Those following me on Instagram (@shareyourkape) probably have seen that I was a tad bit too eager to pull the trigger on buying home brewing equipment, not to mention buying coffee beans frequently. Now that I’m working from home, I can’t rely on Baristas to prepare me good coffee anymore due to lockdown and the need to follow social distancing protocols. I also have more time to learn how to make coffee at home, thus I have no more excuses. So although I started the lockdown drinking instant coffee, I knew it wouldn’t be sustainable (and shouldn’t be). But here’s the thing: I’ve been doing this during one of the harshest summers  in the Philippines that I can remember, and I’m still drinking hot coffee – and I think it helps.

Ceramic V60, glass carafe, digital scale (a cheap one), and timemore c2 grinder all bought from Lazada.

It’s normal to reach for a cold drink as temperature rise. Part of that is because of what we’ve been told, including to some extent how marketers tell us we need to buy cold things during summer, but some still stick to the hot stuff (for the purpose of this coffee related blog, I’m talking specifically about hot coffee). Now actually, barring some factors like what you’re wearing and your location/immediate area, drinking something hot may help your body cool down better.

According to this article by LAD Bible, which technically is about hot tea (close enough), scientists from the University of Cambridge say that “consuming hot beverages such as tea or hot water will raise your core body temperature. And this makes you sweat at an increased rate.”

Most roasters sell their coffee online and deliver to your address. This Pulped Natural from Cocotos Estate is a pleasantly sweet coffee, you got to try it.

Now that’s the key, sensors in our stomach feel the heat so they then communicate this to our brain telling it “the body’s getting hot; release sweat”. Sorry about oversimplifying that, more for my benefit. As you sweat and then that sweats evaporates from your skin, your body cools down.

So in my current work from set up, I’m actually working from an area in the house that has no A/C. Before I start working, I make myself coffee (been using the V60 recently more than the French press) then I take a break to make coffee (well actually to have lunch, and then coffee). Then about 4 in the afternoon, I make another coffee. And finally, I make one last brew early in the evening. I can’t say that this actually helps me compared to when I don’t drink coffee at all, because I don’t don’t drink coffee in a day (and I don’t want to). I can say that I am able to work under these conditions (currently it’s about 36 degrees Celsius in Cainta), so I guess it really does help. Now, combine that with the other benefits coffee gives you in terms of helping you focus and it could be another case of why you need good coffee in your life, especially while working from home.

But, like I said earlier, there are some factors to consider. Summarizing all that to one major factor, and that’s you have to not be already sweating. So if you’re wearing thick clothing (in summer, why would you?), sitting in an area that has no ventilation (again, why would you?), or just finished an intense exercise (I kind of understand why on that one), it wouldn’t really matter whether it’s hot or not. There some articles that also remind us that we cannot drink too much cold beverages because it could actually make us feel hotter, so be best to stick with lukewarm to warm drinks still.

Your coffee brewing equipment wouldn’t mean anything unless you use good, quality coffee beans.

So it’s not exactly weird when you prefer to drink hot coffee during summer. It may actually seem that you know more than most people. So be proud drinking hot coffee during summer, you’re actually quite literally cool for doing so.

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