I hope I am not repeating this post. It seems I am having difficulty posting
to the list. Maybe I really got busted for my pervious remarks?
I often drink tea in the evening. I kept looking at all these goodies they
sell to serve tea in and decided it might be nice to drink from a clear glass
cup. That way I could enjoy the different colors of the different teas,
adding to the experience thing. It is not hard to find nice, clear cup and
saucer combos for $6.99, $7.99 and more. They are readily available in that
price range.
I was in Bed, Bath and Beyond and spotted some clear mugs on the shelf that
really caught my eye. I finally had to break down and shell out the cash. I
bought 4 of them for a whopping 83 cents each.
That was cool for tea in the evening, but it wasn't long until I figured if
the clear glass mugs were good for tea, they had to be just as good for
*coffee*. My first cup and the initial impression of drip coffee was, uh, in
a word, transparent. That stuff just didn't look anything like coffee in a
ceramic mug. More like lightly colored water. Tasted okay, but it just didn't
look like coffee.
The next thing I noticed was that the coffee cooled much faster. The mugs
aren't real thick and I think allow for faster thermal transfer. But with the
coffee cooling faster, the taste was also changing faster. It really
highlighted the flavor transition coffee makes on your taste buds at
different temperatures. It is kind-of an interesting experience.
Convinced I had in fact gotten 83 cents worth of learning and pleasure, I
discovered there are considerable color changes in the different coffees. Not
just the strength of the brew or even the degree of roast. Different origins
have more or less color. Some are more brown and others more of a reddish
brown. If you are still reading, the excitement must be almost undrewhelming
by now.
There has been a fair amount of discussion about how long coffee retains its
flavor in a thermos. Interesting. I often brew a pot of coffee in the morning
and take all but the first cup to work in a thermos. I noticed that not only
does the flavor change after a couple of hours, but the coffee in the clear
glass mugs looks darker. This appears to be a time related change rather than
temperature related. It has less of the red tones and turns a considerably
darker brown. It doesn't taste as good as fresh coffee, but it begins to look
more like the coffee in the ceramic mugs.
That's it so far. I'm not sure why I felt compelled to share this experience
with everyone. Maybe just an attempt to find a new topic.
Thanks for reading.
Terry F
Might just be the heat and humidity here in Clearwater, FL
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