How to Make Bulletproof Coffee, and the One Ingredient That Changes What It Is

The recipe is Dave Asprey’s, it is four lines long, and I will give it to you in a moment. Why the drink fits a 16:8 fasting window is a separate post. This one is the method.

The interesting part is not the recipe. It is that something I often add to it, collagen powder, quietly turns it into a different drink, and almost nobody selling you either one mentions it.

The drink itself

Coffee, MCT oil, grass-fed butter, blended until it goes pale and frothy. No sugar. No milk.

That is the whole thing. It looks like a latte and drinks like one, and it is rich enough to take the edge off hunger, which is what I use it for.

That is Asprey’s published recipe, with butter in place of ghee.

The blending is not optional and it is where most first attempts fail. You are making an emulsion, the same thing you are making with homemade mayonnaise, and a spoon will not do it. Stirred, the oil sits on top in a slick and the last mouthful is horrible.

Start with a teaspoon of MCT

I need to be direct about this because the internet is not.

MCT oil at a dose your gut has not met before causes what the keto forums politely call disaster pants. It is not dangerous and it is not an allergy. The oil pulls water into your intestine and the result arrives quickly.

So a teaspoon, then build to the full tablespoon over several days. People who start at two tablespoons because a label suggests it usually decide the whole idea is a scam by Thursday, and the oil was never the problem.

The butter, briefly

Grass-fed, and read the wrapper rather than the brand. The longer version of that argument is in the fasting post, including which butters actually say 100% grass-fed.

Now the collagen problem

I often put collagen in this coffee. You cannot taste it, which is exactly why it is easy to forget what it does to the drink.

Collagen peptides are protein. About ten grams in a scoop. And protein, unlike fat, provokes an insulin response and feeds gluconeogenesis, which means that by any strict definition of fasting, a scoop of collagen ends your fast.

That does not make collagen coffee a bad idea. It makes it a different idea. If you are drinking this to get to lunch without eating, leave the collagen out. If you are drinking it as a light breakfast and want the protein in it, put the collagen in and stop calling the morning a fast.

Both are fine. Pretending they are the same thing is the mistake, and plenty of the recipes floating about make it quietly.

What I would skip

Sweeteners and milk. The drink is coffee and fat, and adding cream on top of the butter just makes a worse latte with extra steps.

The branded “enhancer” powders that package MCT and butter together are a closer call. I bought Boosted Brew in 2022, and I still use an MCT and butter powder some mornings because it is quicker. Real oil and real butter through the blender is the version I prefer, and with a powder the ratio is decided for you.

The picks

Quick questions

Does bulletproof coffee break a fast?
The fat version, barely, which is the point of it. Add collagen or any other protein and yes, by any strict definition.

How much MCT oil should I use?
Asprey’s recipe calls for a tablespoon, and he says to start with a teaspoon if you are new to it and build up over several days. That build up is the step people skip, and the consequences are memorable.

Can I stir it instead of blending?
You can, and the oil will float. Blending emulsifies it, which is what makes it taste like a latte rather than like coffee with a slick on top. A milk frother is the fallback if you have no blender.

Butter or ghee?
The published recipe uses ghee. Butter makes the same drink, and it is what I use.

Does hot coffee destroy collagen?
No. Hydrolysed peptides are already broken down. That is what hydrolysed means.

Is coconut oil the same as MCT oil?
No. Coconut oil contains MCTs but mostly lauric acid, which behaves more like a longer chain fat. C8 is the concentrated version and it is why the bottle costs what it does.

Do I need the expensive MCT?
No. A C8 and C10 blend is cheaper and works. I buy the pure C8 in glass, and I use MCT in phases rather than every day. A blend is a perfectly good place to start.

The bottom line

A cup of coffee, a tablespoon of MCT, a tablespoon of grass-fed butter or ghee, blended for 20 to 30 seconds. Start with a teaspoon of the oil. And decide before you add the collagen whether you are drinking this to skip breakfast or to be breakfast, because it cannot be both, whatever the label on the tub suggests.

Not medical or dietary advice. Fasting is not appropriate for everyone, particularly anyone pregnant, diabetic, or with a history of disordered eating.