Brewing a perfect cup of coffee is a job half-done. The other side of the equation is drinking it at the right temperature.
We get it; you don’t want to scald your tongue with the piping-hot coffee you just brewed. So you take a sip gingerly and go and do your morning chores, only to return to your cup of joe and find it cold and bland. Now, that’s not what you were looking for either, were you?
If you’re having a problem keeping your brew hot, we’ve rounded up all the best tips, tricks, and tools we could find to keep coffee hot. So now you can go ahead and get all your chores done and return to find your java still at the perfect temperature.
But first, let’s take a look at how hot is too hot for coffee so that you don’t end up on the other side of the temperature spectrum and burn your tongue.
How Hot Should Coffee Be?
Coffee must be brewed when the water is between 195°F and 205°F to extract the right amount of flavor from the beans.
When it comes to drinking it, many connoisseurs advise that coffee is best enjoyed at 120°F to 195°F.
Why does coffee lose flavor when it’s kept hotter than 205°F? A temperature beyond 205°F tends to extract flavor from the bitter compounds in coffee, making it taste bitter, flat, and stale.
That is why, when you order or brew an extra hot cup of coffee, it tastes mostly burnt, rendering it pretty much undrinkable.
So stick to the temperatures we mentioned above, and you can enjoy a well-brewed cup of coffee every time.
Also Read: – 5 Finest Coffee Container for Home
How To Keep Coffee Hot
Can you prevent coffee from losing flavor without it being too hot or cold?
Fortunately, yes! Our collection of tips below will help you enjoy your coffee for a long time without having to reheat it now and then.
Here they are:
Thick Fabric
Thermal insulation is one of the best and simplest ways to keep coffee hot without it losing its flavor.
You don’t need expensive tools for this. A scarf, jacket, coat, or any other thick piece of fabric can do the trick and comes especially handy when you’re out camping or hiking.
Wrap your coffee mug with the insulating fabric till you’re ready to drink it, and enjoy a fairly hot cup of coffee even after an hour or so. Note that the insulation provided with fabric is not powerful enough to keep your coffee hot for hours at a time, only within an hour or so.
Thermos
If you don’t mind shelling out a bit to keep your coffee hot for hours, a thermos is a good investment.
Thermoses are made with insulating materials like stainless steel and silicone with double-walled construction and tightly sealed lids. They help retain the temperature of the beverage inside them for hours. Some are of such superior quality that they can keep coffee and other drinks hot for more than a day.
Get a small thermos that’s just right to accommodate your usual coffee serving and light enough to carry around. This way, it will be easy to keep your thermos close to you when you’re traveling, camping, or driving.
Travel Mug
An insulated travel mug with a reusable lid is a great way to keep coffee hot for hours. This will help you retain the temperature, flavors, and aroma of your favorite brew even when you’re on the go.
You can keep the travel mug in your car’s cup holder or your bag’s water bottle pocket, or even on your office desk. Just make sure that it comes with a lid, or find one that fits the mouth of the mug to prevent spilling and leakage.
Cup Sleeve
If you thought a cup sleeve or coffee sleeve was only meant for protecting your hands from scalding while holding a piping-hot cup of coffee, think again.
Using a cup sleeve is also a common and relatively inexpensive way of keeping coffee hot. You can easily buy them online or at your local cafe or store and use them to keep coffee warm for extended periods.
You can get it in paper, silicone, fabric, and knitted options with many eye-catching designs to make your daily cup of joe more suited to your style.
Electric Cup Warmer
A cup warmer is another excellent tool you can invest in if you want to keep your cup of coffee hot and delicious throughout the day.
Using gear to keep your coffee hot may feel like an indulgence, but it sure is a practical way to warm your cup without ruining its flavor.
An electronic or digital cup warmer can be easily plugged in anywhere you have a USB outlet, whether you need it in your kitchen, office desk, or even your car.
Digital Mug
A digital mug or smart mug is a new-age invention that is a boon for coffee lovers! It will help keep your brew at the temperature you want for hours.
Ember mug is a popular digital mug that uses a mobile app to control the temperature of the brew for as long as you want. Its durable battery helps to retain the temperature and flavor for hours. It switches off automatically once you empty your mug and turns back on when you fill it again.
High-quality digital mugs can be costly, but if you want a reliable, futuristic tool to keep your coffee hot, they are surely worthy investments.
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Mini Immersion Heater
A mini immersion heater is an affordable and useful tool that you can use to warm your coffee instantly. Put the wand in your cup of joe and plug the device into a socket. You’ll get a piping-hot cup of coffee within seconds.
What’s more, mini immersion heaters are, as the name implies, small enough to travel with, so you can keep one in your car or office drawer to heat your coffee any time.
Preheating
Preheating a coffee mug or carafe is a handy trick used by coffee drinkers to keep their brew hot for longer and bring out all its wonderful flavors.
To preheat your coffee mug, fill it with boiling water and let it sit for a minute. This allows the heat to spread throughout the mug. Once the water cools down, discard it and pour in your freshly brewed coffee.
You can also use this preheating trick with all the tools and equipment that you use to brew your coffee in, whether it’s your carafe, decanter, spoons, everything.
Also Read: – Best Cezve For Perfect Turkish Coffee
What Not To Do When Keeping Coffee Hot
So, we’ve covered all the tips and tricks you need to keep coffee hot.
But what should you not do? Here’s a list of the common mistakes people make when trying to keep their brew hot:
Microwave
While it’s incredibly convenient to microwave everything that needs reheating and you may want to do the same with coffee that’s gone cold, zapping your brew in the microwave is a bad idea.
Reheating coffee changes its chemical composition and ruins its flavors. It makes the bitter compounds of the coffee more distinct, making your brew taste burnt.
Also, as a microwave uses radiation for heating, it may end up heating your coffee unevenly, making it hot on top but cold at the bottom.
French Press
Does keeping coffee in your French press make it go bad? Yes. While you may think that your brewed coffee may be safe in a French press, it is a recipe for disaster.
The French press will over-extract the flavors of coffee and make it taste dry, flat, and even bitter.
Candle Warmer
The base of a candle warmer may seem like the right fit for your cup of coffee and make you want to reheat your brew in it. But a candle warmer is only meant for what its name implies: to warm your scented candle and nothing else.
You can’t control the temperature of a candle warmer, so using it to heat your coffee will take it from ice cold to scalding hot rather quickly.
This will not only burn your mouth but also over-extract your coffee’s flavors and make it taste bitter and burnt.
Hot Plate
A hot plate will do the same thing as a candle warmer: Since it uses direct heat, it will quickly heat up at a temperature that’s much too high for heating coffee, thereby over-extracting its flavors and giving it a flat and bitter taste.
Conclusion
Keeping coffee hot may seem like a daunting task, but with the help of our quick and easy tips and tools above, you can learn to do it like a pro!
You can also avoid the bitter, burnt taste many get after carelessly reheating their coffee.
If you tried any of the tips above, tell us what you thought about them. This is also by no means an exhaustive list.
So if you find any other tips and tricks on how to keep coffee hot that are worth sharing or have a few of your own ideas up your sleeve, don’t forget to share them with us. We’d love to hear from you!
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Last Updated on March 1, 2022 by Ashok Parmar
