Why does reheating coffee in a microwave oven kill its taste?

Not for me John… i do it all the time. Taste buds i guess. They say as you get older, the taste buds change. Not mine. Or maybe, i’ve not noticed it. I still love my drinks and food.

I’ve noticed that yes, reheated coffee tastes like utter doom. I don’t know why though, I think it might depend on what you put in there. (Milk, cream.)
I keep it hot by making small pots, usually enough for one cup…I don’t bring coffee anywhere with me, I drink it in the morn so it doesn’t have time to get cold. I’ll buy one or make more if the urge strikes…but I ain’t reheating it. It’s undrinkable…despite that, the effect seems to be like, tripled, if you manage to down the whole thing.

BoBo, thanks. maybe its just me. as you mentioned. “as i get older” and thats entirely possible. i have drank so much coffee in my police career that i could float a battleship on it.

@john65pennington i certainly understand that comment John.

It’s not just the microwave; re-heating coffee by any means ruins it (for me at least). I used to have this problem all the time, until I got a Keurig single cup coffee maker. Now I go to the coffee maker whenever I want a cup, and Presto!, and nice hot cup of java is ready in a couple of minutes. No more wasted coffee or it’s awful re-heated cousin for me.

I am an admitted coffee snob.

Hot coffee = good. iced coffee = good. cold coffee = Yuck.

Reheated coffee = yuck.

I think it’s the same as anything else – you’re cooking something that’s already been cooked. Taking charcoal and turning it to ash.

Seriously, it doesn’t take that long to make a new pot. Don’t nuke your coffee.

Edit to add:

I don’t add milk to my coffee, unless I’m making a latte. I imagine milk might help to mask the overcooked flavor of microwaved coffee.

I too have the keurig and it’s great but sometimes I find that the coffee gets cold kinda fast… before I put milk in it, I will nuke it for 30 seconds or a minute then add the milk. It doesn’t seem to change the flavor for me

I like coffee in a cup, I like coffee heated up. I like coffee cold with ice, any coffee is very nice! :~)
Seriously though, I do heat up coffee if there is any left over and I think it tastes fine.

My husband will not drink coffee that is more than a hour and half old. He says it tastes different.Needless to say we go through alot of coffee. I can’t tell the difference but he sure can.

I need coffee. I was a connoisseur but now, for me, it’s like pizza; reheated, day old, hot/cold – hell just slip a tube into my arm and feed me.