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Whether you make your morning cup of coffee in a French press, a pour-over, or a good, old fashioned drip coffee maker, everyone’s experienced returning to their pot of coffee only to find it lukewarm.
And if you have somehow managed to escape experiencing this frustrating situation, you may still be curious whether you can refrigerate brewed coffee. And I’m here to tell you: good news, that coffee is still perfectly good!
How to refrigerate coffee
While a good batch of coffee gone cold may be disappointing, there is no reason to throw that coffee away!
It can easily be decanted into a sealed container like a pitcher or mason jar.
Once it’s decanted, leave it in the fridge to chill completely.
It’s important to put the coffee into a sealed container, otherwise, the coffee may take on the taste of any odors you may have in your fridge.
How to drink the coffee after refrigeration?
Once the coffee has completely chilled, it is good for a few days. In that time, there are plenty of options on how to consume it! You can use the brewed, cooled coffee as iced coffee without any modifications!
Simply fix your glass of iced coffee the way you normally would: a splash of creamer, sweetener, maybe some flavored syrup if you’re feeling fancy! Then just add a few ice cubes, and you’ve got a wonderfully refreshing treat.
If you enjoy iced coffee often, another way to repurpose brewed but chilled coffee is by freezing it in an ice cube tray.
Then, the next time you go to make a glass of iced coffee, substitute the frozen coffee cubes for regular ice cubes.
The benefit of this situation is that your coffee won’t get watered down as the ice cubes melt. It’s perfect for extra hot days, or if you know you drink your iced coffee at a leisurely pace.
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What about reheating it?
Of course, you can always take the chilled coffee out of the fridge and reheat it in the microwave. Over time, the flavor of the coffee may change from how it tasted when it was freshly brewed. It may mellow out, or even get more bitter.
But the great thing about coffee is how versatile it is. There are many ways you may need to play around with your usual coffee sweeteners, creamers, and any flavoring syrups to accommodate this phenomenon.
If the reason that you’re brewing coffee and then putting it in the fridge is solely to have it available to make iced coffee, I highly recommend looking into other iced coffee options. The two easiest options to make cold brew are brewing a French press without boiling water n the fridge overnight.
Or purchasing cold brew in pitcher size sachets. In that case, it brews like tea for 8 to 12 hours, and the caffeine content will have you buzzing!
Conclusion
No matter what coffee situation you find yourself in, the coffee can still be put to use! It’s perfectly acceptable to brew coffee, enjoy a cup while it’s hot, and stick the remainder in the fridge for any of the usages mentioned above. Cheers!
