For millions of people around the world, coffee feels like the lifeblood of mornings! Waking up and getting coffeemakers heated has become a staple of American culture, and a morning ritual for most coffee drinkers. To help get your day started right, below are several aspects to consider when trying to make your perfect cup of joe!

Finding the Right Creamer

If you don’t like your coffee black, but instead prefer a little extra flavor, adding a little creamer could do just the trick. While it may sound simple— and can be —there are many varieties to choose from, which can quickly become overwhelming. When selecting your preferred coffee companion, the first thing to consider is sweetness. If you don’t want a little extra sugar in your cream, you may want to stay away from most flavored creamers. These often feature heavy doses of added sugar to gain the desired flavor. In these cases, sticking with your preferred milk or a dose of heavy cream can be just the trick! If you are looking for that added sweetness, there are an incredible number of flavor options to suit your palate. From vanilla to sugar cookie to peanut butter cup, you can create the perfect taste to satisfy your sweet tooth while still getting your morning kick. Once you have that ideal creamer, just pick up your coffee stirrers, mix it in and enjoy your morning!

Choosing a Roast Style

Coffee typically comes in three main roast styles, light, medium and dark. These will always refer to how the beans were roasted by the initial coffee supplier and will have a great impact on the coffee’s taste.

Light roasts are roasted for the shortest amount of time and typically retain more of the original bean flavor. This roast will also have the mildest flavor, but somewhat surprisingly, contains more caffeine than darker roasts. As would be expected, medium lands right in the middle of the roast times and will have a more pronounced taste from the roast process, resulting in a more bitter taste than the light roast. Lastly, dark roasts are prepared the longest and keep large amounts of the heated taste, resulting in a strong profile.

Picking the Perfect Coffee

Once you have identified your perfect roast style, finding the right coffee beans or grounds will be a little easier. Most bags or containers of coffee will be labeled with their roasting style, so you can narrow down your options to those that match your roast preference. Like creamer, you will be able to pick from a seemingly infinite number of flavors, styles and taste profiles, but always be sure to sample a few before finding a go-to brew. Many blends labeled as classic or breakfast will be similar to what you may find at your local diner or the pot at the office. These are most closely associated with a typical American cup of coffee. There are also mild flavor additions, such as vanilla or caramel, which mimic these sweet tastes without having to add cream for flavor. On the more adventurous end, you can find delicious blends modeled after s’ mores, cinnamon rolls and more! At the end of the day, it will come down to your taste buds and will vary greatly between all coffee drinkers. With this in mind, it’s wonderful having so many options is a great problem to have.

The next time you or a friend is struggling to find the right choice, just remember to evaluate and choose the right creamers, roast and flavor style. Keeping these three tips in mind should help to make your journey to coffee perfection a more clear!