At what temperature should coffee be served?

Hot drinks have long been prepared everywhere in the foodservice industry, as well as at home. Coffee drinks (unlike cold brew) are prepared using high-temperature water.

Many people have the belief that the higher the temperature of the coffee (almost boiling) this will be much better, it will wake you up and activate faster than a boring warm coffee.

However, drinking coffee at an almost boiling temperature is completely unnecessary. From the sensory point of view, you will miss all the notes and nuances that coffee offers and from health it is harmful and insecure and is the theme that we will develop in this post.

It is necessary to distinguish preparation temperatures from service temperatures.

Preparation temperatures vary according to the type of beverage, many organizations in the beverage industry have developed protocols for preparing hot drinks. For example, the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) and the National Coffee Association (NCA) of the United States, to prepare coffee they recommend using water between 90°C and 96°C (195°F and 205°F).

Serving drinks to consumers at very high temperatures is unsafe. Researchers Fredericka Brown of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Kenneth R. Diller of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas, USA. They found that the optimum operating temperature range is approximately 54°C to 60°C (130°F to 140°F) with a preferred value of 57.8°C (136°F).

A Working Group of 23 international scientists convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), has evaluated the carcinogenicity of coffee, mate and beverages consumption hot.

This Working Group found no conclusive evidence of a carcinogenic effect from drinking coffee. However, experts found that drinking very hot drinks (temperatures above 65°C – 149°F) probably causes cancer of the esophagus in humans.

“These results seem to indicate that drinking very hot drinks are probably a cause of esophageal cancer and that temperature, instead of the drinks themselves, seems to be the causative factor,” says Dr. Christopher Wild, Director of IARC.

Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cause of cancer worldwide and one of the leading causes of cancer death, with approximately 400,000 deaths recorded in 2012.

Another harmful and most common effect is tongue burn. The tongue is sensitive and pain can be felt at a threshold of approximately 47°C (116°F). However, the tongue has an insulating and heat-absorbing capacity, given to the coating by the saliva.

One option is to let the drinks cool between preparation and serving in the cup.

Research has been carried out on the cooling rate of different drinks using different cup sizes, cup material and whether or not they have lids. The results obtained from these investigations have concluded that temperatures fall from approximately 10°C to 15°C (20°F to 25°F) in 5 minutes, in an environment at room temperature.

Another option is to mix very hot drinks with cooler drinks. Even small amounts of the mixture can have significant effects. For example, you can add milk, cream or other colder liquids.