We’ve all faced the same problem: Leave your coffee unattended, and it gets cold. As long as you’re looking at it, it’s still steaming but, look away for one second, and it will get cold.
Luckily for all of us, there are plenty of ways for us to keep our coffee at the best temperature. Keeping it hot is essential because the heat is what lets coffee release all of the aromas that it keeps dormant, and the aroma is more than half of the flavor.
Here are some ways for you to keep coffee hot:
1. Use a Cup Sleeve
Cup sleeves serve two practical functions: they help secure a firm grip on your cup, and they keep heat from escaping elsewhere. This is a simple, inexpensive way to keep coffee warm. There are several types of cup sleeves:
Paper sleeves: These are the ones used by most commercial coffee shops. They’re cheap, disposable, and they do the work.
The problem with paper sleeves is that they are often bad quality and fall apart very easily. They’re also bad for the environment, and once you get them wet, it’s game over for them; they’re not very reusable.
2. Use a Mug Warmer
Mug warmers are an electric solution to your problems. It irradiates temperature to keep your coffee at a desirable temperature.
Typical warmers need to be plugged in for them to work. However, there are cordless warmers which are more suitable for a work desk. Keep in mind that most cordless warmers can’t afford to use as much electricity, so they can’t go past a specific temperature.
The Nomodo Trio is one of the most innovative mug warmers we’ve seen yet. They have created a warmer with space next to it for wireless charging, so you keep your phone charging and your coffee hot. Not content with that, they’ve also created a cooling plate, so your iced coffee stays cool, thus creating the trio.
3. Temperature Controlled Mugs
An idea that gets its essence from mug warmers, temperature-controlled mugs are self-sufficient, modern, and just the perfect solution to all of our problems (if only their battery lasted forever).
You have the Ember Mug, which looks like a simple coffee mug except you can control its temperature via your smartphone. It can run all day when placed on its coaster but has a battery life of one hour- meaning you can take your coffee with you while you do stuff and it will not lose temperature for some time (who takes one hour to drink a cup of coffee?).
If you want raw power, there is the Cauldryn Mug. This futuristic-looking travel mug will keep your coffee at your desired temperature for hours. This makes it ideal for long road trips or to go camping. The Cauldryn mug can even boil water without having to be plugged in, which is pretty impressive.
4. Get a Thermos
Thermos might be a bit outdated, but we cannot overlook the amount of engineering that has gone towards them. They have been designed not only for keeping your drink hot –or cold- for many hours without any external help, but they’re also efficient: They’re made of resistant materials, the lid can function as a cup, and some come with features such as a handle, making it easier to carry heavier thermoses.
Double-walled, vacuum thermoses are the ones that retain temperature the better. These can keep drinks hot for up to 10, 20 hours and they work even better for cold temperatures, usually keeping them cold for double that amount of time. Thermoses make the best option for camping trips. If you take your Hario V60 and bring your thermos full of water, you can have freshly brewed coffee anywhere you want to. Win-win.
5. On-the-Go Warmer
If you spend a lot of time commuting, then you’ve got to know about car coffee warmers.
While some are simple, like a plug-in warmer where you put your travel mug in to keep it heated, that are also some serious solutions to the problem, enter the Puncia 12V, a travel mug with digital display to set the temperature.
The Puncia will support higher temperatures than regular car warmers while also letting you know the exact temperature via its display. It is made from high-quality material, which means it’ll last longer than others of its kind.
One huge plus for the Puncia is that the lid is designed to be opened and closed easily with just one hand- meaning that you can open, take a sip and then close it while you’re driving: this makes for a level of safety that goes beyond what a portable coffee cup could ever offer.
Be sure to check out our piece “5 of the Best Coffee Thermoses For Hot Coffee” to see our list of best thermoses for your coffee.
6. Travel Mugs
Since we’re talking about portability, we couldn’t leave good old travel mugs out of the conversation.
Travel mugs are smaller, more portable thermoses. The selling point for these mugs is that, while using a thermos is more for specific occasions like camping and outdoor events in general, travel mugs can be used anywhere, anytime you want.
They are more portable, more personal, and more practical than a regular thermos. This makes them much more popular than a thermos; go into any college classroom. There is no way that you won’t see at least a couple of these around.
7. Immersion Coffee Heater
The immersion heater works by putting the metal piece into your cup, wholly submerged in whichever liquid you want to heat up. An electrical current goes through the metal, making it heat up rapidly.
While this is a valid method, we don’t recommend it for coffee. It can go too hot, which will burn your coffee, and it is much too invasive for us. We would not let our coffee come in contact with anything, so as not to compromise the taste.
However, the immersion heater is a great way to keep milk/creamer hot, which is also very important to stay warm, so you don’t lose foam quality.
Keeping your coffee warm during the cold weather can be rough, check out our piece on “Winter Coffee Drinks That Are Perfect in The Cold” to see the best drinks you can brew up this Winter.
8. Thermal Carafe
A more recent invention, some of the best coffee machine manufacturers out there are making machines that brew coffee directly into a thermal carafe. Coffee (and any liquid) changes temperature each time it is poured because the container in which it is poured will inevitably have a lower temperature than the coffee.
A thermal carafe means that no temperature is lost while brewing, which also keeps the aroma at its peak until you pour your coffee, a feat that can only be achieved by brewing coffee directly into your cup.
While there are many options out there, Ninja is one of our favorite brands for anything coffee-related. Some of their best machines with thermal carafes are the Ninja Specialty Coffee Maker (CM407), and the Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System (CP307). Be sure you get the stainless steel carafe because they have a glass carafe option which does not conserve temperature as well as steel.
Day to Day Things to Do to Keep Your Coffee Hot
1. Use good material
If you’re drinking out of a thin plastic cup, you can’t expect your coffee to stay warm for long. The thicker the material, the better. Plastic and steel are good at keeping heat trapped. Ceramic is also a good option, although it is very fragile and not as recommended.
2. Heat your coffee mug
This is a regular practice in many coffee shops: Coffee cups are left on top of the espresso machine, which can get hot, which makes the coffee cup itself very hot.
To do this at home, boil some water and rinse your coffee cup or mug thoroughly so that it is hot before you pour yourself some coffee. This will make it keep warm for longer.
You can even go the extra mile with this and heat your decanter/French press/carafe before brewing coffee.
Some people heat plates or saucers, but we don’t recommend that. The risk of burning your fingers and dropping your coffee is too high, and if there is one thing we can’t stand is letting coffee go to waste.
If you’re using porcelain, you can also microwave your cup or mug for a few seconds before pouring coffee in it.
3. Don’t pour coffee if you’re not going to drink it right away
This might seem a little obvious, but it’s something we all do: We pour ourselves a cup of coffee while we’re doing something else, and by the time we remember about it, the coffee’s already gone cold.
The simple and most obvious solution is always the one you need to say out loud: Don’t pour yourself coffee unless you have the time to drink it. Wasting coffee is not only bad for your pocket, but you also have to think about all the people that made it possible for you to be drinking that cup of delicious bean juice that makes your day better. They deserve better than letting your coffee go cold and throwing away to have some hot coffee instead.
Don’t miss out on “Ultimate Home Brew Set Up” to see exactly all the things you need to have the ultimate set up for your home brewing.
Lastly, a warning: Don’t microwave coffee. It makes coffee lose almost all of its aromatic qualities, and it will heat mostly the surface of your coffee. It’s the worst thing you could do to your coffee. And it can pick up the taste of whatever you’ve microwaved before.
Thank you for reading with us today! Be sure to check out related articles like “7 Teas That Taste Just Like Coffee” or “Can You Freeze Brewed Coffee?” and stay warm this upcoming Winter season.
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We’ll brew ya later! ☕️
