Black Coffee Keeps Making the Health News, and It Should Taste Good Too

By Kevin Pedeaux

Researchers at Tufts University tracked about 46,000 American adults and found that people who drank at least one cup of coffee a day had a lower risk of dying from any cause during the study. The study was published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2025, and its most useful finding was about what goes in the cup. The benefit held for black coffee and for coffee with only a little sugar and cream. It went away once the sugar and saturated fat went up. This summer the American Heart Association published a scientific statement on caffeine that dealt mostly with plain black coffee. It called moderate amounts generally safe for most people and said the possible heart benefits are promising but not yet proven.

Water is still the healthiest thing you can drink, and nobody serious says otherwise. But a plain cup of black coffee has about two calories, and the research keeps putting it close to the top of the list.

I didn't start out drinking it black. For a long time I drank sugary frozen coffee drinks, like a lot of people who walk into our shops. That changed when I tasted coffee a few days off the roaster. It was smooth enough that I didn't want anything in it. That's when I understood coffee is supposed to taste good on its own, and it's the reason I roast what I roast today: blends on antique roasters, each one built for a different cup.

So most of the bitterness people expect from black coffee isn't really coffee's fault. Usually it's coffee that has been sitting in a warehouse or on a shelf too long. Fresh roast is a different drink. Compare a grocery store tomato in January with one from the farmers market in June. They're both tomatoes, but only one of them tastes like one.

If you're new to it, cold brew is the easiest place to start. Ours steeps for 18 hours and comes out low in acidity, with no bitter edge. The hot drip and the Americano are the next step. Our French Roast isn't as dark as you'd think, which surprises people who expect it to taste burnt.

The usual caution applies. The FDA says up to 400 milligrams of caffeine a day, or roughly two to three 12-ounce cups, is generally fine for healthy adults. The Tufts researchers found no extra benefit past three cups.

Come by any of our shops and ask what's brewing. We'll still make you a frozen one, but try it black first.

Order ahead