Conclusion: Best Coffee Drinking Time

The best time to drink my coffee was…

Temperature:  65 – 50 degrees Celsius

Time:  5.5 – 20 minutes after poured

There were a range of temperatures that provided a good coffee drinking experience.  As the temperature decreased I was able to drink it without burning my mouth.  However at a certain temperature the coffee became too cool to enjoy.

My hypothesis that ideal drinking temperature would be at 70 was refuted.  At 70 degrees Celsius I received a “mild tongue burn.”  The temperatures 65 (Blow on it and take a small sip), 60 (perfect to sip), and 55 (perfect to gulp)  were all better temperatures for coffee consumption.  Even 50 (Good not great) is better than mild tongue burn.  So I have a temperature range from 65 – 50 where drinkability is the best.  This temperature range is during the time period of 5.5 to 20 minutes after the coffee is poured.

I may have been biased at the higher temperatures since I thought the coffee would taste better.  There was also less coffee after each sip which could have affected how fast it cooled and drinkability.  I also may have been harder or easier on my judgement of the quality of the coffee after multiple sips.  If I was going to engage in further research I would like to first repeat my experiment to get more data.  I would also be curious to compare other liquids such as tea and hot chocolate.

I now have a better understanding of when I should drink my coffee.  My tongue and taste buds will thank me.

Purpose – Procedure – Bunsen Burner Coffee – Data Table – Graph