Iced coffee is a perfect, refreshing way to get your caffeine fix during the summer, especially if you are feeling too for hot coffee. Unlike some hot coffee styles, iced coffee is usually always sweetened with sugar by default.
However, there are instances when people add too much sweetener or sugar, which negatively impacts the coffee’s flavor and isn’t good for one’s health or weight.
How to Fix Iced Coffee That’s Too Sweet
Unfortunately, once the sweetener has been mixed in, there isn’t a way to get it out because it dissolves throughout the iced drink. Adding more milk or water on its own dilutes the flavor, resulting in a bland beverage.
So, let’s see how you can reduce the sweetness and at the same time preserve the iced coffee’s taste!
1. Using Ice
One solution is to add ice to your iced coffee. You may think that the ice will melt and dilute the flavor. It will if you leave it for too long before drinking it, but if you drink it immediately, this won’t be a problem.
Drinking something when it is extra cold helps us to perceive it as less sweet. Science tells us that this is because our taste receptors send stronger signals to our brains when they are activated by warmer substances.
Therefore, the perception of sweetness is decreased when we consume a cold drink. For instance, have you ever drunk a warm cola? It tastes sickly sweet at this temperature.
However, chill it and it seems less sweet. Most coffee shops will be happy to provide you with extra ice for your drink free of charge.
2. Using Extra Black Coffee
Another solution to your iced coffee being too sweet is to order a shot of (unsweetened!) espresso to add to it. This will add bitter notes to the already-brewed and sweetened iced coffee beverage.
It will perfectly balance the sweetness without diluting the coffee taste and aroma. However, adding more coffee will increase the caffeine content, so be careful that you don’t drink such coffee before bedtime.
Most coffee shops will be happy to add more espresso to your beverage but bear in mind that you will probably have to pay extra for it. Also, the hot espresso will raise the temperature of your beverage so it may be a good idea to add some extra ice too.
3. Using Fresh Orange Juice
An unconventional way of reducing the sweetness in oversweetened coffee is to use fresh orange juice as its sour tones complement and balance the sweetness. However, make sure that you use sour orange and not a sweetened, commercial variety.
The best thing about using orange is that it surprisingly doesn’t cause a drastic change in flavor, which means you will be able to still enjoy the real coffee flavor. This may become your new favorite breakfast beverage!
4. Using Non-sweetened Cream
Remember that cream is available in sweetened as well as non-sweetened forms so be sure to ask for the right one!
If you don’t mind a little extra creaminess in your coffee and enjoy a touch of luxury, we highly recommend adding a topping of unsweetened whipped cream to your iced coffee beverage.
You could top this with a sprinkle of cocoa or coffee powder for a beautiful, decadent garnish that will balance the sweetness as well. As you sip the iced coffee through the foamy top layer, its sweetness will be toned down a notch.
Alternatively, we recommend that you stir a little unwhipped pouring cream into the coffee. This will effectively dilute the sweetness but preserve most of the taste.
5. Using Milk
Iced coffee already has creamer and milk in it, but adding a little extra milk can help reduce its sweetness. Dairy products insulate the taste buds with their fat content.
The fat in the dairy not only smooths out the flavor but also makes it creamier while reducing the sweetness. For this reason, choose full-fat milk to add to your over-sweet iced coffee, not skimmed or low-fat milk.
However, what to do about the problem of your iced coffee now being too weak? Simply stir through a little dissolved instant coffee or espresso along with the milk.
Common Reasons Behind Extra Sweet Iced Coffee
Preparing iced coffee is actually very simple but barista or home-chef mistakes are inevitable. For this reason, it’s important to beware of adding extra sweetness in any form. Here are a few tips to help you avoid the problem in the future:
- Never add extra sugar at the table without first tasting your beverage.
- Make sure you are careful about the sweetener in ingredients you are using in addition to sugar. That’s because even if you add the right quantity of sugar, other sweeteners can increase the sweetness, such as caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, or vanilla syrup.
- Some types of iced coffee drinks are meant to be very sweet, such as Vietnamese iced coffee which is made with condensed milk, which is extremely sweet. Don’t order this if you don’t like sweet drinks! In addition, if you order or make blended iced coffees, such as Frappuccino, they already have sugar in them, so be careful about adding more sugar.
- Lastly, you have to be careful about which coffee beans you are using. That’s because some coffee beans are sweeter than others. It’s recommended that you use dark roasted coffee beans for iced coffees with extra sweeteners added as they have pronounced bitterness.
Tips for Making Make Perfect Iced Coffee
Now that you know 5 methods to save your overly sweet iced coffee, we are sharing some additional tips to help you prepare the perfect iced coffee at home.
- Invest in high-quality coffee syrup to add perfect coffee flavor and sweetness to the coffee. The cheaper brands tend to be too sweet with too little coffee flavor. In addition, try adding a pinch of cinnamon powder to enhance the coffee flavor.
- The iced coffee can be flavored with spices such as nutmeg and ginger, or vanilla or chocolate can be added.
- Replace plain milk with frothed milk to improve the texture of your beverage.
To Conclude
We hope you will find our 5 tips and bonus information about how to fix iced coffee that’s too sweet useful. Let us know if you have any more tips to share!