Coffee comes in many different forms, from simple espresso to latte, filter coffee, cappuccino or latte, with or without sugar or milk, to extravagant recipes with cream or liqueur. What is the best way to drink coffee, or what is the healthiest way to drink coffee?

Coffee has natural oils, fruit acids and antioxidants that are proven to be very good for your health. Regular coffee drinkers enjoy a reduced risk of heart disease, some cancers and high blood sugar. Coffee also has a positive effect on the metabolism and helps digestion. However, how the coffee drink is prepared makes a big difference to how much of these valuable ingredients are actually absorbed by the body.

In principle, of course, coffee without sugar is healthier than coffee with sugar. The same also applies to artificial sweeteners, as some of these are now quite controversial. Research has shown that the addition of milk or cream has a detrimental effect on the coffee's valuable ingredients, neutralising the coffee, so to speak.

Black, unsweetened coffee is therefore the healthiest.

However, the different forms of preparation must also be taken into account here. In a good espresso machine, hot water is pressed through compact and finely ground coffee powder under high pressure. During this process, the natural oils and acids of the coffee are flushed into the cup with the water. This also explains the creamy foam on a good espresso, which is made up of the oils. With filter coffee, many of these natural oils are lost. If the coffee is filtered through chlorine-bleached paper, traces of the chlorine end up in the coffee, which is why almost all filter bags are now unbleached. Coffee pods, however, are often still chlorine-bleached.

While the best and healthiest way to make coffee is undoubtedly espresso from a professional espresso machine, espresso capsule machines are now almost just as good. The quality of the espresso can be recognised by the consistency of the espresso foam after the coffee has been made. However, it should be noted that there are many different coffee capsules on the market. Aluminium capsules are controversial from a health point of view; capsules made of biodegradable plastic are best.

To summarise once again: The best and healthiest coffee is an espresso made from 100% Arabica coffee, prepared in a good espresso machine loose, or in biodegradable plastic capsules and without milk, cream, sugar or sweeteners.