Almost everyone loves hot coffee, right? Iced coffees could also be said to be delicious but when hot coffee gets cold, something is not right. This prompted us to ask the question of whether or not coffees can be reheated without getting it ruined.
Those who are a coffee connoisseur who prefers it expertly made will most likely not like the idea but for others who do not mind, coffee can be reheated and the best method to use is to do it slowly as well as steady inside your pot on a stove.
We are not going to argue that the best is to take it fresh, but at times, you might want it quick and also easy. We will check out in this guide how coffee can be reheated by considering the different brew types that can be made using different methods.
The Best Way to Reheat Coffee
There are things you need to be aware of before you proceed to reheat the coffee that helps in caffeinating you. It is considered that how each of the coffee beans is roasted determines the flavor because all chemicals contained inside react when you heat it. The flavor is majorly fixed when you brew your coffee but reheating the coffee will only lead to reaction and later change the flavor. Some people find it difficult to notice it while others do not fancy it at all.
The coffee’s heavenly taste will also be noticed to have almost disappeared because the aroma would have also been lost. You should also try to consider your safety and health, you can proceed to reheat your coffee if it has gone cold as you take it in the morning, but if it is a coffee that you have allowed to stay overnight, you might need to throw it away because bacteria would have grown on it.
Ideal Temperature of Coffee
The tastes of your coffee will also be determined by the temperature that you are drinking it because it determines how fast or slow the flavor has been extracted from the coffee beans. You will get a bitter taste if your coffee is allowed too hot and the one that you have allowed to cool too much will have associated with it a less-bodied flat flavor and it is also what you will get if your water has not been allowed hot enough.
Most of the coffee shops that we have around make their coffee have a temperature between 180°F and 185°F, those that will drink it however wait until it cools to around 150°F. The best thing when making coffee of your choice at home is to allow the water to boil but leave it between 5 and 10 minutes for it to cool before you use it to make the coffee. Using your coffee maker will help get this done.
Before you heat, add a bit of salt into the cup as there is a theory that the salt added will help to reinvigorate the compounds of caffeine so that the bitterness will be tempered and the flavor will be enhanced.
Reheating your Coffee in the Microwave
You might not be patient enough to slowly reheat your coffee on a stovetop and you might want to try a microwave. You should be aware of how you can adjust the microwave’s heat settings and that will make you reheat the coffee under medium heat for about a minute or perhaps less. It will vary according to how cold the coffee is as well as how hot you want it to be.
Begin to reheat at 20 seconds each and continue to check if the temperature is not certain to you. If you still need more time, add 20 more seconds and continue to do that until it is perfect for you. Don’t forget to pour the coffee inside a microwavable mug before you microwave.
Can You Reheat your Coffee in the Convection Oven?
You can also reheat your coffee inside the convection oven as it has been used as an alternative to microwaves in several homes. This is, however, not a convenient method. The convection oven will leave your mug hot when you want to remove the mug of coffee from it. What you need to do is to reheat the coffee slowly and nice as discussed and then use hand protection to remove your cup before you pour it inside another cup that your hand can handle.
Reheat your Coffee on a Stovetop
The best method to use to reheat coffee if you want to keep the flavor protected is to use a stove to heat it so that you can get the temperature better controlled. When you slowly heat it, the reactions of the chemicals that will help the flavor to change will be less intense and it will also prevent your coffee from getting burnt. Put the cold coffee inside your small pot before you heat it under low-medium heat till it begins to steam (not boil), then pour your coffee back to the cup to have a nice time.
Heating Starbucks Coffee
It has been discouraged to reheat Starbucks coffee cups because of the following two reasons:
- The cups are not microwave-safe because they have contained in them inner lining that is very thin.
- They can’t stand behind reheated coffee’s quality.
If you decide to reheat Starbucks coffee, first transfer the coffee into a microwavable mug and then reheat it using the outlined method above.
Can You Reheat Bulletproof Coffee?
Bulletproof coffee can be reheated. Using the method of stovetop is the ideal thing to do because the MCT oil and butter could cause the coffee to mess up a microwave. Use a very small pot before you whisk and then heat the bulletproof under medium heat that you will need to reintegrate the water with the oil.
Can You Heat Cold Brew Coffee?
Ice coffee is quite different from cold brew coffee and it means you can heat your cold brew coffee. Iced coffee can simply be considered to be any coffee brewed traditionally and then pour on ice to become cold. You can make cold brew coffee by coarsely steeping coffee beans at room temperature for a long time like 12 hours. You will get a coffee drink of high concentration. You can heat cold brew coffee in two delicious and common ways:
- Begin by warming your mug as you pour into it a bit of boiling water, swirling the water around before you pour away. Fill the cup with your cold brew halfway and then pour boiling water that has been left to sit for five minutes.
- Allow your mug to pre-warm, fill the cup with your cold brew halfway and top it with some steamed milk. You will need to drink immediately if you want to enjoy it because the coffee will not be as hot as it should be and it will not remain warm for a long time just like using boiling water.
Reheating your Coffee with Sugar, Cream, Milk, and some Other Additives
In case you have added sugar and cream or other kinds of flavoring to the coffee, you have to be careful of how you warm it again. Dairy becomes scalds quite easily most especially when sugar is also involved which makes it equally to be at risk of being curdled. It will become a disaster if you heat it too quickly and that means you need to take into consideration the medium or low heat rule. Ensure that the coffee has not been out for a long time because dairy and some other of its products will most likely quickly go off than the black variety.
Is Reheating Coffee in a Coffee Maker Okay?
It is not ideal to reheat your coffee inside a coffee maker. A coffee maker has its designs to help keep the coffee warm but putting the coffee back inside the canister will likely scald the coffee at the bottom and might ruin the pot and eventually ruin the coffee’s flavor.
Its heating plate has been designed to help maintain warmth and not create warmth. It will not be hot enough to get the heat transferred throughout the entire pot but only warm the layer at the bottom that will likely damage it.
Alternative Solution to Reheating Coffee
You can drink your coffee cold, proper cold by adding some ice into the come and pour the brewed on it.
Related Questions
Do coffee mug warmers work?
Your coffee mug warmer will work similarly as the burner of your coffee maker and they help to conduct heat inside of any container that is on it. Cold coffee will necessarily not be reheated but the coffee and the mug will be kept warmer for a longer time.
Does reheating coffee destroy caffeine?
Several opinions concerning this are conflicting. Normally heat often damages nutrition. The majority agree that the caffeine will not be affected when you reheat your coffee though there are self-proclaimed coffee aficionados that seem to differ.
Is it bad to reheat coffee?
This depends on your definition of what you mean by “bad”. It also depends on how discerning the coffee palate is. If you are not careful enough, the coffee may burn by reheating it. Once it is not up to 12 hours, you can safely drink it except you are sensitive to caffeine.
