Tell me more ×
Seasoned Advice is a question and answer site for professional and amateur chefs. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 8 down vote favorite

How many hours/days would you recommend to drink coffee (after brewed) and consider it safe? (For example if you don't want to waste it). What is the difference if it is refrigerated or not?

The question is not about flavor since (I think) it is probably ruined after at most a couple of hours.

share|improve this question
1  
I'm a bit curious about what use you have for rancid coffee which isn't yet moldy. Given that leftover coffee at room temperature will be rancid within a couple hours (shorter if it's warm), what are you going to do with it, anyway? – FuzzyChef Aug 28 '11 at 21:29
I'm curious too, considering a single pot of (any semi-normal) coffee isn't terribly expensive or difficult to make. – rfusca Aug 28 '11 at 21:51
2  
I can think of a couple of times when I wanted a cup of coffee and only had morning-brewed coffee available. Now, I wonder if you find the taste of coffee after a couple of hours intolerable or just a little spoiled, and whether you prefer 'rancid', but otherwise good quality brewed coffee, to bad instantaneous coffee ;). It is of course a situation to avoid; I just wanted to at least know, in case somebody did happen to be in comparable circumstances, the safety considerations to take into account. – Javier Aug 30 '11 at 1:41
Love love this question! Thank you to anyone that commented and especially answered!! – Hannah Mae Hay Dec 11 '12 at 13:09
There are these coffee machines that drip coffee into the jug slowly, and keep the jug warm - if the demand for coffee is low, it can sit many hours, or a mix of fresh and old can be maintained for days. – SF. Mar 11 at 14:46
show 1 more comment

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

If it's refrigerated, it'll last for at least a week, as long as you didn't pre-dairy it.

Unrefrigerated, I wouldn't trust it for more than a day. Coffee is a crappy growth medium and it should start out the next best thing to sterile, but, even covered, its going to start to get moldy.

Obviously if you add dairy, then you're dealing with that dairy shelf-life, and that isn't very long at all.

share|improve this answer
It's probably the pasteurization, but single or double cream usually lasts several weeks here, on its own. No idea how long it lasts in coffee and I don't plan on finding out... – Aaronut♦ Aug 28 '11 at 20:44
@Aaronut Dairy left in a coffee mug on the counter is ... interesting after a few hours, nevermind days. No idea if it is safe to drink, but it starts to make pretty patterns. I'd think that it would be fine in the fridge, though. – Anna Lear♦ Aug 29 '11 at 3:17
@aaronut: Yea, they do a special type of pasteurization (UHT: Ultra High Temp pasteurization). Given the right sort of packaging, that stuff can sit on the counter for 6 months and be perfectly fine. Lot of times kid's lunch milk boxes are done like that, and cream, and high end organic milk are often done that way too (having your milk last a month is awesome. I can't remember the time I had milk go bad on me). Once it's open and on the counter though, it grows stuff almost as fast as regular milk (regular milk has a head start, so it wins, but they're both bacteria friendly). – Satanicpuppy Aug 29 '11 at 13:23
My understanding was that the lactobacillus in milk competes with (and wins against) most other bacteria, so if it's pasteurized and thus not initially contaminated with other bacteria, not much else can grow. I could be wrong, of course. I believe that milk is still safe even after it curdles and goes sour, it's just not very pleasant. – Aaronut♦ Aug 29 '11 at 22:22
2  
@aaronut: Somebody call guinness...Aaronut is less cautious about leaving a food out than Satanicpuppy ;) I honestly have no idea; I just find sour/clotted milk to be yucky. Though I love yoghurt and sour cream. – Satanicpuppy Aug 30 '11 at 0:41
show 2 more comments
up vote 0 down vote

coffee doesnt grow mold for quite some time.. try it youself; saturate some coffee beans and some grounds and let them sit out.. normally 4-5 days until mold grows on the grounds.. 3 in warm conditions and since its diluted with all the water.. the first signs of mold I've actually seen are around 7 days in the pot.

share|improve this answer
Having a cup of brewed coffee and having a cup of water and coffee grounds are not really the same conditions. If you were to do the experiment, why not just use actual cups of brewed coffee? – Jay Mar 10 at 22:45

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.