Can I Drink Coffee with Pizza?


Do pizza and coffee go together?

Soda is a prized pizza pairing. This effervescent drink has a sweet edge that goes together with the salty, cheesy bite of a pizza.

Coffee lovers who also relish deliciously hot pizzas may wonder whether coffee and pizza go together. This article answers this question and explores other issues around pairing coffee with pizza.

Can I Drink Coffee with Pizza?

Yes, you can drink coffee with pizza as the two go well together. Iced coffee has a soothing edge that makes it a better pairing to hot and spicy pizzas than hot coffee. However, frequently drinking high-calorie coffee drinks with pizza can jeopardize your health.

Most pizzas have cheese. If you are worried about how coffee and cheese pizza will pair, here is a cool fact. Coffee and cheese have been paired together for a long time and it’s not just with cheesecakes and sandwiches.

Kaffeost is a popular coffee cheese in Scandinavia that is made by dipping special “bread cheese” in black coffee.

***The special bread cheese is actually cheese with no bread. It absorbs coffee like bread, hence the name.***

Similarly, you shouldn’t face any problems when pairing coffee with meaty pizzas as coffee is a stellar marinade for meat. Both brewed coffee and ground coffee are used to tenderize the meat and heighten its flavor. As you can see, even a meaty pizza will go well with coffee.

Why Cold Coffee is Better with Pizza than Hot Coffee

1. Cold Coffee Can Protect Your Esophageal Lining

Generally, hot food such as pizza goes well with cold drinks. Cold drinks can soothe and protect the throat-and-esophagus lining from potential inflammation from hot food.

Drinking piping hot coffee with hot pizza can have the opposite effect. Instead of soothing this lining, hot coffee can worsen the inflammation.

According to Cleveland Clinic, the repeated damage and inflammation to the throat-and-esophagus lining from ingesting hot drinks and hot food can lead to esophageal cancer.

Therefore, if you are into eating hot pizza with hot coffee regularly, you may want to start having your hot coffee an hour or so after eating the pizza. This will minimize the risk of inflaming the lining of your throat.

2. Cold Coffee is Better with Spicy Pizza than Hot Coffee

Eating spicy pizza with hot coffee can cause your body to heat up and sweat excessively. Ever wondered why people sweat when eating spicy food? Well, spicy food such as spicy pizza has spicy compounds called capsaicin which stimulates your body’s heat receptors.

This dupes your body into thinking that you are feeling hot. Your body starts sweating in an attempt to cool itself. Drinking hot coffee raises your body temperature and exacerbates the problem.

Drinking cold coffee with spicy pizza, on the other hand, counters the false stimulation of the heat receptors and helps to balance your body temperature.

3. Iced Milk Coffee Can Reduce Spicy Heat

Iced coffee with dairy milk can neutralize spicy pizza as dairy milk is an excellent absorbent for capsaicin.

4. Sweetened Coffee is Good for Spicy Pizza

Sugar helps to balance the bite of spicy food. That’s why people take a scoop of sugar when they can’t handle spicy food. Drinking sweetened iced coffee can help to cut the heat of a spicy pizza.

Things to Consider When Pairing Coffee with Pizza

Coffee drinks range from simple black coffee to decadent blended coffee beverages. Whereas pairing a decadent coffee drink with pizza is a wonderful way to treat yourself, you may want to do it sparingly to avoid future health problems.

Some coffee drinks have more than 500 calories per cup which add up to over 1500 calories when paired with a full pizza.

Consequently, you may want to consider pairing your favorite pizza with low-calorie coffee drinks for the benefit of your health.

If you love yourself some Starbucks coffee, here are some mouthwatering low-calorie cold coffees that you can pair with pizza.

Final Thoughts

There is no harm in pairing coffee with pizza. Iced coffee is a better pairing for pizza than hot coffee as it has soothing properties that are good for your health.

Drinking dairy milk or sweetened coffee with spicy pizza can help to balance the spicy edge.

Since most pizzas have lots of calories, avoid frequently eating pizza with high-calorie coffee drinks. Instead, go for low-calorie coffee beverages.

Patrick

Patrick is first a coffee lover and then a trained barista. His bucket list includes sky diving and sipping on Java in the Himalayas.

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