# Do you drink yesterday's coffee?



## BaronsMom (May 22, 2005)

About every other day, I make a fresh pot of coffee. Once it is made, I unplug the coffee pot so it stops heating. 

When I've had enough coffee, I don't toss the coffee. It just sits in the coffee maker. The next morning, I just reheat it. I add a little water to it and it isn't as good as fresh, but hate to waste it. So I drink it.

Does anyone else do this? 

Sometimes I worry if it is safe to drink - but have done it this way for years. No problems.

My dad grew up in the depression and to this day, doesn't toss his coffee and reheats (where I must've learned the habit).

Don't worry - if you are ever a guest in my home - I'll make a fresh pot of coffee, you won't get the day-old stuff!!!

Just curious as I sit here drinking my coffee from yesterday - again.


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## mwhit (Jun 8, 2006)

No, I don't, but I know people that do and it hasn't killed them yet. I very seldom leave any in the pot-- I only make what I need. In the morning I make a full pot and drink a big cup. DH takes what is left with him in his Thermos. I grind more beans, make another few cups and drink it all. I'm on my fourth cup right now....

Michelle


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

My iced coffee this morning is from yesterday's coffee.

I know my Dad makes a large pot and then during the day just pours some in his cup and microwaves it a bit and off he goes.

Angie


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

I went out and bought a coffee maker with a thermal carafe...I think nothing of reheating my previous days coffee. 
The carafe keeps it warm longer without the problems that come with it being on a warmer pad.


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## lgslgs (May 30, 2005)

I almost always drink my coffee iced and have about a pot and a half per day. Yesterday's coffee is a regular item on the menu around here. <sipping my iced coffee as I type>


Lynda


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## hisenthlay (Feb 23, 2005)

I wouldn't consider throwing away 1 day old coffee. I make a whole pot with the intention of drinking it for two days, to save time and energy. I'll drink 2 and I think even 3 day old coffee, if the pot makes it that long. After that, since I don't refrigerate it, it gets a little sketchy even for me.  I can tell you though, thanks to my sometimes lax housekeeping, that coffee will last at least a week unrefrigerated in the pot without any visible changes. I wouldn't drink it, though--it does start to mold at some point. I feel like coffee has some antibacterial properties, though. I could be making that up, but I think I heard it somewhere.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

I am the only one in the house that drinks coffee so I just have the little 4 cup deal. I finish it all, but sometimes I nuke the same cup of coffee several times. I just get busy and forget to drink it. It's fairly vile after the 4th reheat though.


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## dixiegal62 (Aug 18, 2007)

suzyhomemaker09 said:


> I went out and bought a coffee maker with a thermal carafe...I think nothing of reheating my previous days coffee.
> The carafe keeps it warm longer without the problems that come with it being on a warmer pad.



same here it taste just as good to me.


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## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

Nope, I don't reheat coffee. I try to make just enough for the two of us (we each drink about 2 cups), but if I make too much the leftovers go down the drain and I don't feel guilty at all. I've tried reheating it and didn't care for it. However, in the summer I WILL often refrigerate leftovers for iced coffee later on.


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## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

sure


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## Oggie (May 29, 2003)

Life is too short to drink yesterday's coffee.

I grew up in southwestern Kansas where folks seem to drink weak coffee all day long. I didn't really start drinking coffee until I was in college and then it was for a jump-start in the morning. It was strong, black and usually of decent quality.

Fast forward to about 15 years ago when I was between stead work and graduate school and decided to help a friend out by working as cook for a scout camp owned in Colorado owned by a council in southwestern Kansas.

The first morning I brewed in the big coffee maker, I made it like I would drink it. I've never seen such a whiny hissy fit! The poor scoutmasters must have thought I was trying to get them to drink meth.

Anyway (and it's about time), here's my theory. Weak coffee can be heated again and again because there's not much there to go bad.

With strong coffee, the oils and solids begin to separate and go bad. The quality really declines if you allow it to get cold and then reheat it. And, if you try to keep it hot for more than about an hour, it evaporated and tastes burned.


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## Dente deLion (Nov 27, 2006)

Oggie, you reminded me of that great Tom Waits line from Nighthawks at the Diner: "The coffee was too weak to defend itself." 

I like a strong cup o' joe, and DH likes it even stronger, and I have no problem reheating the leftovers the next morning. Granted, my standards are pretty low - as long as it's leaded I'm happy - but, while fresh definitely tastes better, I don't mind the old stuff. And, if I can nuke a cup of yesterday's as soon as I roll out of bed, it makes it much easier to muster the brain power to set up a new pot for Cup #2!


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

We use the thermal caraffe type coffee maker, too, so while the coffee stays warm for a surprisingly long time it doesn't ever get a burnt taste.

We often drink day old coffee. Fresh is better but coffee is too expensive to pour down the drain. Day old isn't THAT much worse!


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## ruby_jane (May 15, 2007)

When my husband hadn't come here yet from NJ, I would make a pot of cowboy coffee and if there was any left over, I would either put it in the fridge or stick it in a Ziploc bag and freeze it. As a matter of fact, there is still a bag of frozen coffee in the freezer


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## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

I'm a bit of a coffee snob.

What you speak of here is sacrilegious.


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## WindowOrMirror (Jan 10, 2005)

How on EARTH can you end up with leftover coffee?


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## Tricky Grama (Oct 7, 2006)

After the pot is about an hour old it goes into the carafe. Next AM I nuke a cup while waiting for the pot to brew. Tastes fine...b/c I'm still asleep.

Patty


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## Scrounger (Jan 6, 2007)

I don't even drink TODAY'S coffee.......


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## DamnearaFarm (Sep 27, 2007)

I agree, Tracy. Juan Valdez must simply be ROLLING in his *grave*. Lol


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## dixiegal62 (Aug 18, 2007)

Tracy Rimmer said:


> I'm a bit of a coffee snob.
> 
> What you speak of here is sacrilegious.


 I am too and I only drink blue mountain coffee, st what it costs Im not about to waste it


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## Karriew/4gifts (Nov 27, 2006)

turtlehead said:


> We use the thermal caraffe type coffee maker, too, so while the coffee stays warm for a surprisingly long time it doesn't ever get a burnt taste.
> 
> We often drink day old coffee. Fresh is better but coffee is too expensive to pour down the drain. Day old isn't THAT much worse!


Ditto :shrug:


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## Nel frattempo (Mar 29, 2007)

No, we toss it on the ground around the blueberry plants or under the hydrangea.


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## olehippy (Feb 2, 2005)

No I only make what we will drink that morning. 8 cups on weekdays & 10 cups on the weekends. And I have a stainless coffee carafe that stays hot for hours without sitting on one of those little hot plates so no burnt taste.


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## Old John (May 27, 2004)

Every other day, I drink "yesterday's Coffee".
Every other day, I make a fresh pot.
A pot lasts me 2 days.
No problem.
I also drink cold coffee, that's been sitting in the cup for hours.
But mostly I reheat it in the micrwave.
Coffee is Coffee, hunnh.


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## MTTMATSUA (May 23, 2007)

rose2005 said:


> You mean coffee can last more than one day? WOW! I thought it all had to be drunk within an hour, and another pot made!
> 
> Rose


I'm w/ you and WIHH...whats leftover coffee??? LOL...O yea thats the little teeny bit extra I make to add to the chocolate frosting for cupcakes or brownies...

 Bonnie


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## DocM (Oct 18, 2006)

Ew. No. Fresh pot (percolator) every morning.


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## Sassylady (Sep 16, 2006)

Nope, never. I make just what I need and that's it.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I've had some coffee that was better for setting day in refrigerator. Then there is cold brewed coffee. Its a bit wastefull but is tastiest way to make coffee. You basically just put coffee in jar water in fridge and let it set, can shake jar if it makes you feel better but dont have to. It makes a sort of coffee concentrate. Put some of the concentrate in your mug, dilute it to taste and either drink it cold or nuke it for couple minutes. You get better taste cold brewing, but more yield hot brewing.


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## Mid Tn Mama (May 11, 2002)

Since I'm the only coffee drinker, I make a pot on monday that lasts me through the week. I put the remainder in a quart canning jar and put in the frig. Tastes fine. Saves the time to make it and the energy to make a full pot and throw away the leftovers.

If you have to throw them away, at least water flowers or azaleas with them.


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## oldgaredneck (Jan 2, 2007)

We've got a Hamilton Beach coffeemaker (the one with no coffeepot - you stick your coffee cup under the spout and it presses a button releasing the coffee).
I'm the only one here who drinks coffee on a regular basis - if I don't finish today's pot, it's perfectly good tomorrow after a 90 second nuking in the microwave....


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

Oggie said:


> Anyway (and it's about time), here's my theory. Weak coffee can be heated again and again because there's not much there to go bad.
> 
> With strong coffee, the oils and solids begin to separate and go bad. The quality really declines if you allow it to get cold and then reheat it. And, if you try to keep it hot for more than about an hour, it evaporated and tastes burned.


I guess that explains why DH's coffee will mold so quickly! I never touch the stuff! A few sips of decaf mixed with hot chocolate early in the AM will make me so jittery I can hardly function and it will keep me up all night!


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## comfortablynumb (Nov 18, 2003)

if a pot lasts that long it says till is been drunk.

if its in the cup in the morning it gets drunk too


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## Dave (May 10, 2002)

No way. I guess if you mix it with milk and sugar you won't notice but I drink it black and strong and even after a few hours of sitting it's not good anymore. Coffee exposed to air breaks down pretty quick. A day later it'd probably be nasty and starting to grow mold.

I mostly just make however much I want at the time.


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

I drink mine strong and black.... yum! Great the first day, not bad the next IF there is any left. Usually tho I make a pot, drink it and DS makes a pot and we proceed to drink that... :baby04: IF and I mean IF any is left, it goes in the fridge in a quart jar. That goes into ice and milk, chili, or stew, or beans, or whatever needs a little strong liquid.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

I make a pot in the morning. While it's brewing, I pour very hot water into the carafe, and let it sit there until the coffee is done brewing. Pour out 2 cups (one for Nick, one for me), pour the rest into the carafe where it will still be hot through the next day -- IF there is any left. 

Days when I'm home, I can easily go through a pot myself, and still sleep well at night. 

And none of that decaf stuff, either. Blech. Why bother?

Pony!


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## greeneyedgirl70 (Aug 26, 2007)

My husband cooks deer roast with my left over coffee....not that i have left over coffee to often ...maybe from my second or third pot? lol


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## halo (Jun 25, 2005)

Back when I used to drink coffee regularly, I use to do exactly that. Every other day I would heat the leftovers. I have never drank coffee for the taste, I just needed the kick, so the taste never bothered me. Now-a-days, my blood pressure will not let me drink too much coffee, so I have a week cup of instant in the morning and I will get a quarter cup at work and fill the cup the rest of the way up with water.

I don't think 1 day old coffee can be bad for you. Maybe after 2 or 3 days?


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## Cascade Failure (Jan 30, 2007)

Yeah, I'll drink day old, if there is any. Not that it happens often. We make a pot and put it in a carafe to keep it from burning and to not waste electricity. I go through about three pots a day. Black and bitter. Should be thick enough to stand a spoon in.


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## cindyc (Nov 12, 2005)

I make extra on purpose, but the day-old goes to dh who grew up in asia, and prefers COLD coffee (shudder). But I put it in the fridge when it cools off... That way we are both happy!
Cindyc.


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## jimarh (Feb 21, 2005)

Tracy Rimmer said:


> I'm a bit of a coffee snob.
> 
> What you speak of here is sacrilegious.



thank you, Tracy........I am with you. I, too, am a coffee snob. I want fresh brewed and strong enough that it is coffee and not just brown water!! I do not drink old - but my husband does. 
I watch in amazement (and sorry to say some disgust) as he heats day old or even two day old coffee up and drinks it down..........ughhhhhhhhhhh.


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