I have been using a 21oz double wall stainless container (klean kanteen style) for awhile now with drip coffee and never had a problem. Since I have started using our espresso machine again I have tried taking Americano with me and they always taste horrible. Same drink tastes great when I have it at home, but after a 45 minute ride into work sitting in the container it turns to crap. I am not very good at describing tastes, but it tastes almost like stale water.

Any thoughts on why this is happening and what I can do to prevent it? I am left with making flavored milk drinks to bring into work now...

Thanks all
Matt

Prevention? Drink it faster
Seriously, what temperature is it at the end of 45 minutes? Even a few minutes or degree change can change the flavour. How does it taste 5, 10, 15 minutes into the commute?
When you have it at home, are you using a ceramic or metal cup?

Temperature will affect the taste, but it won't make it worse. In fact I pull my shots into room temp ceramic cups to cool them down quickly. You will taste things better as they approach room temperature.

It could be that your drinks taste bad normally, but they're so hot you can't tell. Or time could extract the tiny coffee particles that make it through the basket holes to over-extract while you drive.

I usually pull a shot and brew a Chemex before going to work.

2StrokeBloke wrote:Prevention? Drink it faster
Seriously, what temperature is it at the end of 45 minutes? Even a few minutes or degree change can change the flavour. How does it taste 5, 10, 15 minutes into the commute?
When you have it at home, are you using a ceramic or metal cup?

My routine right now is to make one for home drinking, then make another to take to work. The insulated "flask" keeps it very hot. I don't think it is losing more temperature than putting it in the ceramic or glass cups at home and it sitting a bit. Its still too hot to drink out of flask when I get to work...
I ride a motorcycle, so can't comment on taste except before leaving house and getting to work.
Flask gets cleaned, and drip coffee tastes the same as when I leave the house, so I don't think its a sanitation issue..

Matt

So the question is, does your americano taste the same if you left it on the counter after 45 minutes?

If you have an old thermos, get that out to test as well.

Make three americanos, and if the one in the flash tastes funky and the other don't after 45 minutes, you fount the offender.

bostonbuzz wrote:Temperature will affect the taste, but it won't make it worse. In fact I pull my shots into room temp ceramic cups to cool them down quickly. You will taste things better as they approach room temperature.

It could be that your drinks taste bad normally, but they're so hot you can't tell. Or time could extract the tiny coffee particles that make it through the basket holes to over-extract while you drive.

I usually pull a shot and brew a Chemex before going to work.

I agree with this. I have made syphons, poured them into a (gasp!) plastic lined travel mug, taken it downtown on a 40 min commute by walking and metro, then sipped it over the course of a half hour and it tasted amazing. Well brewed coffee tastes great warm or cool.

I make an americano to go almost every morning and the trick is to replace your thermos when the taste becomes off. In my experience, the stale coffee oils are difficult to neutralize from plastic and rubber components in the seal, threading or lid. Your excellent brew is ruined after coming into contact with the aforementioned parts.

If someone has a solution I'd love to hear it.

Have you tried drinking it with the lid removed? I find most black coffee pretty awful from travel mugs with lids that block the aroma, and Americanos are especially bad in this respect.

We have a thermos flask that tasted funky.
I washed it well with Cafisa, after that it tastes like new again.

mfogliet wrote:I make an americano to go almost every morning and the trick is to replace your thermos when the taste becomes off. In my experience, the stale coffee oils are difficult to neutralize from plastic and rubber components in the seal, threading or lid. Your excellent brew is ruined after coming into contact with the aforementioned parts.

If someone has a solution I'd love to hear it.

Its a fairly new (3 months?) flask. Plastic ones I have tried don't seal well enough to throw in tank bag of bike.

kajer wrote:So the question is, does your americano taste the same if you left it on the counter after 45 minutes?

If you have an old thermos, get that out to test as well.

Make three americanos, and if the one in the flash tastes funky and the other don't after 45 minutes, you fount the offender.

I will try making a few this weekend and using different ones we have around, alum and plastic.

bostonbuzz wrote:It could be that your drinks taste bad normally, but they're so hot you can't tell. Or time could extract the tiny coffee particles that make it through the basket holes to over-extract while you drive.

It is quite possible that I still just suck at pulling shots...

Bob_McBob wrote:Have you tried drinking it with the lid removed? I find most black coffee pretty awful from travel mugs with lids that block the aroma, and Americanos are especially bad in this respect.

Bob, I usually pour it out into a ceramic mug at work, it stays hot enough that I can't drink it out of flask.

http://www.hydroflask.com/products/hydr ... 1oz-medium that is the flask I have

Thanks all.
Matt