Coffee and Tea taste better out of certain mugs

[Mad Mac]

When in a restaurant and the coffee seems really tasty,
they may have added a pinch of salt in the basket of coffee grounds.
At home, I have begun doing that and it knocks off some of the bitterness.
The coffee seems much better to me that way.

A mug with a handle that fits my hand is what I like, but not with a real thick rim.
If the rim is thin, more like a coffee cup, that's the perfect compromise.

[JD Spydo]

A wide mouth mug allows the olfactory senses to be involved with the consumption of your hot beverage. Stimulating both the senses of taste and smell. It enhances the experience.

What you just said not only makes perfect sense but there is actually some scientific basis for that statement as well. I drink a lot of coffee and several varieties of tea ( regular black tea & herbal teas too) throughout a typical day and there most certainly are two or three larger coffee mugs in my kitchen cabinet ( mostly really big ones, 20 ounces or bigger) that I seem to gravitate to most every time. And I got into that habit quite a long time ago not even thinking about it at all.

I've also noticed that coffee tastes much better out of one of those bigger coffee cups ( 16-20 ounce or bigger) than it does from one of those Thermal Travel mugs you take in your car with you>> or from a regular 8 to 10 ounce coffee cup. Now you've really got me wanting to get the latest Spyderco mug. I'm now wondering if the new Spyderco mugs come in different sizes. Because I now only drink out of bigger coffee mugs ( 16-20 ounces or bigger) and I no longer even touch a regular size 8 to 10 ounce coffee mug anymore. I've been in that habit for a long time and now I realize why :) :cool:

[JD Spydo]

When in a restaurant and the coffee seems really tasty,
they may have added a pinch of salt in the basket of coffee grounds.
At home, I have begun doing that and it knocks off some of the bitterness.
The coffee seems much better to me that way.

A mug with a handle that fits my hand is what I like, but not with a real thick rim.
If the rim is thin, more like a coffee cup, that's the perfect compromise.

Hey guys/girls I've actually got a high quality brand of coffee mug to recommend. And I think they're made here in the USA as well. And this company makes mostly those bigger mugs I spoke of in my last post. The brand name is "Kitsch'n Glam" and all you have to do is "GOOGLE" that name and it will take you to a couple of websites that sells their items. They have a huge selection and many of them are really elegant looking. I got two of them in excellent condition at a local thrift store for $1 each and later found that the two I bought sold for about $20 each new on a particular website.

The handles on those "Kitsch'n Glam" mugs are so ergonomically perfect and will fit almost anyone's hand. And those "Kitsch'n Glam" coffee mugs are really high quality and clean up beautifully and will endure the harsh action of most automatic dishwashers. I would ask Spyderco to check them out for a possible company to make their official coffee mugs. It might be a great company to work with for those official Spyderco's coffee mugs.

[Messermann]

Have you ever noticed that coffee and tea have more flavor and taste better out of some cups than others? I used to think it was my imagination, but I did a side by side comparison with some Hull Ovenproof mugs I got from my grandparents and several modern mugs. The Hull made the coffee taste noticeably better.

I do not know if it is the shape of the cup that matters or what, but in my experience it is true that some cups just make things taste better.

What do you all think?

I think you're absolutely right...

You can get technical and break it down. Some vessels retain or shed heat more readily. Some do a better job of funneling steam to your nose so you can better smell what you are drinking.

Some are more comfortable to handle, hence you're able to focus on drinking your beverage. Some have a "familiar" feel which triggers positive past memories. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we eat drink with our eyes as well as our mouths.

[Mad Mac]

A light colored mug seems more pleasing and flavorful to me.
A dark mug hides the coffee and ruins the experience, in my opinion.

[kurt_r]

Some mugs make everything better. :spyder:

[Doc Dan]

Some mugs make everything better. :spyder:

Ok, now I'm jealous.

[Mad Mac]

This is my favorite coffee mug. We visited Snoqualmie and North Bend, Washington where Twin Peaks was filmed. Loved that TV series. Had "a dam fine cup of coffee" with a slice of cherry pie in the same cafe as Agent Cooper. Purchased the mug and a CD with David Lynch's haunting music in a gift shop across the road.

Also visited Easton, Washington where Northern Exposure was filmed. A great TV series but was that ever a sad little shell of a town when we were there in the late '90s.

[Donut]

I must be going on 10 years of drinking out of stainless steel (that sure does stain!).

I don't imagine the flavor changes much from the cup. That's like the beer glasses with different shapes.

[Doc Dan]

I must be going on 10 years of drinking out of stainless steel (that sure does stain!).

I don't imagine the flavor changes much from the cup. That's like the beer glasses with different shapes.

Steel always flavors the coffee. I use one for travel and for hunting, but not for daily use.

[OrangeShoes]

As a tip when drinking tea is to use teacups that has lots of pores as it will absorb and retain different flavors and aromas. Have you observed in restaurants what kind of teacups are they using?

[aicolainen]

There's definitely a difference.
It could be mostly psychological, but that doesn't really matter as long as there's a perceived difference.
Steel mugs are the worst. Anything is better. I usually find plastic/synthetic coffee mugs to be the best compromise between taste and ruggedness for travel.
Ceramics are my preferred material when taste is the deciding factor, but even for ceramics the actual surface treatment matters, and it's really hard to determine what makes the difference here, but with some exceptions I seem to prefer more matt/porous surfaces over shiny/polished surfaces.

[Donut]

I must be going on 10 years of drinking out of stainless steel (that sure does stain!).

I don't imagine the flavor changes much from the cup. That's like the beer glasses with different shapes.

Steel always flavors the coffee. I use one for travel and for hunting, but not for daily use.

Well darn, my coffee tastes like coffee. :p

I guess you're right, but I don't mind too much if my coffee has a hint of another coffee in it.

[Doc Dan]

I must be going on 10 years of drinking out of stainless steel (that sure does stain!).

I don't imagine the flavor changes much from the cup. That's like the beer glasses with different shapes.

Steel always flavors the coffee. I use one for travel and for hunting, but not for daily use.

Well darn, my coffee tastes like coffee. :p

I guess you're right, but I don't mind too much if my coffee has a hint of another coffee in it.

Hahaha! :D What I meant was that the acid in the coffee often leaches a bit of the metallic taste into the coffee. It does not bother some people. It can taste the difference and that is why I do not use it for my daily drinking of coffee. If you can't taste it, then that is great. Stainless is needed for travel mugs and etc. where they might get dinged or banged or dropped, however. Plastic tastes a bit off, too. Metal is better. Ceramic and glass are best, but they break.

[VashHash]

They make ceramic lined travel mugs. Best of both worlds.

[Mad Mac]

To paraphrase the immortal words of Johnny Carson, "Not so fast, lead breath."

Ceramic ware is glazed before entering a kiln to bake. These glazes sometimes contain lead to give products an attractive shine, according to a 1988 report in The Lancet. ... Acidic food or drink is especially likely to cause lead to leach out of ceramics, unfortunately for coffee drinkers with favorite earthenware mugs.

Dec 8, 2017 npr.org Can Your Ceramic Cookware Give You Lead Poisoning ...
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... re%20mugs.

[Doc Dan]

Yeah, and as we saw in that recent thread, some are radioactive! :eek:

My wife and I got rid of all of our lead glass drinking glasses of all sizes a few years ago because of fears of lead leeching out.

[vanka]

There's definitely a difference.
It could be mostly psychological, but that doesn't really matter as long as there's a perceived difference.
Steel mugs are the worst. Anything is better. I usually find plastic/synthetic coffee mugs to be the best compromise between taste and ruggedness for travel.
Ceramics are my preferred material when taste is the deciding factor, but even for ceramics the actual surface treatment matters, and it's really hard to determine what makes the difference here, but with some exceptions I seem to prefer more matt/porous surfaces over shiny/polished surfaces.

There's something worse than steel mugs - the so called "tin mugs". In most cases it's just aluminium. I can tell you that you get really strong metallic taste with these. Even drinking water have a metallic taste. Back to the point - the material and the shape change the aroma and the taste of the coffee and tea. You probably noticed that the tea cups are made out of very thin and delicate porcelain, not like the tea or coffee mugs we use in our everyday life.
Another thing is i've seen in the museum these chalises for wine plated in silver or gold, same with tea and coffee cups made out of solid silver or gold or just porcelain that's plated on the inside. I know it was kind of a show-off, so people can see how wealthy a person is, but i can't stop to wonder what was the taste like? Like drinking red wine or brandy or coffee or tea and how the taste changes because of the silver or gold in the cups/chalices.

[z4vdBt]

I started using a 13 oz double walled (hand blown!) glass tumbler. I like that it can be used with very hot coffee right after pouring. I like that it fits almost a whole pour over brew for one of my daily cups. I get tired of mug handles now and then.

[aicolainen]

There's definitely a difference.
It could be mostly psychological, but that doesn't really matter as long as there's a perceived difference.
Steel mugs are the worst. Anything is better. I usually find plastic/synthetic coffee mugs to be the best compromise between taste and ruggedness for travel.
Ceramics are my preferred material when taste is the deciding factor, but even for ceramics the actual surface treatment matters, and it's really hard to determine what makes the difference here, but with some exceptions I seem to prefer more matt/porous surfaces over shiny/polished surfaces.

There's something worse than steel mugs - the so called "tin mugs". In most cases it's just aluminium. I can tell you that you get really strong metallic taste with these. Even drinking water have a metallic taste. Back to the point - the material and the shape change the aroma and the taste of the coffee and tea. You probably noticed that the tea cups are made out of very thin and delicate porcelain, not like the tea or coffee mugs we use in our everyday life.
Another thing is i've seen in the museum these chalises for wine plated in silver or gold, same with tea and coffee cups made out of solid silver or gold or just porcelain that's plated on the inside. I know it was kind of a show-off, so people can see how wealthy a person is, but i can't stop to wonder what was the taste like? Like drinking red wine or brandy or coffee or tea and how the taste changes because of the silver or gold in the cups/chalices.

I'm not exactly sure I know what you mean by tin mugs, but if it's anything like uncoated aluminum, I can't fathom why anyone would even buy it. Kind of reminds me that enamel mugs have been making a comeback in the outdoor market lately. Probably aimed at the more hipster segment of the market. Admittedly there is a tiny part of the so called hipster culture that appeals to me, and I really mean tiny. So I impulse bought an enamel mug one day I was at an outdoor store that leans toward that segment, to buy a wood stove.
It made a bit of sense in the beginning, the taste was absolutely preferable to uncoated metal mugs, but it suffered with some of the same of the same issues regarding insulation and heat dispersion. I.e. when the content is hot, the rim becomes uncomfortably to drink from, and as the content cools off to the point where the rim is not uncomfortable, there is not enough time left where the content is in it's preferred temperature range, to finish drinking it before it's too cold to really be enjoyable.
All metal mugs suffers from this to some extent, and especially single walled mugs.

Now, the issue I have with enamel is that it forgoes the primary upside with single walled metal mugs; that you can heat / boil the content directly over your heat source.
To make things even worse, any outdoor mug will take some amount beating, and it didn't take long before spots of the enamel was missing even on the inside. And when those spots start to rust, it's not a very appealing implement to rely on for your most important "vitamin" shot of the day.



I'm now back to single walled titanium and single/double walled plastic/lexan mugs for travel and outdoor. Seems to be the best compromises for my use.

I did at one point have a plastic-like travel mug, that very closely replicated the feel and taste of ceramic. It was not as though and forgiving as other plastics, though, and developed cracks after a couple of years. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find more of them.