Milk or hot water first???

When you make coffee, do you put the milk or hot water in first?

you gotta keep the water hot to disolve the coffee... if you put milk in first, then it's not hot enough to do this properly... I think... kinda...

Hot water.

hot water normally unless I'm using creamer.

I wonder if it makes a difference to the taste one way or another ?

I may not understand this poll correctly but I put the milk in the cup first and heat it slightly in the microwave and then add the coffee. Where does the hot water go? Is it to make the coffee? I use a bodum so i put in the ground coffee and add the hot water to that to make the coffee first. Then to drink it I do the rest.


Sorry if I complicated this but its been a long day.

Hot water

If your using freeze dried granules you should make your coffee with hot water OFF THE BOIL, i.e. wait till it's stopped bubbling and frothing. If your impatient enough that you can't wait put milk in the cup first to cool the water as you make your cuppa. Boiling water scorches all the taste out of freeze dried granules. To me it's kinda like the difference between a cup of coffee and a cup of hot water that tastes like coffee, I also find it has a different viscosity if boiling water is used as opposed to hot water.

But then I'm just a bit anal about this sorta stuff, I'm sure monty will agree with me though

Originally Posted by slimbloke

you gotta keep the water hot to disolve the coffee... if you put milk in first, then it's not hot enough to do this properly... I think... kinda...

NOOOOO!
Here's the low-down.
If you use boiling water on coffee it scorches the beans, spoils the taste. Also there is some limited evidence that the use of boiling water in coffee can lead to an elevation of plasma cholesterol concentration in the blood. This is usually attributed to the Scandinavian method of boiling coffee in cafetieres, but the general advice is that no coffee should be made with water at boiling point. So if you put the milk in first this helps to cool the water so that the coffee isn't effected by the boiling hot water.

Either that or make sure the water ain't boiled. Btw I take my coffee black so put a bit of cold water in first.

Tea-wise, tea needs boiling water imo so the (soya) milk goes in after the bag has come out and not before. (I don't drink dairy milk)

I'm very exacting with my hot drinks, only me and Mrs n can do it right.
Crikey I sound really pretentious now don't I???

Originally Posted by GhostyDog

But then I'm just a bit anal about this sorta stuff, I'm sure monty will agree with me though

See my previous post, nothing wrong with being anal about one's hot tasty
beverages imo.

GhostyDog, I think you pass the norbert taste test, make us a brew will you???

Tea = boiling water.
Coffee = 90°C (or so I am led to believe).

My coffee gets made with ground beans, usually in a Bodum percolator so the milk always goes in the cup before the hot water, but the hot water always goes into the percolator before that.

I wonder if I could make one massive latte by putting milk into the percolator?

There is a scientific reason for milk being in the cup first when making tea. I assume the principles apply to coffee too.

If you put a little milk into a cup of boiling hot tea the sugars in the milk (such as lactose) get changed by the heat (kind of caramalised) and give an odd bitter taste.

If you put the milk in the cup and then pour the hot water on the same reaction does not occur due to the rate of heating of the milk.

I think that's about right, I'm sure there is someone studying food technology or something who will now disagree and correct me!

Say NO to instant coffee!!!

Originally Posted by norbert

NOOOOO!
Here's the low-down.
If you use boiling water on coffee it scorches the beans, spoils the taste. Also there is some limited evidence that the use of boiling water in coffee can lead to an elevation of plasma cholesterol concentration in the blood. This is usually attributed to the Scandinavian method of boiling coffee in cafetieres, but the general advice is that no coffee should be made with water at boiling point. So if you put the milk in first this helps to cool the water so that the coffee isn't effected by the boiling hot water.

Either that or make sure the water ain't boiled. Btw I take my coffee black so put a bit of cold water in first.

Tea-wise, tea needs boiling water imo so the (soya) milk goes in after the bag has come out and not before. (I don't drink dairy milk)

I'm very exacting with my hot drinks, only me and Mrs n can do it right.
Crikey I sound really pretentious now don't I???

What he said.....Unless you're making cappuccino, in which case the coffee goes in first and then.... well you know the rest

Hot water first for me

There is only one way to make good coffee.... Expresso!

And black.

From the super small Italian, to a mid sized but still small Portuguese.

Anything else and specially the British versions are brownish beverages that may have a slight and faint taste of what it used to be a nicely toasted coffee bean.

Zee

With Zee

Originally Posted by Blue Zee

...........
Anything else and specially the British versions are brownish beverages that may have a slight and faint taste of what it used to be a nicely toasted coffee bean.

Zee

or as they say in Italy "aqua sporco" (dirty water)