When you sit down with you favorite coffee mug, is it standing in the way of the best tasting cup? Most of us don’t think about what we’re drinking out of, but rather just the coffee itself. To help you make the most of your coffee drinking days, here are some tips to make sure each cup tastes as good as it should.
– Use a porcelain coffee mug – These are the best of the best in terms of allowing your coffee to taste as good as it could. Because it’s not porous, it holds the warmth for longer which preserves the flavor. These mugs are also reusable so they’re environmentally friendly too. They’re easy to find in any store and can even be picked up at a thrift store for pennies.
– Avoid plastic, paper, and Styrofoam coffee cups – Each of these cups can add the flavor of their materials to your cup of coffee, altering the taste. While you might not realize it at first, the flavor is slowly eroded by these kinds of cups. Even worse, there is some debate as to whether these cups will release some of their more toxic ingredients into your coffee because of the high temperature of the water as it sits in the cup.
– Wash your coffee mug regularly – We all know that you can get rings around your coffee cup if you don’t wash it out regularly, but this also affects the taste. The oils in the coffee can adhere to the sides of your cup and then be deposited into your next cup. Instead, be sure to scrub out your coffee mug with hot water and soap each day. If you forget and can’t seem to remove a coffee stain ring, use a little vinegar in warm water and let the cup sit for an hour or so. Rinse the cup out and then wash with warm soapy water. The ring will be gone and your flavor will be back.
– Use a stainless steel travel mug – Because stainless steel is not porous and holds heat well, these are the best mugs to use for travel. While porcelain is best, the stainless steel mugs don’t seem to remove any of the flavors of a freshly brewed cup of coffee. These do need to be rinsed before you use them to prevent any metallic taste in the first cup.
In answer to the question of whether a coffee cup can affect the taste of your coffee, only your taste buds can decide. Some people are more sensitive than others while others can’t even tell the difference. But if you’re looking for the purest flavor you can get, try some of these tips to see if you notice a difference.
46 Comments
My grudge against stainless steel containers came, I think, from my s.s. thermos, where, after a few hours, the coffee would taste burnt, bitter and barely coffee-like at all. I was just reading the Corelle website and it’s glass of some sort, which would be the least chemically active of any container–like lab glassware.
I have not seen glass-lined thermos liners in stainless steel mugs. Starbucks for a while had ceramic mugs with steel cladding outside, which worked very well for both taste and heat retention, but I guess it’s hard work to make all that stick together. I have to repeat my confession up above that now I can take an hour drinking my coffee, with cream, out of my s.s. mug and not notice any deterioration in taste.
I find my Corelle cups have a strange aroma. I don’t know if this makes sense but I find them to smell chalky and dry. I wish I could come up with better terms because chalky and dry aren’t really aromatic qualities. Christopher- I agree about scum buildup. Doesn’t your stainless mug use a glass vacuum bottle inside (w reflective coating on outside later of glass) so coffee only touches glass?
And I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the bad flavor from the vacuum bottle results from coffee scum building up in there. It’s hard to wash a “thermos” bottle. If the vessel smells like coffee, it’s not clean. But I’m generally sure that steel reacts with coffee more than ceramic–but “generally” doesn’t get you to Cleveland.
I started this line with my denunciation of stainless steel cups in 2008. I reread the article and it said the steel apparently doesn’t react with the coffee. I have to agree. No substitute for experience. My stainless steel mug, which I’ve had for years, and which I changed back to after years of ceramic mugs, keeps coffee hotter longer and it doens’t seem to affect the taste. I formed my opinion from my stainless steel vacuum bottle. Seven hours in there leads to serious flavor deterioration. But an hour or so doesn’t. So I apologize for arguing beyond my facts.
Any second-hand shop will be full of mugs. I’ve been using a 10-ounce cobalt glass mug for as long as I can remember. I reckon I’ll keep using it until I’m called home.
Hey I’m brand new to this site – just curious what kinds of coffees others have found that you really enjoy. I’m a big fan of Peet’s and use their home delivery service now. What has anyone else here discovered worth checking out?
Christopher –
Thanks for the tip – local Starbucks didn’t have the tumbler so I ordered on line, looking forward to having hot, pure tasting coffee.
Hey I’m brand new to this site – just curious what kinds of coffees others have found that you really enjoy. I’m a big fan of Peet’s and use their home delivery service now. What has anyone else here discovered worth checking out?
High Wave makes all-ceramic travel mugs, over the internet. Starbucks has one now in shops, double-wall, 12 oz.
YES to Cal Watkins comments – thank you for the validation. I want a mug that will keep my coffee hot, but I don’t like my current stainless steel mug, because I can taste the metal. Does anyone know where I can actually buy a glass or ceramic lined travel mug, so I can enjoy hot coffee without affecting the taste.
Chinese stainless is notoriously poor quality. The case of my Gaggia Classic under the drip tray rusted out completely. It was alloyed without enough chromium to prevent rusting. Would it be far fetched to factor this in when evaluating stainless thermos bottles and cups? (My large HydroFlask was returned once for rusting. Their (free) replacement is also rusting.)
Ceramic is better because it does not react chemically with the coffee. The main idea, then, is that coffee is a chemical. I read the Aeropress instructions, and the two points there are the ten seconds of stirring, and the lower temperature (175 degrees, for less “acidity and bitterness”). One point against is the doubling of the normal amount of dry coffee used (four tablespoons for 10 ozs. instead of two; two scoops instead of one), but that is also applicable to Dunkin Donuts and perhaps for many coffee lovers. I.e., one way to make a cup of coffee have more coffee flavor is to use more coffee.
Thanks. Stir for ten seconds, which opens to the general point of longer dwell time of contact between grounds and hot water. Slightly cooler water.
Best cup of coffee bar none is from a little device called the Aeropress. It brews one expresso cup around 5oz at a time. and is alot better than the french press. Drink it from ceramic cups. Use bottled water and decent coffee. 25 dollars you will never go back to drip coffee. Thanks
A stoneware pottery mug. Definitely. Coffee is a personal experience if you use a quality handmade mug every morning.
Or what I wish would happen! I actually found a “double walled” ceramic cup shaped like a “to-go” cup – great idea – but – it had a lid made of a flexible silicone material – I could smell the silicone as I was drinking the coffee! Yuck. Also glass walled thermos coffee – I can taste some bitter taste also – maybe its the plastic lids used to seal the thermos….ahh tribulations of a coffee person… – I have used a bit of salt on the grounds before brewing also – I find it tends to smooth out the coffee..Usually only do this when making large urns of coffee for groups…
I may have said it above, but “eccentric” provoked me: I think many coffee-drinkers don’t know/like the taste of coffee. Like beer drinkers who don’t like the taste of beer.
If you’re paying attention, you’re by definition not eccentric. You’re centered on what’s happening.
As some of the previous commenters eluded to – a stainless steel type cup and/or pot definitely for some reason puts a metallic taste or effect to the coffee. Unfortunately Stainless steel vessels are the rage although some places are selling Ceramic mugs and travel mugs which is a great option – Unfortunately – again they miss the point by including them with plastic or silicone lids which add an unfortunate taste to a good coffee. I am surprised that more “experts” don’t notice this – especially the high end coffee experts…
I say only glass or ceramic should touch coffee at all….including the lids and pots and muggs…but I guess I am an eccentric minority….
the best cup of coffee when you open up the screwtop lid . out of a thermos vacuum sealed for several hours in the glass insulated chamber.but it has to be unwashed out and after several brewings dont wash it.just pour out whats left and put the lid back on. then the next day brew your coffee in it let it set for 2-3 hours. then you’l have the best cup.
That case might involve “hunger is the best cook”, where your taste buds were on double-overtime.
Another case, more likely, of the observer’s condition altering the observation has to do with putting salt in the coffee pot. My Swedish relatives in Nebraska did this. “Just tradition”? Lately I wonder if my running out of salt in my body (serious bicyclists get this, I got it from jogging in Iraq in 100 degree weather, it’s why they make Gatorade: electrlyte drinks) makes coffee taste bitter? Some days my coffee tastes bitter and other days it tastes great, when the process seemed identical. Why would salt (a basic flavor) affect bitterness (likewise)? No idea. Just suggesting a test: next time the coffee tastes bitter for no reason (no six hours in a steel thermos, e.g.), add a dash of salt and see what happens.
I just got back from a camping trip. I use an insulated french press. I made a cup for my daughter in a paper cup. It was one of the best cups of coffee I’ve had in a long time. My theory is the temp. and the seep time that causes the bitterness. I have made cups of coffee like this one before at home, but I cant replicate it on purpose.
Just be careful where your coffee mugs are made; referring to coffee mugs where a glaze has been used. Several countries around the the world do not practice the same safety standards as North America when it comes to lead safe glazes which are common place here.
Hence, the saying, “Wake up and smell the coffee.”
Thanks for sharing this interesting information. While some people can tell the difference between different mugs, I believe many people don ‘t notice it at all.
…not only the cup changes the taste but (and my wife says I’m nuts) I hate to have a metal spoon placed in my cup – I can tell.
Bought a coffee pot 2yrs ago that grinds the beans & then brews the coffee from the grounds all in the same pot. Tried several brands of coffee bean even ground coffee. It has a distinct oily & bitter taste. Every pot, every time no matter what I changed including the mug I drank it from. Used tap water, bottled water, pitcher filtered water, cleaned it out 5 times with vinegar…nothing changed. I hate to buy another coffee pot then get the same results. I have used this coffee pot about 10 times & it has sat for a year 1/2. Would it still be ok to use if cleaned well?
Disgusting chemical taste. Changed coffee (several brands) and still get chemical taste. Not everytime with every pot, one ever 6 to 10 pots or so…can’t figure it out. I have a Mr. Coffee purchased about 1 yr ago…made by sunbeam in China model FTX 41
Check what country your coffee pot was made…..Who knows what was used in the manufacturing of it? Its not the coffee its the pot.
I bought a new pot, disgusting chemical taste, changed coffee brands three times, still same disgusting taste and SMELL. I took pot back, bought another (different brand), sixty uses later the new pot still has a chemical taste, although not as bad.
It’s cause for concern, obviously leaching out of the material the coffee maker was made of.For all we know it may be deadly.
Maybe there’s some residue from the manufacturing process.
I ran across your site when trying to solve a recent problem with my coffee. My old coffeepot wore out and I had to replace it (same brand), but now I’m throwing my second cup down the drain and barely able to drink the first. My husband agrees. I’m using the same brand coffee and the same filter and we’ve always used a clear glass mug. My coffee with the old pot was to die for, but the new pot sucks! what could be different? They were both plastic with glass carafes, the only difference I can see is that the old one was black and the new is white. I remember giving a new Mr. Coffee away that had an aluminum basket, and aluminum taste, but that was probably 30 years ago. Metal will change the taste of coffee. But, coffee pots make a BIG difference in flavor too. I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s different about mine. Any help?
If you’re in a sour mood, your coffee will taste bitter and, indeed, sour. Mellowness test: if that coffee doesn’t taste good, and you did everything right in preparing it, you need to mellow down.
As the proud owner of over 300 coffee cups (under 15 are plastic or travel mugs) Ceramic works best, although I do have a heavy hand crafted stoneware mug that was made for me that I love to use!
Not only can the choice of cup or water change the flavor, but the type of spoon can be highly noticable. (Not to mention what type of container your creamer and/or sugar/sweetener is stored in)
Personally, I wash my cup out every morning, actually I rinse it in scalding water, and dry with one of my flour sack towels I was given by my Grandmother. NO soap every touches my cup, just as NO ONE is allowed to touch my cup to wash, drink out of it etc…
I collect coffee cups with logos or uniqueness to them, very few that I have consist of more that 2 alike.
Throughout my house, you will see a coffee cup on the wall, with a photo next to it, or above it.
That is the one thing I want when a loved one passes on. 23 yrs ago I got Daddy’s cup, just over a year ago, Mother’s cup. They hang together, but I have many other cups that have been brought to me willingly from the families of just friends I love. If I have a relationship with someone, there is coffee drinking between us….
The best tasting cup of coffee comes from being with someone you cherish, no matter what it is served in.
Sylvia,
I hope you’re joking about the Tasters Choice :P
Hmmm, well I swear if I don’t wash my travel mug (IDK what exactly it’s made of, but some kind of metal) after every use then the taste of old coffee gets stuck in there.
But it might be mind over matter, I mean I like to use the plastic cups you get iced coffee in from Starbucks at home for my coffee because I think it tastes best.
But it’s probably just because I like to sip from a Starbucks cup with a straw so I think it tastes better.
I tend to think all drinks taste better when in a clear cup, no matter what they’re made of.
I think my thermos is made from steel though, tastes like it.
I dunno, I swear there’s a metallic flavor in any steel container no matter how it’s been treated. Best bet is those glass or silver lined travel cups imho
OOPSIE, I goofed, I did mean Porcelain mug…sorry…….:((
Difinately Ceramic is the best…But not only the cup can change the taste of Tasters Choice coffee, but also the WATER you use to make the cup of coffee…Suggest you have your Water district check your sink water for additives, however its best to buy distilled clear water for coffee…Water does make all the difference in the world.
P.S. IF youv’e just brushed your teeth it will make a differece in taste also. buttttt I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE MY TASTERS CHOICE and wouldn’t drink any other!!!..
I’ve been drinking coffee since 15 or 16, and regularly since 20, at least 2 cups / mugs a day, I am 50 now. As long as I can remember, porcelain mug is the best so far. But lately, I bought a stainless mug (cup) with a cap. I can’t say it tastes “a lot better” than porcelain mug, but it’s different, and good, very good indeed. Remember cowboys used to drink from “can” or steel mug by the campfire ? It does look good !
I got my medical degree from “House” on Fox, which is way better than Johns Hopkins, so I suggest you check if you both, or all of you, have exactly the same bad taste, and then consider if there is something wrong with your tongues.
I run out of sodium sometimes and my body tells me this by giving me a salt taste on my tongue. I can have that taste on my tongue even though the food I eat in that low-sodium (flushed out by too much sweating, water, caffeine, fatigue,” and unreplaced due to too little sodium intake) state tastes flat, another way of my body telling me to eat salt which contradicts, seemingly, the evidence of the salt taste in my mouth.
But chemical taste is way worse than salt taste. They say in thriller novels that adrenaline has a metallic taste. Or is yours a carbon tetrachloride, dry-cleaners’ fluid, make-your-hair-fall-out, sort of taste?
Maybe there’s something in your living quarters that you only detect in drinking coffee made there. Try drinking coffee there you made somewhere else and try taking your home-brew coffee somewhere else to drink.
It is the great principle of modern faith that, if you eliminate all the impossible explanations, the remaining theory, no matter how unlikely, will explain the thing. Although, in practice, you don’t go through your set of theories one by one. You go through your sanities one by one until they all expire and you find a new one. But that’s why we drink coffee, to enjoy the journey.
Bad chemical taste….new pot, older pot, new coffee, older coffee, bottled water, refrigerator water or water from the tap, paper filter or permanent filter. Driving us nuts….changed cups, changed EVERYTHING! WHAT CAN THE MATTER BE”
Firstly, it may be that most US coffee drinkers are not “awake to smell the coffee”–despite all the frivolity about double lattes with a shot, etc. Either they might not know what coffee itself tastes like or not like its taste. I’ll guess most beer drinkers dislike the taste of beer, likewise tequila drinkers, rye whiskey drinkers, their respective drinks.
They don’t savor it, don’t know how.
As for ceramic and heat, Ali, it may be because ceramic is a better insulator, meaning it doesn’t heat up so much in the presence of the hot liquid, whereas steel heats up enough to become a driving force for chemical changes in the coffee mixture, maybe.
just porcelain! heat factor
I am doing a study of the coffee mug and need to find information on the history of the the “coffee mug”. Who decided to use a mug? Has the shape changed due to cultural reasons and like information. Any info that can aid this study will be welcomed.
I wish I had the answer you are looking for, but I just couldn’t help reply so you know you are not the only one looking for answers. I was given a “high-quality”–I assume stainless steel travel mug and the coffee, from the first cup to the last cup months later, tastes horrible. Everybody seems to rave about stainless steel/metal travel mugs but I don’t understand why others aren’t experiencing the same problem.
Well wynona, all of the great aromas and flavours that appear in your cup of coffee are a direct result of fats, oils and sugars locked inside the mysterious coffee beans we all love! So…..that oil buildup, thats coffee!!!
If you find the reason that this oily film appears please let me know. I hate it in my coffee cup. WHAT IS THE CAUSE
I agree about ceramic mugs. Plastic travel mugs taint coffee badly. As for stainless, I just carried coffee for seven hours in a vacuum bottle (“thermos”) with a stainless steel liner. I’ve been considering buying a stainless steel travel mug, since I dropped my ceramic travel mug, kapow. So I monitored the taste of coffee out of my “thermos” today. The first cup tasted fine, even out of the plastic lid/cup of the “thermos”. But the last cup, just now, not only tasted “off” but it looks like old oil out of an engine, black-black, sooty-like, nasty.
I think the steel is reacting with the coffee.