I Did This Coffee Temperature Experiment For You

At what temperature do you drink your coffee? If you're an average Joe you don't think about the temperature of your joe. You probably know if it's too hot or too cold, and you'll probably accept some temperature in between.

At what temperature does coffee come out of your coffee maker? I was having a dull day (with no football to look forward to) so I did an experiment. I took our kitchen meat thermometer and measured my coffee temperature.

Yes-I have a Mickey Mouse coffee cup .We visited Disney World many years ago and they wouldn't let me bring home Snow White, so I got this cup. Anyway, when the coffee came out of the Mr. Coffee, it measured:

The boiling point is 212 degrees and the American Burn Association says a half second on your skin at 160 degrees will cause a burn. So you probably don't want to take a big gulp right when it comes out of the pot.

After I poured it into my mouse cup and added a little sugar and cream and let it sit for a minute or so, I measured again:

That's better. It's below the burn range. It seems like there is more flavor at the lower temperature, since you can savor it longer instead of sucking wind across a mouthful of scalding 170 degree liquid to keep your tongue from melting.

Remember the Mcdonald's customer who spilled a hot cup of coffee in her lap and sued the company for 800 mcbucks and ended up getting somewhere around a half million?The whole story is available here. Evidently the Mcdonald's coffee was well over 180 degrees when served and severely burned the lady. Ronald and his gang have dropped the serving temp and are using Styrofoam cups instead of the slick paper ones but have still had more hot coffee lawsuits.

The American Coffee Association says between 195 and 205 degrees is the best temp for brewing. Keurig coffee makers are delivered with a pre-set temp of 192. Please note these are the best temps for brewing, not drinking. Your home coffee maker will lose some of its ability to brew at the optimum high temp as it ages. I go through my little Mr. Coffees about every two years or so.

When I was a milk-drinking youngster, my mother used one of those old percolator coffee pots that heated the water to boiling. Daddy would pour the coffee into his saucer and blow on it for a while to cool it down. Sometimes he would even slurp it out of the saucer.

The most acceptable temperature for safe coffee drinking seems to be about 150 degrees if you are going to add cream and sugar like I do. If it's too hot, the heat overpowers the taste. I saw a fellow at a Starbucks recently ask that his coffee be served at "kid's temperature" which is about 130 degrees. I tried it and it seems pretty tasty.