I'm visiting my parents for a couple weeks and have brought some of my equipment with me. Every time I start making some coffee, my dad requests that I make some for him too. The problem is, he's stubborn in his ways and always adds 1 spoon of sugar, some milk, and microwaves his coffee to make it superhot.

Anyway, I feel like he's losing out on this wonderful (and expensive) coffee that I'm brewing for him.

To compromise, I'm thinking of brewing it the proper way that I do for myself, and just popping it in the microwave for an extra 30 seconds to get it to the temperature he prefers (probably closer to 210 F, rather than the cooler temp for brewing). How would this affect the quality/tastes? Is this "acceptable"?

Equipment: Hario V60, Hario Mini-Mill hand grinder, single origin coffee (Ethiopian Yirg, by Barefoot Coffee Roasters, San Jose, CA).

Thanks for the advice in advance.

Have you tried just super heating his mug first and brewing directly into it? This should solve any heat loss from going into the mug. Hopefully, keep it hot. Also try heating the milk first.

I'm not sure it's worth switching brewing methods, but siphon brew produces a very good and hot cup of coffee. I need to let the coffee cool before enjoying it, but since the carafe is heated on the stove the coffee isn't immediately cooled.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've tried heating the mug and of course the milk, but it's not quite steaming the milk. Perhaps I can get the milk hotter.

I agree, siphon is a great idea. I don't have my siphon with me now, but he's considered that to be hot enough in the past.

Does he actually drink the coffee when it's so hot? I don't understand the point of heating the coffee to boiling temperature.

I, too, like my joe super hot. It is a real challenge with pour-over. If I had to drink regular coffee I would definitely have a drip machine with a hot plate. I haven't found a thermal carafe brewer that maintained a high enough temperature. French press is another option if that's the kind of brew he enjoys.

Massdrop, a group buy site for luxury items, currently is offering a 20 oz Yama tabletop siphon model with butane burner if anyone is considering this. I've got stovetop versions, but they're not as showy.

Funny, my dad is the same way. I use to travel with my syphon, but now generally just bring my V60 when I go visit my parents. Last time I went home I made him a cup, super preheated everything and waited until he was walking down the stairs to start the brew. Keep in mind he only drinks black coffee, and a lot of it, doesn't really care about the quality of beans, but appreciates my passion towards it.

He took a sip and said, "it's good," then proceeded to walk over to the microwave and give it a "zap."

Old habits die hard I guess.

I'm sorry, but let him like his coffee the way he wants it. I know I like my coffee a certain way... for instance, I wont touch drip coffee or stale coffee. I mean really, it's the same thing... just reversed. And hey, at least your dad DRINKS your coffee. My dad likes his gas station-served Folgers - black, thin, and also super hot. He takes one sip of the coffee I'll make him with a French press or Aeropress (americano-style) and wont finish it. Don't even get me started on the times I've tried to get him to take a latte... no sir. Oh, and my husband, he wont touch any coffee at all... so it's pretty much just me, drinking coffee all by myself.

Just make his milk as hot as you can without destroying it, and I would imagine that'll suffice... I hope!

To answer the original question, yeah, temps affect the taste a lot. When I do siphons, I have to wait a bit for them to cool down... and the cooler they get, the more flavours I get. I consistently find the flavour changes as I sip through a cup. I usually enjoy the last bit the most and I keep kicking myself for not just waiting a little longer to start.

As for the father factor, I think this might be linked to a few things:

1. A matter of definition. Don't call it "coffee". He's got a "coffee" program in his head. Maybe superheating the coffee overcomes some kind of flavour he doesn't like in whatever he's used to drinking. He's got some kind of logic that makes sense to him. If what you make is different, call it what it is: If it's pourover, call it that. If it's siphon, call it that. Espresso? Call it that. Associations run very deep. When I talked a bit about coffee during a family visit last Xmas, my father just made fun of the whole thing the whole time I was there. There's not much point in trying to reprogram "coffee" in an old man.

2. Anxiety. If someone thinks you're going to reprogram a fundamental concept for them, they get anxious because it could mean (gasp!) they've been doing things wrong their whole life... [and before someone jumps on the relativistic notion that anything goes, the point here is the fear inside the head of the person you're trying to expose to a new concept, not any judgment I'm making] there are a lot of people who simply don't embrace the concept of enjoying life or any aspect of it. Coffee, work, relationships... they are all just a means to an end. If all that suffering wasn't necessary or important in some way, they just end up feeling like fools. There is also a curious perverse pride some people take in rejecting complexity and nuance for fear of looking foolish. Perhaps they heard "the Emperor's New Clothes" a few too many times growing up. Try the movie "Mother" by Albert Brooks. The sequences on vegetarianism, ice cream, jelly, and cheese are hilarious. I never knew I could ENJOY food... or life for that matter, until I married someone who seemed from a different planet.