Butter Coffee is a blend of regular brewed coffee with grass-fed butter and MCT oil, coconut oil or Brain Octane Oil (also known as Bulletproof® Coffee). Though this is the original recipe, people have been hacking it to alter the effects. We polled our community in Australia a series of questions on how they make their butter coffee. Here’s what we found:
Legend: n = sample size
Do you use grass-fed butter or ghee in your Bulletproof® coffee? (n = 22)
64% of those surveyed chose butter over ghee. With such a paleo and Bulletproof-aligned group, this was surprising. As going dairy-free is becoming more popular, we expected to see less butter. Though, people responded that butter tastes much better (and the texture is less oily) than ghee in coffee, so it was more a common choice.
How many days per week do you drink Bulletproof® Coffee? (n = 29)
Most people (63%) seem to drink it every day, while the numbers drop with the less often options. After all, it is one of the most iconic parts of the Bulletproof Diet! A big reason for the less often drinkers is for avoiding caffeine reliance. By going a few days without coffee each week (caffeine cycling) you’re less likely to become reliant on needing it every morning. Some will even drink decaf coffee to keep their morning habit yet still get the benefits of caffeine cycling.
What do you add to your Bulletproof® Coffee? Do you have any upgrades? (cinnamon, maca, etc.) (n = 27)
This distribution surprised me. Only 44% of people make the original recipe, and 56% add their own variations. Though collagen, vanilla and cinnamon was a surprisingly popular combination with seven people who all do it!
Here are everyone’s individual variations (in addition to the original Bulletproof Coffee recipe):
- Add colostrum and collagen
- Add almond butter, vanilla and collagen
- Add collagen, gelatin, maca & cinnamon or vanilla
- Add collagen and ¼ pack of x50 green tea powder (pina colada flavour)
- Add cocoa butter
- Add 2 stevia, 2 blocks dark chocolate, 20gm of cannabis butter (“Bulletproof Coffee of Champions”)
Do you ever make decaf Bulletproof® coffee? (n = 25)
72% of people don’t make decaf coffee. Clearly the caffeine boost is appealing to many. For those that did make decaf, here are their explanations:
- Decaf is better for those with Adrenal Fatigue or who are caffeine sensitive
- To cycle between caffeinated and decaf
- To reduce caffeine intake
- When switching from a night shift to day shift
Do you use XCT oil or Brain Octane Oil? (n=51)
Brain Octane was a clear winner with this one with 73% of the sample size. Since it has stronger cognitive benefits, this didn’t come as a surprise. This may imply that the benefits of Brain Octane Oil outweigh the marginal increase in price compared to XCT Oil. Also, as many people in our community are interested in ketosis (or cyclical ketosis, as found in the Bulletproof Diet) and Brain Octane is an easy hack to create ketones in the body. (1)
These insights bring an interesting, data-driven perspective on how the Australian Bulletproof community follows this lifestyle. Many of us, being biohackers and self experimenters, will try out recommendations and tweak them to how we best respond. This is why so many people include personalized add-ons to their Bulletproof Coffee, cycle on and off caffeine, and choose certain supplements over other ones with similar benefits.
Now, we’ll dive into a spotlight on one of our community members.
Spotlight on our community:
Gary: “I’m a 50+ guy who wants to keep his choices as he grows older.”
Gary’s Bulletproof Coffee Recipe:
- 1 Tbsp freshly ground BP coffee
- 2 capfuls of Brain Octane oil
- A big slice of Paris Creek unsalted butter
- Variable add-ons:
- Great Lakes Collagen (“Gives me a protein boost if I know I’m going to have a physical day”)
- Chocolate powder
- Ginger (“Now that it’s getting colder, this gives my body some extra warmth in the morning”)
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon sticks
- Cacao butter
“I don’t have any fancy gadgets and I like to travel light. This is all shaken in a flask and left to brew for a few minutes, shaking a few more times. Then it’s filtered through a Vietnamese style coffee strainer into a big mug.”
Gary also makes a Bulletproof-style tea in the afternoons. Here’s his recipe:
Afternoon Tea Recipe:
- Matcha green tea
- Organic coconut oil
- Ginger
- Cinnamon quills
“I find it pretty hard to sit in a cafe these days and drink the average coffee they churn out. There’s no going back! People think you’re weird when you’re adding things to your coffee other than milk and sugar, go figure?”
The butter-in-your-coffee, paleo eating and active lifestyle trends are clearly growing in Australia. We’re excited to see new research & development in these areas to test out the findings for ourselves!
We’d love to hear your own ways of making Bulletproof Coffee in the mornings. So shoot us a comment below answering this question:
How do you make butter coffee? 🙂
References:
Cover image source.
