How Elvis Presley Liked His Coffee

Elvis Presley was as well-known for his onstage antics as for his offstage habits, especially regarding his culinary predilections. Indeed, the rock n' roll icon's favorite recipes have become the stuff of legend, generating much speculation and even entire cookbooks. But when it came to his morning coffee, did you know he liked to take it ... orange?

According to Adam Victor's 2008 book "The Elvis Encyclopedia," the King of Rock and Roll — well-known for his go-to sandwich order, which featured peanut butter, banana, and bacon — enjoyed having fruit juice alongside a very specific cup of joe. "At breakfast time he drank orange juice and coffee (served with half & half and as a concession to his diet, Sweet 'n' Low)," wrote Victor (via INeedCoffee). 

Elvis — who had a notorious sweet tooth — used the artificial sweetener, which was introduced in 1957 and adopted its current saccharin-based formula in 1969. It ranges from 200 to 700 times sweeter than sugar. Even more interestingly, according to Priscilla Presley, Elvis — a well-known germaphobe — would reportedly only drink his coffee from the spot where the handle met the cup (via YouTube).

Coffee with half-and-half and sweetener alongside a glass of orange juice fits perfectly with the King's notorious penchant for all things indulgent and rich, with the odd note of restraint, blending the sweet with the savory. It's one of the many distinct beverages and dishes associated with Elvis: from his well-known love of Gatorade to one of his favorite desserts (a buttery pound cake), and his beloved Pepsi.

Elvis' own relationship with food was filled with rituals, profound ties to Southern comfort food, and, ultimately, contradictions. He enjoyed hearty dishes, which his Graceland cook, Mary Jenkins Langston, made in accordance with his specific wishes, and he often went to great lengths to obtain the foods he craved — even flying to Denver in 1976 to eat multiple "Fool's Gold Loaf" sandwiches, which were made with peanut butter, jelly, and bacon stuffed inside a hollowed-out loaf of bread.

At the same time, Elvis often incorporated fad diets into his lifestyle. Indeed, by the mid-1970s, his morning coffee regimen had evolved. According to "The Elvis Encyclopedia," he was loading it with vitamins and appetite suppressants, occasionally of the amphetamine variety. All of this contributed to culinary preferences that became as legendary and iconic as Elvis' music itself, serving as a source of controversy, rumors, and speculation to this day.