Does Jam Really Belong In Your Coffee?
TikTok always seems to be telling us about some new way we should be drinking our coffee. The whipped (aka dalgona) coffee that was one of the pandemic era's top food trends was pretty fun, whereas the viral onion coffee that came along a few years later ... wasn't. The espresso and orange juice combo may have fallen somewhere in between, although not everyone acquired a taste for it. More recently, a new TikTok coffee hack involves brewing coffee into an almost-empty jam jar. (The video below adds brown sugar for extra sweetness, although this step isn't necessary.) While it doesn't sound bad, The Takeout asked ex-barista Matt Woodburn-Simmonds for his take on the trend. He's in favor, telling us the bitter flavor of coffee can be balanced out nicely with the addition of sugary, tangy jam. When you mix jam with coffee, he explained, "You get this harmony of sweet, sharp, and bitter that works really nicely."
Woodburn-Simmonds feels that certain flavors of jam work better in coffee than others. "Assuming your coffee is quite bitter," he said, "then berries are the classic pairing with that flavor." This means raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, and currant jam should all be fine. He's unsure whether stone fruits would work as well, though, since he feels apricot jam and coffee would be a no-go. The type of coffee can also affect the taste. As Woodburn-Simmonds advises, "If you're going to add fruit to your coffee, then you want very dark roast coffee," since the bitterness will better balance the fruit flavors.
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How to add jam to coffee
If you do want to add jam to your coffee, you might want to reconsider simply spooning it straight into the mug. "Mixing it evenly would take quite a lot of stirring," Matt Woodburn-Simmonds points out, adding "and you'd need to strain any fruit pieces or seeds from it afterward, too." If you've just emptied a jam jar, as in the TikTok video, then you're in luck, since, as Woodburn-Simmonds explains, "The benefit of doing what this person has done is that you're simultaneously cleaning out the end of your jam jar that's difficult to use while incorporating it into your drink."
Another easy way to get jam into your coffee is to turn it into a fruit syrup. This is a pretty simple process, since all you need to do is combine it with a few tablespoons of water and heat it. If you like a super-sweet syrup, you can also add sugar to taste (brown or white, either will work). Once the jam dissolves, strain the syrup. It's ready to add to coffee, iced tea, lemonade, seltzer water, cocktails, or anywhere else you might want some sweet, fruity flavor.