(Nerd) Lunch Special: Bulletproof Coffee

Bulletproof coffee is something I first heard about on Twitter from our friend Steve from Food Junk. I found the concept instantly intriguing, but was too lazy to do anything about it right away. When I finally did ask Steve about it and learned that he hadn’t tried it firsthand, I knew we had to make this a mission… for SCIENCE and THE INTERNET! We both survived, so be sure to check out Steve’s experience over at Food Junk.

The promoters of bulletproof coffee bill it as a kind of superfood, but let’s be honest, the novelty is that it replaces milk or cream with butter. That’s right, knocking back a couple cups of bulletproof coffee also means drinking a quarter stick of butter. I made some alterations to my recipe, but rest assured that I was enjoying a big mug of butter at the end of this.

Ingredients

Coffee	The original recipe advocates specific coffee types that are less likely to contain mold and toxins. To steal a line from PLee, “I like coffee, even when it’s bad.” With discerning taste like that, splurging on a bag of Starbuck’s was as far as I was willing to go.
Oil	The original recipe includes some special medium chain fatty acid oil that you can order from The Bulletproof Exec’s web site. Um, no thanks. A little bit of chemistry knowledge and some research revealed coconut oil to be a reasonable substitute. Eight dollars and one trip to my local food mart later, I had what I needed.
Butter	Unsalted, grass fed butter is recommended in the original recipe. Somehow I couldn’t track down a package of Kerrygold in time to brew my first batch and rolled with the Land O’ Lakes lady that’s been buttering my toast for decades now. I was able to make up a second batch using Kerrygold butter later on, though I didn’t notice a huge difference in taste.
Sugar	There is no sugar in the original recipe, but I always take sugar in my coffee and wasn’t about to stop now.

Putting It All Together

1. Brew up 2 cups of coffee.
2. Pour the coffee, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, 2 tablespoons of butter (1/4 of a stick), and (in my case) 2 teaspoons of sugar into the blender.
3. Blend until everything is well combined and has a frothy head.  NOTE: Hot liquid expands A LOT when blended, so hang on to the lid. I’ve watched enough Food Network to have heard that warning many times, but even I was surprised by the force.
4. Enjoy!

The Verdict
Heaven help me, but I loved bulletproof coffee. The final product was incredibly rich and creamy which isn’t too surprising given the amount of fat in a mugful. What did surprise me was that it didn’t taste like butter at all, but similar to coffee with a heavy dose of good cream. The need to drag out of the blender will probably keep me from making it regularly, but I will definitely by blend up a batch from time to time. I highly recommend bulletproof coffee for coffee hounds who want to try something different or work on their Man of Steel pose.