Alton Brown's Simple Hack For Brewing Better Coffee

When it comes to food facts and hacks, nobody can top Alton Brown. The cookbook author and television host is an all-around food science expert of culinary wisdom.

Luckily for us, a Buzzfeed writer unearthed one of Brown's most mind-blowing hacks for making the best coffee in an old episode of Good Eats. And unlike some of his more complicated kitchen endeavors, this one involves only two everyday essentials: coffee and salt.

To "help take the bitterness out of your brew," Brown suggests using a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt for every six tablespoons of ground coffee.

Woah.

Brown, who swears by this AeroPress coffeemaker, explained his salt trick further on his blog. And once again, he has science on his side.

"Not only does salt cut the bitterness of coffee, but it also smooths out the 'stale' taste of tank-stored water. I've taken to adding a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt to every six tablespoons of grounds. That isn't really enough to taste, but it'll do the trick," Brown writes. "And by the way, research has proven that salt is actually better at neutralizing bitterness than sugar."

So, salt it is!