The ideal temperature at which water can extract the best flavors from ground coffee is 200 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’ve ever tried to drink something at that temperature you will know that it burns the ever-living crap out of your tongue. Temporarily destroying some of your taste buds for a few days is the normal price to pay for getting overzealous in your search for caffeine.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have coffee which drops in temperature in a matter of minutes, completely destroying the capacity for enjoyment when the temperature of the coffee is only barely warmer than the body temperature of 98.6 degrees. A span of 100 degrees Fahrenheit is nothing to sneeze at when it comes to the ideal serving temperature of the coffee. America’s favorite beverage has an ideal serving range of about 10 degrees between 135-145 degrees Fahrenheit. The trick here really comes down to how do you keep it at that ideal temperature?
You could just keep adding a half cup or so of your piping hot coffee to your cup every 30-45 min in order to warm-up your morning cup of joe throughout the morning. You could also invest in large stainless-steel coffee beans which are used to regulate the temperature of your coffee by re-distributing the energy generated in the initial brewing from 200-degree water.
The most prudent solution I believe is the Ember coffee mug. A travel mug obsessively designed by mechanical engineers who desperately wanted to enjoy their coffee from home clear up until lunch but could never find a way to keep it warm without endlessly microwaving it in a paper cup. Destroying the original extracted flavor of their favorite grind.
You’ll wonder how you ever lived without it once you give it a real try. Welcome to coffee service perfection!
