How many times have you made an excellent brew but had to keep it in the fridge because life got in the way? I’ve done that way too many times. That’s when you begin asking that question.
Can you reheat coffee the next day? Yes, you can reheat your day old coffee if you have stored it in the fridge in an airtight container. If you have left it open, then reheating the coffee will make it taste bad and it would have lost all its flavor. If you have left it overnight outside the fridge, then there is no point reheating it as it would have gone bad.
Can You Refrigerate Coffee and Reheat It The Next Day?
You can refrigerate your brewed coffee and reheat it. Your coffee will not go bad and it is safe to do so.
But should you do it?
Our answer is no.
Your coffee loses most of its flavor after 30 minutes after brewing it. This is due to a process called oxidation. The air reacts with your coffee and deteriorates its flavor at a rapid pace.
When you store your cup of coffee in the fridge, the same thing happens. So overnight, your brewed coffee would have lost all its flavor and sometimes it can even build up a bitter taste to it.
When you take that coffee out and reheat it, you just make it so much worse. The coffee gets bitter and sometimes you end up with a sour, gross drink. It doesn’t matter if you reheat it on a stove or in your microwave, reheating coffee is a crime.
Now, if you must reheat your coffee, you can do so by reheating it on a stovetop at a low temperature. This will save some flavor and will give to something to enjoy.
Do not use the microwave to reheat your coffee as it can breakdown the flavors a lot faster and you won’t like the result.
For best results, when you keep your coffee in the fridge overnight, make sure to close the container with an airtight lid. This won’t allow oxygen to react with your coffee and it will retain its flavors nicely. You can reheat it at a low temperature for the best results.
Having said that, you can reheat certain types of coffee without any issues. For example, a cold brew can be reheated using the right method. Can you heat a cold brew coffee? Of course, you can. Click the link to learn how.
Is It OK To Heat up Day Old Coffee?
No, it is not okay to heat your day old coffee. As your coffee gets older, it loses all the good things in it. The flavor you love goes away just 30 minutes after you brew your coffee.
When you leave your coffee outside overnight, we’re positive that it has gone bad unless it is black coffee or a cold brew coffee.
If you leave it in the fridge without closing the cup, oxidation happens and takes all the remaining flavors from your coffee. You are left with a bland liquid.
By reheating that bland liquid, you will make it bitter by converting the chlorogenic acid present in it to quinic acid and caffeic acid. These two acids will make your brewed coffee taste a lot more bitter than it should.
You should also avoid reheating coffee with creamer or milk that has been sitting in the fridge overnight. Especially, if it was left open. Bacteria love coffee and they do it so much more if there is milk or creamer in it. Reheating this coffee will make it go bad so soon.
Does Reheating Coffee Destroy Caffeine?
Reheating your coffee will not affect its caffeine content in any way. Caffeine is a very stable compound and it stays that way even when you reheat. The only issue with reheating is how the other compounds in your cup of joe would react.
As we said earlier, the phenolic compounds present in your coffee will react with air and make it sour and in many cases bitter. The only way reheating works is when you store your coffee overnight in an airtight container.
Is Reheating Day Old Coffee Bad? Can Reheated Coffee Make You Sick?
No, reheating coffee is not bad for your health and can’t make you sick. You don’t reheat coffee because it will taste a lot worse. The compounds in coffee will breakdown making it unusually bitter.
The only way reheating coffee impacts your health is by not giving you the health benefits of coffee. We know that a nice cup of coffee comes with antioxidants and other goodies. Reheating your coffee or just brewing your coffee longer than you should deny you these health benefits.
Can You Reheat Coffee The Next Day? – Wrap Up
That’s all we have for this post. We hope you’re clear about this topic.
If you didn’t have time to read the entire thing and came straight to the conclusion, here’s what you need to know.
Reheating coffee the next day will significantly affect its taste and you will lose everything good about it. It is not necessarily bad for your health, but it will taste bitter to your taste buds.
However, you can reheat your leftover coffee if you had stored it in the fridge inside an airtight container. You can also reheat certain kinds of coffee like a cold brew coffee without losing flavor.
One way to avoid all these problems is by opting for a nice cup of iced coffee that is made from the best coffee beans.