How many of us drink at least one hot beverage a day; weather it is coffee or tea? Ethiopia is known for our daily coffee ceremonies. It is a ritual at this point and it would not be a stretch to claim that we all have at least one cup of coffee a day. In fact, the routine is one cup of tea in the morning with breakfast and one cup of coffee in the afternoon right after lunch. Isn’t that what you do? Here is the real question though. How much sugar do you use with your hot beverage? Some prefer just one spoon while others prefer 2 or more spoons of sugar. There are even some who make it seem like they are drinking sugar with just a dash of coffee or tea. Assuming that the average Ethiopian has one tea in the morning and one coffee in the afternoon—this represents a daily chance to experience two instances of using sugar in a hot beverage.
Do you stick with one cup of sugar or two cups of sugar as a rule? In other words, do you have a set amount of sugar you take with your hot beverage wherever and whenever? Some people are like that. If they decide to use one or two cups of sugar with their hot drink, they are going to strictly follow that rule. However, most Ethiopians have a tendency to look at the sugar before deciding how much they are going to use. Have you ever caught yourself or someone that you know use different amounts of sugar each time you enjoy a hot beverage? Have you ever wondered why that might be the case? Here is why.
How sugar dissolves in the tea or coffee depends on two factors: how much sugar was put into the hot beverage, and how hot it actually is. The coffee or tea usually has to be stirred for a while to get all the sugar dissolved. The stirring serves two main objectives. One is to dissolve the sugar and the other is to diffuse the sugar all over the cup and throughout all the coffee or tea in a uniform manner.
Dissolution involves the process by which a solute integrates into a solvent, forming a homogeneous mixture. The rate at which a solid dissolves in water depends on the frequency and energy of collisions between the solvent molecules and the solid particles. To increase the rate of dissolution, one can enhance these collisions either by increasing their frequency or their energy. For instance, when dissolving sugar in tea, granulated sugar dissolves more rapidly than a sugar cube. Stirring the solution can further accelerate the dissolution process, as can using hot tea instead of cold. The dissolution rate is influenced by the size of the solute particles. Since dissolution occurs at the surface where solvent molecules interact with the solute, smaller particles dissolve more quickly due to their greater surface area. For example, granulated sugar presents a much larger surface area to the solvent compared to a sugar cube, leading to a faster dissolution rate.
Stirring enhances the dissolution of sugar in water by continuously bringing fresh solvent molecules into contact with the solute. Without stirring, the water immediately surrounding the solute becomes saturated with dissolved sugar molecules, making it harder for additional sugar to dissolve. While the sugar cube will eventually dissolve due to the random movement of water molecules, the process is significantly slower. It is crucial to note that while stirring and breaking up the solute increase the rate of dissolution, they do not change the total amount of solute that can dissolve. Raising the temperature of a solvent increases the kinetic energy of its molecules. This heightened motion results in more frequent and forceful collisions between the solvent molecules and the solute, thereby accelerating the dissolution process.
The main takeaway from this is the fact that the more granulated the sugar the quicker it dissolves and the more crystalline the sugar the slower it dissolves. What does this mean for why Ethiopians use different amounts of sugar in their hot drink based on the type of sugar or size of crystals. The thing is, we stop stirring the hot drink once we notice some sort of homogenous solution assuming that the sugar has dissolved. The granulated sugar dissolves faster so we stop stirring more quickly than we would if we were using crystalline sugar. In the case of crystalline sugar, it takes a longer time for us to see a homogenous solution so keep stirring until we do so. What we don’t realize is that the process of dissolution and the process of diffusion are two different things. Sugar dissolving in tea or coffee is partially an example of diffusion assuming you do not stir the tea. The actual act of dissolution is not diffusion but without diffusion, the concentration of dissolved sugar right by the sugar grains will stop more dissolution. That is why the sugar concentrates at the bottom of our cup if we don’t stir it well.
So when the average Ethiopian notices that the sugar is in granulated form (finely ground), he/she tends use more sugar than they normally would. Their assumption or state of mind is that the granulated sugar dissolves more quickly and yet they don’t taste the sweetness. That is because they stop stirring but they don’t know that. To them, why should they keep on stirring after they have noticed that the sugar has dissolved and disappeared? So over time, they have engineered their subconscious to assume that granulated sugar just doesn’t taste so sweet so they have to use more. The opposite is true for crystalline sugar. When you see that the sugar you are about to use is granulated, your subconscious immediately assumes it is sweeter and so you end up using less than you normally would use but you also stir your drink for a longer period of time simply because you can still see the sugar has not dissolved. What you are effectively doing is basically diffusing the sugar all over your drink (not just dissolving it). Then you end up with a tasty hot coffee or tea. That is why you commonly hear Ethiopians saying ‘ይሄ ስኳር ያሰማል።’ or ‘ይሄ ስኳር አያሰማም’ based on how crystalline or granulated the sugar is.
The perception that crystalline sugar tastes sweeter than granulated sugar, despite the latter dissolving faster, can be attributed to our stirring habits. We tend to stop stirring sooner when using granulated sugar because it dissolves quickly, leading to less diffusion and a weaker overall sweetness. In contrast, crystalline sugar requires more stirring, promoting better diffusion and a more uniform sweetness throughout the beverage. This difference in dissolution and diffusion explains why we believe crystalline sugar to be sweeter. In addition to that, in Ethiopia, we don’t have a lot of use or need for granulated (fine) sugar as we don’t make cakes and sweet treats that much. So to us, it just seems like fake sugar and sugar that is less than par.