5. Macchiato
Espresso macchiato is a single or double espresso with a dollop of milk foam on top.
6. Espresso con panna
It’s a single or double shot of espresso with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
7. Shakerato
Shakerato is a fancy black coffee drink based on espresso. It’s an espresso with ice, some sugar and a drop or almond liqueur mixed in a shaker. Shakerato is usually served in a martini glass and it’s a lovely, refreshing drink perfect for an afternoon break on a hot day.
8. Espresso Romano
Espresso Romano is a single or double shot of espresso with a slice of lemon or lemon juice added to it. Some people also add sugar to it.
9. Americano (long black)
Cafe Americano is an espresso-based long black coffee drink. This popular black coffee drink is usually served in a mug in which an espresso is topped up with hot water. However, sometimes long filtered coffee can be called Americano as well.
10. Cafe con hielo
This cold black coffee drink is an espresso (single or double) with sugar served over ice cubes.
11. Cafe Zorro
Cafe Zorro is a double espresso mixed with hot water (1:1 espresso to water ratio). It’s simply a slightly diluted, longer espresso.
12. Sparkling Americano
What is sparkling Americano? It’s a long black coffee drink. Sparkling Americano consists of an espresso, soda water or tonic water with slices of grapefruit served over ice cubes in a tall drink glass.
Other types of black coffee drinks
13. Moka pot coffee
It’s an espresso-style coffee from the Italian stove top coffee maker, also called Moka pot. Moka pot coffee is a very strong, concentrated coffee drink with intense, bold flavors with no crema on top. In our opinion, it’s a very under-rated way of brewing coffee!
14. French press coffee
French press coffee is a heavy-bodied, strong and aromatic black coffee. As the brewing continues in the jar, French press coffee can be very strong.
15. Drip coffee (filter or pour over coffee)
Filter coffee is a vibrant, aromatic type of coffee. Drip coffee can bring out the best flavors and aromas in the coffee beans. Because the brewing time is relatively long, you can extract more flavors and oils from the coffee.
16. AeroPress coffee
Coffee made in AeroPress is clean, smooth and rich, similar to espresso or Americano.
17. Manual press coffee – flair espresso
The manual press, also called flair espresso maker, produces a strong, clean espresso-like coffee extract. Flair espresso is very close to the classic espresso coffee as it also has the lovely thick crema on top.
18. Immersion brewed coffee
It’s probably the most simple way of preparing coffee. Immersion coffee brewing is simply soaking ground coffee in hot water for a few minutes. Making coffee this way you can get a strong, bold cup.
19. Cold brew coffee
Cold coffee brewing is a type of immersion brewing. Cold brew coffee is made by steeping coffee grounds in cold water, as opposed to hot water used in most other coffee brewing methods. Cold brew coffee is smooth, strong and refreshing. It can be served with sugar and with ice for extra coolness.
20. Nitro coffee
Nitro coffee is a cold brewed coffee with nitrogen bubbles. It has a Guinness-like smooth texture, rich aroma and flavor.
21. Turkish coffee
Turkish coffee has an intense, full-bodied taste, it’s rich and potent. It’s also thicker and stronger than regular coffee. Very often sugar and spices are added to it, so you can come across various flavors of this type of brew. When it’s prepared in a traditional ibrick called cezve, brewed in sand and served in traditional Turkish cups, having Turkish coffee can become a beautiful theatrical experience.
22. Siphon coffee
Siphon coffee has a smooth, vibrant and full-bodied flavor. The serving sizes vary and it can be offered in a cup or mug.
23. Red eye coffee
This is a sort of two-in-one type of black coffee. Red eye is a regular cup of filter coffee with a single espresso shot added for extra strength.
24. Instant coffee
Although many coffee snobs won’t even look at instant coffee, it definitely is the easiest way to get your daily caffeine fix. Apart from that, it doesn’t have to taste bad as more and more instant coffee producers nowadays use better quality coffee beans to improve their product.
25. Bulletproof coffee
What is bulletproof coffee? It’s a black coffee with a tablespoon of butter or coconut oil. Different recipes include various ratios of coffee and butter or oil, some recommend adding sugar or milk as well. Bulletproof coffee is a highly calorific coffee drink and many coffee lovers drink it to replace breakfast.
26. Japanese iced coffee (flash coffee)
Flash coffee or Japanese iced coffee is a cup of black coffee brewed in Chemex or Nel Drip. What’s unique about this method is that ice cubes are placed in the lower chamber, so the coffee drips directly onto the ice.
27. Black coffee with spices
What spices can you add to black coffee? We can add a wide range of spices to black coffee, you can get really creative here. Those spices include:
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Star anise
- Black pepper
- Allspice
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Ginger
- Cocoa nibs
- Chili
- Lavender
FAQs
People often ask: what can I add to black coffee?
There are plenty of things you can add to black coffee. There are also different ways to tweak your brew. The first obvious answers are about changing the coffee to water ratio, extraction time or the brewing method. The things you can add to your black coffee include:
- Spices
- Sugar
- Honey
- Milk
- Cream
- Alcohol
- Coconut oil
- Coca cola
Is Americano black coffee?
Yes, Americano is a type of black coffee. It’s usually served in a mug and without milk.
Summary
We hope that this list of 26 black coffee drinks gives you enough inspiration and that you could find something you want to try out for yourself. There are many interesting ways in which black coffee can be prepared or served to add variety to your daily cupFor instance, I recently take my morning black coffee from an Italian stove maker with some cinnamon, and I must say it’s a fantastic energy boost!
What is your favorite type of black coffee? Do you know more black coffee drinks we haven’t listed here? Share in the comments!
