Butter In Coffee Sounds Wrong Until You Try It
The first time someone tells you to put butter in your coffee, you probably picture a greasy yellow layer floating on top of your morning cup.
That is not what good butter coffee looks or tastes like.
Take a bold, hot coffee, add a small amount of real butter and blend the two together until they become creamy and frothy.
The result is surprisingly smooth and rich. It lands somewhere between the intensity of black coffee and the creamy texture of a latte, without adding milk or a sugary flavored creamer.
Once you taste it, you begin to understand why butter coffee has developed such a following.
Some people love the texture. Others find it more satisfying than plain coffee. It has also become popular among people following low carbohydrate and ketogenic diets.
Then there are people like us who hear “put butter in your coffee” and immediately think:
Okay, we have to try this.
So we did.
Why Put Butter In Coffee?
The first reason is simple. It tastes surprisingly good when you make it correctly.
Butter changes the body and texture of coffee. When it is thoroughly blended instead of simply stirred into the cup, the fat becomes dispersed throughout the coffee and creates a smooth, creamy drink.
Butter also makes coffee more substantial. Black coffee contains very few calories, while butter adds fat and calories. Some people find that combination more satisfying than drinking black coffee alone.
You also still get what brought most of us to coffee in the first place: caffeine.
Caffeine is a stimulant that can increase alertness. The FDA says that for most adults, 400 mg of caffeine per day is an amount not generally associated with negative effects, although sensitivity varies from person to person.
Source: FDA, Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much
There is another reason butter coffee has attracted so much attention. Plain coffee and butter contain very little carbohydrate when you do not add sugar. That makes butter coffee an easy fit for many low carbohydrate and ketogenic eating plans.
But you certainly do not have to eat keto to enjoy it.
All you really need is good coffee, real butter and about five minutes.
Saint Michaels Answer The Call Butter Coffee Recipe
For our version, we use Saint Michaels Answer the Call Espresso.
There is a reason.
Butter adds richness and body, so we wanted a coffee bold enough to keep its character after the butter is added.
Answer the Call is bold enough for espresso but designed to work as an everyday coffee. That makes it a great match for this recipe.
Ingredients
12 ounces freshly brewed Saint Michaels Answer the Call Espresso
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
Optional: A small pinch of cinnamon
Optional: MCT oil, if you already use it. MCT oil is not required to make butter coffee.
How To Make It
1. Brew It Bold
Prepare approximately 12 ounces of Answer the Call Espresso.
Try making it slightly stronger than your normal everyday cup. We want the coffee flavor to stand up to the butter.
2. Add One Teaspoon of Butter
Start small.
One teaspoon is enough to noticeably change the texture without overpowering the coffee.
3. Blend Until Creamy
Use a handheld milk frother or a blender suitable for hot liquids.
Blend until the butter is completely incorporated and the coffee develops a creamy layer of foam.
Always follow the manufacturer's safety instructions when blending hot liquids.
4. Taste It Before Adding Anything Else
Before reaching for sugar, milk or creamer, take a sip.
Pay attention to the texture first. Then notice the body, bitterness and finish.
You may be surprised by how much one teaspoon of butter changes a cup of coffee.
Take The Saint Michaels Butter Coffee Challenge
Once you have tried the recipe with Answer the Call, make another cup using Saint Michaels Single Source Coffee.
Keep everything else exactly the same. Use the same amount of coffee, the same teaspoon of butter and the same preparation method.
Then taste them side by side.
Which coffee stands up to the butter better? Which feels smoother? Does one allow you to notice more individual flavors? Does the butter change the way you perceive bitterness or the finish?
You might discover that the coffee you prefer black is not necessarily the coffee you prefer with butter.
That is part of the fun.
Is Butter Coffee Actually Good For You?
Now we get to the question that sends a lot of people searching for butter coffee in the first place.
And this is where things get interesting.
Scientists have actually studied it.
A randomized human study published in 2024 compared regular coffee with coffee containing butter and MCT oil.
Researchers initially recruited 60 healthy adults. Forty one completed the 12 week study. Researchers examined LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, ApoB, triglycerides, blood pressure, waist circumference, fasting glucose, HbA1c, inflammation markers and other measurements.
At the end of the study, researchers reported no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the measured outcomes.
The researchers concluded that adding MCT oil and butter to coffee “may be safe,” while also stating that larger studies conducted over longer periods are needed.
There are limitations. The study was relatively small, lasted only 12 weeks and tested butter together with MCT oil rather than butter alone.
Still, it gives us something much more useful than another internet opinion.
It gives us human clinical data.
Source: PubMed, The Effects of Medium Chain Triglyceride Oil and Butter on Lipid Profiles
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39027784/
Coffee Has An Interesting Health Story Of Its Own
Long before researchers started investigating butter coffee, scientists had accumulated a large amount of research on coffee itself.
A major umbrella review published in The BMJ examined 201 meta analyses of observational research covering 67 health outcomes, plus 17 meta analyses of interventional research covering nine outcomes.
Overall, coffee consumption was more often associated with benefit than harm across the health outcomes researchers examined.
Much of the evidence was observational, so an association does not prove that coffee itself caused a particular health outcome.
Still, it is a fascinating body of research for something many of us started drinking simply because we needed to wake up.
Source: The BMJ, Coffee Consumption and Health: Umbrella Review of Meta Analyses of Multiple Health Outcomes
https://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5024.long
What About Butter And Cholesterol?
Butter contains saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fat because it can raise LDL cholesterol and recommends replacing some saturated fats with unsaturated fats.
Source: American Heart Association, Saturated Fats
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/saturated-fats
Cardiovascular risk, however, involves more than a single cholesterol measurement.
Preventive medicine physician Dr. Ford Brewer, MD, MPH has discussed this extensively.
In his video “Why Blame LDL for Arterial Plaque?”, Dr. Brewer discusses LDL within the broader context of arterial health, including endothelial health, inflammation, blood sugar and insulin resistance.
If you want to go deeper into the cholesterol discussion, it is worth hearing his explanation directly.
Watch: Dr. Ford Brewer, MD, MPH, Why Blame LDL for Arterial Plaque?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If0IbuADXo0
It is also worth keeping our recipe in perspective.
We are using one teaspoon of butter, not turning a cup of coffee into melted butter.
Butter Coffee Faq
Does Butter Coffee Keep You Full?
Some people find butter coffee more satisfying than plain coffee because butter adds fat and calories.
Individual experiences vary, so this is one of those questions you can easily test for yourself.
Does Butter Coffee Give You Energy?
Coffee contains caffeine, which can increase alertness. Butter contains calories, which provide dietary energy.
Some people describe butter coffee as giving them a smoother or more satisfying morning experience. That is a personal experience, however, and should not be confused with evidence that butter makes caffeine last longer.
Does Butter Coffee Help With Weight Loss?
Butter is not a magic weight loss ingredient.
Butter coffee became popular within low carbohydrate and ketogenic diets, and some people incorporate it into their eating plan because they find it satisfying.
Butter also adds calories, so your overall diet still matters.
Is Butter Coffee Keto Friendly?
Generally, yes.
Plain coffee and butter contain very little carbohydrate, provided you do not add sugar or other carbohydrate containing ingredients.
Does Butter Coffee Break a Fast?
If you mean a zero calorie fast, yes.
Butter contains calories.
Do I Need MCT Oil?
No.
You can make butter coffee with nothing more than good coffee and real butter.
How Much Butter Should I Use?
We recommend starting with one teaspoon of unsalted butter in a 12 ounce cup.
You can adjust it according to your taste after you have tried it.
What Coffee Works Best for Butter Coffee?
We like a bold coffee because its flavor can stand up to the richness of butter.
That is why we use Saint Michaels Answer the Call Espresso.
Then try the exact same recipe with Single Source Coffee and decide for yourself which one you prefer.
So, Should You Put Butter In Your Coffee?
We can give you the research.
We can explain the caffeine, saturated fat, cholesterol and clinical study.
But none of those things can answer the most important question.
Are you going to like it?
There is only one way to find out.
Tomorrow morning, brew a bold cup of Answer the Call Espresso.
Add one teaspoon of real butter and blend it until it is creamy and frothy.
Then take a sip.
You may wonder why anyone would ever put butter in coffee.
Or you may wonder why it took you this long to try it.
Answer the Call.
Adela Tortora
Saint Michaels Coffee, LLC
Sources & Research
The Effects of Medium Chain Triglyceride Oil and Butter on Lipid Profiles, PubMed, 2024
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39027784/
Coffee Consumption and Health: Umbrella Review of Meta Analyses of Multiple Health Outcomes, The BMJ
https://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5024.long
Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?, U.S. Food & Drug Administration
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much
Saturated Fats, American Heart Association
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/saturated-fats
Why Blame LDL for Arterial Plaque?, Dr. Ford Brewer, MD, MPH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If0IbuADXo0