Why is salt sometimes added to straight coffee?

Question

Sometimes a pinch of salt is added to a cup of coffee - but why?

Is this only done for low-quality or mediocre coffee? When is the best time during the coffee-making process to do this?

Answer 1

I'm not a coffee drinker, so can't comment on the timing -- but it's due to salt's effect of masking bitterness.

Answer 2

This is common practice in places like Ethiopia, where it is used (much like Americans use sugar) to cut the bitterness. This is a longstanding cultural practice (they domesticated it, so I figure they probably know better than we do), in an area where sugar was not readily available. In this situation, it is added just prior to drinking.

Answer 3

The question, and the answers have astonished me. In Spain, the combination of coffee and salt is a popular "recipe" for provoking vomit to sober up; popular but wrong and even dangerous in cases of heavy intoxications.