Hot Buttered Coffee Recipe (the Winter Version of Cold Brew)

Hot Buttered Coffee Recipe (the Winter Version of Cold Brew)

There's a cold brew version of this idea — cold brew with butter, blended until it's frothy, drunk cold. We covered a different cold brew in this post if that's the lane you want.

This post is about the warm version. Hot coffee, butter, a little spice, blended or whisked into something that drinks like a luxurious morning treat. It's the kind of thing that makes 6 AM in January feel less like punishment.

The recipe is fast (5 minutes), uses ingredients most kitchens have on hand, and doesn't require any special equipment beyond a blender or a whisk and some elbow grease. It's also surprisingly flexible — once you have the basic ratio, you can riff on it for months.

What hot buttered coffee is (and what it isn't)

Three common misconceptions worth clearing up before the recipe.

It's not bulletproof coffee. Bulletproof coffee is a specific branded thing: a particular coffee, a particular butter (grass-fed), a particular ratio, blended. The branding claim is that it replaces breakfast and improves cognitive function. We're not making any of those claims. We're making a delicious warm drink.

It's not a latte. A latte is espresso plus steamed milk. Hot buttered coffee is brewed coffee plus butter plus optional spices. There's no espresso machine involved. There's no milk, unless you add some.

It's not a flavored coffee. We're not adding artificial butter flavor or syrup. The butter is real butter. It melts into the coffee and adds richness, mouthfeel, and a faint sweetness. That's the whole point.

What it is: brewed coffee, blended with a tablespoon of butter (sometimes more), maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup. Served hot. Optional blend with a little coconut oil or ghee for richer texture.

That's it. The rest of this post is variations and notes.

The base recipe (5 minutes, 1 cup)

Ingredients

  • 8 oz brewed coffee, hot. Any brewing method works — drip, French press, pour-over, even instant. Use what you have.
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter. Real butter, not margarine. Salted butter is fine if that's what you have; just skip any added salt.
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Ceylon if you have it, cassia if you don't.
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey. Optional. Adjust to taste.
  • Pinch of salt. Optional. Helps the butter emulsify.

Method (blender — preferred)

  1. Brew the coffee. Use your usual method. The hotter the better when it hits the blender.
  2. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Make sure the lid is on tight.
  3. Blend on high for 20-30 seconds. The mixture will turn pale tan and develop a frothy top — almost like a latte foam.
  4. Pour into a pre-warmed mug.
  5. Optional dust of cinnamon on top.

Method (no blender)

If you don't have a blender, you can do this in a mug with a whisk or even a fork, but the texture won't be as smooth.

  1. Brew the coffee and pour into a pre-warmed mug.
  2. Add the butter, cinnamon, and sweetener directly to the mug.
  3. Whisk vigorously for 30-45 seconds. The butter should mostly emulsify into the coffee. You'll see it lighten in color.
  4. Drink immediately. The texture won't be as silky as the blended version, but it's still good.

The blender version is meaningfully better. If you make this more than twice, get a cheap $20 blender dedicated to coffee drinks.

What kind of coffee to use

This is the question we get asked most.

For the cleanest cup: A light to medium roast single origin with bright, clean flavor notes. Our Colombia or Costa Rica both work well here. The brightness cuts through the richness of the butter.

For the most traditional butter-coffee flavor: A dark roast or a heavily-bodied coffee. Our Whiskey Barrel-Aged is the closest match in the catalog — its full body and barrel-derived sweetness pair with butter in a way that makes the drink taste like a coffee-flavored custard.

For low acidity and a rounder flavor: A medium-dark roast from Brazil (or anything in our single origin lineup). Avoid very dark roasts (French roast, Italian roast) — they tend to clash with the butter.

What we don't recommend: Decaf. Hot buttered coffee is rich and warming; decaf coffee's muted flavor doesn't carry through the butter. If you're cutting caffeine, try a caffeine-free tea recipe instead.

The coffee matters less than the technique. We've made this with $5 grocery store coffee and $25 single origin. Both versions were good. The single origin version was better.

Variations worth trying

Maple vanilla version

Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon maple syrup (instead of honey). The maple + vanilla combination tastes like a winter dessert without being too sweet.

Spiced butter coffee

Add 1/4 teaspoon each of ground cardamom and nutmeg along with the cinnamon. This version leans into chai-adjacent territory. It's warming in a different way than the basic recipe.

Coconut butter version

Use 1 tablespoon coconut butter (sometimes called coconut manna) instead of dairy butter. The coconut butter is rich, slightly sweet, and adds a tropical note. Vegan-friendly. The mouthfeel is a little different — slightly grainy if you don't blend it well.

Salted caramel version

Use salted butter instead of unsalted. Skip the added salt. Add an extra teaspoon of maple syrup. The combination is closer to a caramel candy than a coffee drink.

Espresso version

Use a double shot of espresso instead of 8 oz brewed coffee. Hot buttered espresso is closer to a small cortado with bonus richness. Works well as an afternoon pick-me-up.

Holiday version

Add 1/8 teaspoon each of ground ginger and cloves along with the cinnamon. This is the version we make in December. The ginger warms the back of your throat, which we find more comforting than the basic recipe in cold weather.

When to skip this

Hot buttered coffee isn't for every morning or every person. Skip it if:

You're dairy-sensitive. Butter is a dairy product. The coconut butter version works, but it's a different drink. If you're cutting dairy for health reasons, this isn't the recipe.

You're watching calories carefully. A tablespoon of butter is roughly 100 calories. Combined with maple syrup and coffee, you're at 150-200 calories per cup. That's not unreasonable, but it's a meaningful addition if you're tracking closely.

You have morning reflux or GERD. Butter plus hot coffee can bother sensitive stomachs. If coffee on an empty stomach gives you trouble, buttered coffee on an empty stomach will give you more trouble.

You want a clean-tasting cup. The butter covers the coffee's flavor. If you bought a really nice single origin for its tasting notes (the citrus in Costa Rica, the chocolate in Colombia), the butter will obscure them. Drink those coffees black and use a cheaper blend for buttered morning coffee.

It's July. This is a winter drink. It's good in summer too, but the richness feels heavier in hot weather. Save it for the months when you actually want something warming.

Why this pairs well with our roast schedule

A side note that matters mostly to other small-batch roasters: hot buttered coffee is a great way to use the last bit of a bag before it goes stale. If you've had a bag of coffee for 3 weeks and it's lost its brightness, butter it. The richness covers the staleness in a way that black coffee can't.

This is also the drink we make at the roastery on Friday afternoons when we have leftover coffee from the week's cupping. It's not for tasting. It's for using.

For more on how we taste-test coffees (and what we discard vs. use), our How We Taste-Test New Coffees post has the process.

What we drink instead, when not this

Honest version: we don't drink hot buttered coffee every morning. It's a once-a-week treat in winter, and we rotate through:

  • French press Colombia, black. The default. Two cups most mornings.
  • Pour-over Costa Rica, black. When we want something lighter and brighter. Usually weekends.
  • Matcha. On days when we're sensitive to the third cup of coffee. Our Matcha is what we use.
  • Hibiscus tea, iced. Summer mornings. Our Hibiscus Berry makes a clean cold brew.
  • Hot buttered coffee. Friday afternoons in winter. Once a week, never more.

That's the rotation. Hot buttered coffee is in there, but it's not the default.

The bigger context

If you've made it this far and you want more recipes for warming winter drinks, here's where to look:

Make this once and you'll know whether it's a regular drink for you. Some people love it. Some people find it too rich. There's no wrong answer.

The recipe is the eight parts: coffee, butter, cinnamon, sweetener, blend, drink. Everything else is variation. The drink takes 5 minutes and tastes like a weekend morning, even on a Tuesday in February.

Brew slow. Sip slow. ☕

P.S. If you make this and the butter doesn't emulsify (you see butter chunks floating), the coffee wasn't hot enough. Reheat the coffee to near-boiling and try again. Cold coffee won't emulsify butter well — the butter needs the heat to melt fully and the blender needs the heat to keep everything liquid during the blending.