Do yesterday’s leftovers make the morning brew?
Have you ever wondered if you can enjoy the morning coffee by use of yesterday’s leftovers? It’s certainly possible, yet often the quality of the brew can surprisingly decrease. The acidic and slightly sweet flavour of a fresh cup of coffee often doesn’t compare well to a day-old brew. The faint taste of sourness is hard to ignore.
Coffee is one of the most widely enjoyed beverages in the world. It is filled with antioxidants, caffeine, and health benefits. Yet, like all food products, coffee doesn’t last forever. Nevertheless, people will often forget to finish that pot of coffee they made the day before.
According to experts, the best way to enjoy your coffee is to have it freshly brewed. Brewed coffee is only able to be enjoyed at it’s peak for the first 10-20 minutes after the brewing process is complete. That said, often times, repeatedly reheating the same pot of coffee from the day before could even start to become more bitter, sour, and acidic.
Despite clear evidence from experts that to gain the most from that morning pot of joe you should make fresh, some people will still drink the same pot of coffee from the day before. It could be that with a rushed morning this is seen as the easiest and quickest option to the day or you could be trying to stretch the morning out by not having to make a full brew.
In any case, it may not be the ideal choice to make but it sure is possible. One way to save your day old coffee is to blend it with milk, as milk can mask the unpleasant taste. Whipping a hot cup of milk with day old cold brew creates the perfect mix of slightly hot and slightly cold temperature of coffee.
Another option is to add sugar to the pot of day old coffee, as sugar can help to sweeten the taste. Adding sugar and milk to a pot of day old coffee, can improve the taste of the coffee, making it more palatable for for some people.
What this does mean is that you can enjoy those leftovers from the day before. However, what it does also mean is that it may not be the same quality of coffee that you would make fresh. So, with this in mind, it’s important to remember that keeping to your daily coffee ritual is best for optimal taste and enjoyment.
What are the health effects?
One of the key health effects of drinking yesterday’s coffee is that it doesn’t have the same level of antioxidants. Antioxidants provide numerous health benefits, and can help to reduce your risk of chronic diseases, like cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and melcalinia, amongst others.
Particularly, antioxidants help to get rid of harmful substances that are known as ‘free radicals’ which can damage cells in our body. The best way to benefit from antioxidants, according to experts, is to consume fresh coffee as it contains an antioxidant called Zingibrin, which is known to reduce inflammation.
It is for this reason that drinking yesterday’s coffee, which is not as fresh, does not provide you with the same health benefits of freshly brewed coffee. Although it is unlikely to cause any harm, drinking day old coffee may not provide you with the same amount of antioxidants, and as such, your body may not receive the same health benefits from it.
It is also possible that day old coffee may contain bacteria that can be harmful if consumed. This is because coffee is typically a warm and moist environment, which makes it an ideal breeding ground for bacteria to grow. Therefore, day old coffee is more likely to be contaminated and consuming it can increase the risk of food poisoning or illnesses.
How to preserve your coffee?
To avoid this, it is important to understand the correct way to store coffee to keep it safe and preserve the flavour. The length of time coffee can be kept depends largely on its packaging. For example, if your coffee is pre-packaged for retail, then it can last up to a year. However, if you purchase unroasted, green beans, the shelf life will be much shorter.
When it comes to storing brewed coffee from the day before then the rules change somewhat. The ideal way to store it is to keep it in an air-tight container that is stored in a cool and dry environment. However, although this will slow down the process of oxidation, it will not completely stop it. Therefore, it is best to consume the coffee the same day it is made, as it will have the best flavour.
Additionally, brewed coffee should not be kept in the refrigerator, as this can create a build up of condensation, which can spoil the flavour and make the coffee taste sour.
Quality vs Quantity
A fresh brew of coffee can provide us with so many health benefits that simply cannot be found elsewhere. It just cannot be replaced. Although drinking day old coffee may be convenient, it does not provide the same level of taste, quality or health benefits that a freshly brewed cup can provide.
Quality is often better than quantity, and in this case, if you’re looking for the full flavour of coffee, then it is certainly better to make a fresh pot. That said, it is possible to drink the same pot of coffee from the day before if need be.
Environmental Impact
The environmental impact of producing coffee can be considerable. When beans are processed and roasted a lot of energy is required as well as chemical products for the cleaning process. The actual production of the coffee then has to be taken into account, including the additives that are used and the packaging used to store the coffee.
In this way, the process of brewing coffee has an impact on the environment. Reusing a pot of coffee from the day before reduces the amount of energy used in the production process and therefore reducing its environmental impact.
The key takeaway from this news is that you can definitely drink the same pot of coffee from the day before, but it may not have the same quality or health benefits that a freshly brewed coffee can offer.
Brewing Fresh
If you really want to make the most of your coffee experience, it would be wise to brew it fresh. Many people have since become more educated on the brewing process, and are brewing their own coffee using their own coffee machines or the classic french-press.
This can provide you with a number of benefits, including having greater access to freshly roasted coffee beans from all over the world, as well as being able to experiment with different types of brewing methods.
Brewing your own also reduces your environmental impact as you do not buy pre-packaged, instant coffee that uses a lot of packaging and energy in its production. Furthermore, it is far more cost effective to brew your own coffee as opposed to buying a daily coffee in a shop.
Making your own coffee gives you the opportunity to experiment and find the perfect combination of coffee beans, milk, sugar, spices, and all other ingredients to make the perfect cup of coffee. Therefore, for the full coffee experience, it would be best to brew your own.
Pros and Cons
With this in mind, obviously there are pros and cons to drinking yesterday’s coffee.
On the plus side, drinking yesterday’s coffee can be quick and convenient, meaning it can save time for those who are in a hurry. It can also be cost effective.
On the downside, drinking yesterday’s coffee can often taste burnt and stale and it can also lack the health benefits that a freshly brewed coffee has.
Ultimately, coffee is a personal preference, so it is important to understand your likes and dislikes and make sure that you are always drinking the best quality coffee.
