I'd never heard of that rationale for not washing a coffee pot ;)

I'll chime in and agree with the previous two posters. The stains are residual coffee solids, which are part of what contribute to the flavor of the coffee. This is why some coffee gourmets use a mesh or gold filter, to let more of the coffee solids get into the pot and not the paper filter.

However, after the coffee's cooled down, those solids are going to react with the air and oxidize, which will give off flavors. So it's a bad idea to let those rings stay because they will give off flavors to your coffee.

Here is a great, though fairly technical, treatise on the chemical processes behind coffee freshness. It focuses more on the whole bean, but the chemical reactions are still relevant to the sludge in the pot. If you like this sort of thing.

http://www.blackbearcoffee.com/question_of_freshness.htm

Asker's Rating:

Permalink | Report