Both glass and thermal carafes can be effective at keeping coffee hot, but thermal carafes tend to be better at maintaining the temperature of the coffee.
A glass carafe will keep coffee hot for a certain amount of time, but once the coffee cools down it will stay at that lower temperature. A thermal carafe, on the other hand, will keep coffee hot for a longer period of time because it is insulated. This means that it will not transfer the heat to the outside as quickly as a glass carafe does, so the coffee will stay hot for a longer period of time.
Additionally, a thermal carafe is more portable and less fragile than a glass carafe, making it a good option if you plan to take your coffee on the go or travel with it.
It is worth noting that some coffee enthusiasts prefer glass carafes because they believe that the coffee tastes better when brewed in glass, but that is more of a personal preference.
Overall, if you are looking for a carafe that will keep your coffee hot for a longer period of time, a thermal carafe would be a better choice. If you prefer the taste of coffee in glass or you’re looking for a more elegant serving option, glass carafe will be the best choice for you.
But you can keep your coffee hotter for a longer period of time by also preheating the device you’re about to pour it into. Keep reading as we’ll discuss that next.
Once you’ve made the coffee in a carafe or other device, you might want to take it with you in a cup, mug or thermos. Below, we’ll talk about keeping it hot in each of these vessels!
Don’t forget to preheat before adding coffee
This is a big mistake that many (most?) coffee drinkers make: They pour hot coffee into a ceramic cup, mug or into a thermos without first preheating it with hot water.
Preheating with boiling water for a few minutes before filling it with hot coffee will help to keep your coffee hotter longer. After you’ve preheated the cup, you tip the water out and quickly fill the cup with coffee. You’re now adding hot coffee into a hot (or at least very warm) cup.
When you put hot coffee into a unheated ceramic cup, the cup will quickly help to cool the coffee because ceramic is a bad conductor of heat. If you fill a glass cup with boiling water, you’ll soon feel the heat if you try to pick up the glass, within seconds actually. Glass is a better conductor of heat.
But a ceramic mug doesn’t transfer heat as well as glass or metal so the coffee cools down quicker.
Preheat your thermos before adding hot food or a hot beverage
Speaking of metal, that’s why the inside of a thermos is made of stainless steel. The steel inside of a thermos helps to keep your coffee – or soup, tea, pasta, etc – longer but only if you preheat it first.
So before filling your thermos with your hot beverage or food, fill the thermos with boiling water for a few minutes, empty the water and quickly add your food and tightly close the thermos with the top.
Now you’re adding a hot drink or food to the inside of the metal thermos which is also hot. This will keep the contents hotter longer.
Final thoughts on keeping coffee hotter longer
There are a few more ways to keep coffee hot longer in a cup:
- Use a thermal mug: Thermal mugs are designed to keep hot drinks hot for longer periods of time. Just remember to preheat the thermos with boiling water first.
- Preheat the cup: Before pouring the coffee into the cup, preheat the cup by filling it with hot water for a couple of minutes. This will help keep the coffee hot for a longer period of time.
- Add a lid: Using a lid to cover the cup can help trap the heat inside and keep the coffee hotter for longer. It also makes it better if you’re driving or walking so it doesn’t spill.
- Use a heating pad: You can put a heating pad underneath the cup to keep the coffee warm. Plug in heating pads are increasingly available and some vehicles are beginning to offer built in heating pads in the driver and passenger console for coffee mugs, too.
- Use a pour over method: Pour over coffee makers keep the coffee hotter than most other methods.