What's the Best Way to Reheat Coffee?
We buy Keurigs so we can have our coffee STAT. We text people so we don’t have to call them. We buy cars so we don’t have to walk—and we buy microwaves so we can heat things up quickly. That’s right, we basically suck the life out of everything by taking the easy way out.
If all that is true, then when it comes to your coffee, you might be wondering why you can’t just throw it in the microwave too—saves time, super easy, not wasteful, right? Well, technically you can pop that cup in the microwave for a quick warm-up, but you might just be sacrificing everything you want in that hot, flavorful, bold, smooth brew.
Reheating your coffee in the microwave eliminates any of the aromas that are left from when your coffee was first brewed. We’re not just talking about the smell of the coffee—we’re also talking about the flavor. The coffee aroma is what gives your cup of coffee the flavor you crave every morning. Those notes of dark chocolate and black cherry, carefully roasted and brewed to a deep, never-bitter perfection—gone. The microwave zaps the flavor of your coffee by breaking down the aromas, killing the flavor and leaving you with a coffee that tastes anything but fresh-to-death. You might as well go to your local drive-thru if you want a stale cup.
What is the Best Way to Reheat my Coffee?
There is only one way to reheat your coffee—the right way. It might not be as easy as throwing your cup of coffee in the microwave, but it’s still easy. The best way to reheat your coffee is by heating it up on the stovetop at a low temperature. All you need is a pot and your lukewarm coffee.
Easy Steps to Reheat Coffee
- Fill a small pot with the cold (or lukewarm) coffee.
- Place it on the stove and set the heat to low or medium heat.
- Remove coffee from heat once it heats up.
- Pour hot coffee from pot into your mug of choice.
Although you might be tempted to crank up the heat to accelerate the flavor, you’ll just be doing your taste buds a disservice. By keeping your cup of joe on low heat, you won’t need to hover over it or stir the flavors out with a spoon. If you try to heat it up at a high temperature, you may risk burning the pot or frying away all the flavor. Make sure you keep the temperature at low because the only thing that tastes worse than cold coffee is burnt coffee.
Desperate times may call for desperate measures once in a while. Life’s bound to happen. But if you’re truly looking to enjoy the best-tasting, hottest and strongest cup of coffee, then keep it out of the microwave. You’ll be doing yourself—and your taste buds a favor.
[Featured Image Credit: Lucas George Wendt via Unsplash]
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