Introduction: Proffee = Protein Powder + Coffee

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About: Analog maker dabbling in digital manufacture. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made via links on these pages (no cost to you).

The coffee at my work is mediocre and not correspondingly inexpensive, so as a means of caffeinating myself regularly I mostly drank instant coffee + sugar + coffee whitener. I premixed these and added boiling water, and the resulting concoction was... fine (OK, an abomination if you are a coffee snob, but as will become apparent, I am not). However, one day I was idly reading the nutrition label on the coffee whitener and realized I was drinking a mixture of modified corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oil (= saturated fat). This finding did not spark joy so I jumped online and searched for "alternatives to coffee whitener". The first thing that popped up was protein powder, and the combination of this with coffee is called "proffee". I loved that (my occupation is professor, so some nice synergy there), and immediately tried it out. It turns out there are some tricks to making a decent beverage, and I will share these here.

Supplies

  1. Coffee (I use instant coffee, the pictured flavor, but any coffee works)
  2. Protein powder (I use the pictured mocha latte flavored protein powder)
  3. A microwave OR a temperature controlled kettle

Step 1: Water Temperature

The critical thing when making proffee is to make sure your water temperature is well below boiling. At work I use a temperature controlled kettle; at home I use a microwave. In both cases I heat the water to 70°C (160°F). Boiling water will denature the protein (proteins are chains of amino acids folded into a particular shape; "denaturing" is unfolding the chain into an amorphous mass), and results in a mostly insoluble sludge. This mess is not bad for you - indeed, it makes the protein slightly easier to digest - but it looks bad and tastes gunky. I suspect a lot of people try proffee at too high a temperature and think "ugh, gross" and abandon it.

I use a 1:1.2 mixture of instant coffee and protein powder. Both quickly dissolve at 70°C (160°F) and it is basically ready to drink. It does not whiten the coffee very much but does create a nice crema.

Most protein powders contain artificial sweetener so sugar is not necessary unless you have a really sweet tooth. Appropriately flavored protein powder tastes better, and dairy-based protein is whey tastier than vegan (pea-based) protein powder (scarcely drinkable in a smoothie, truly horrible as proffee).

Iced proffee is also good - just blend with cold water and ice.

Step 2: Nutrition

Obviously one cup of coffee is not going to make any significant difference to your health, but because I have 3 largish mugs a day I was curious to see what the dietary consequences were of this change over a year. I drink the same amount of coffee but have substituted ~20 g of sugar and ~20 g of coffee whitener for ~20 g of protein powder each day. Your mileage will vary of course, depending on how much you drink and the ratio you find palatable.

Fat: 3.65 kg = 8 lb less per year (coffee whitener is 50% saturated fat)

Sugar: 11 kg = 24 lb less per year (coffee whitener is 50% corn syrup-derived carbs)

Protein: 7.3 kg = 16 lb more per year (protein powder is nearly 100% protein)

In terms of calories: 32,850 less calories from fat, 44,000 calories from sugar, 29,200 more calories from protein. Overall 47,650 calories less per year = 130 calories less per day.

So this dietary change adds up! What about cost? Sugar is cheap; 16 lb of sugar is about $20. 16 lb of coffee whitener is about $50. 16 lb of protein powder is about $300 (all approximate prices in $US in 2025 from Walmart, buying in large sizes). So the cost implications are appreciable - 3 large mugs (my intake) of proffee a day will cost you about $1 in protein powder alone, compared to only about $0.23 for the sugar/whitener mix.

Side note: instant coffee costs about $1/oz, so the coffee will also cost you about $300/year for 3 mugs/day.

So is the extra cost of proffee worth it? Definitely a personal decision but I am happy to be consuming 90 less calories per day from fat,* 120 less calories a day from sugar,* and adding 20 g of protein per day to my diet, so an extra $0.77/day for an incremental nutritional improvement seems a decent trade.

* I'm actually not, or I would have lost a noticeable amount of weight in the last year! My weight is the same so presumably I am compensating elsewhere in my diet. I have also got fitter but that can more likely be attributed to a new gravel bike than to my beverage choices.