The Cresimo Thermal Coffee carafe keeps coffee, tea, water and other beverages hot or cold for hours. It's perfect for hosting and convenient for everyday use.
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My husband and I often host for the holidays, as well as the occasional Sunday dinner at our house. We’ve got the art of serving cocktails, appetizers and entrees more or less down to a science, but one thing still trips us up: when to brew the coffee for dessert.
Don’t get me wrong, our Ninja coffee maker can keep coffee fresh and hot for up to four hours. But I don’t love leaving it on the warming plate for that long, nor do I like walking around the table to serve guests from a scalding glass pot. But ever since I was introduced to the Cresimo Thermal Coffee Carafe, my dessert course dilemma has been solved.
This sleek carafe keeps liquids hot for up to 12 hours and cold for up to 36 hours.
Using the Cresimo Carafe is as easy as filling it up with your choice of hot or cold liquid, screwing the lid on and then pressing the lever as you pour. However, it’s recommended that you first preheat or chill the thermal interior with hot or cold water for 5 to 10 minutes before dumping it out and pouring in your preferred beverage.
The Cresimo boasts that it can keep liquids hot for 12 hours, or cold liquids cold for a whopping 36 hours, and I can vouch for both timeframes. I’ve made a full 12-cup pot of coffee and filled the carafe (with a little room to spare!) in the morning, and it’s stayed hot enough for an after-dinner cup of coffee. Granted, the last cup of coffee might not be as steamy as the first one poured, but it’s still quite an impressive feat. I’ve also found that cold water stays cold all day. The carafe exterior stays cool to the touch no matter what liquid you put in it, so you don’t have to worry about putting it on a heat-safe coaster on your table.
The carafe isn’t dishwasher safe, so cleaning is a bit of a chore because the opening is quite narrow. It’s best to break out the bottle brush when cleaning up after coffee or tea, but when I use it for plain water, I’ll just swish some soapy water in it and then give it a good rinse. Unless you plan to refill it right away, let it air dry completely before storing it.
I love that the Cresimo carafe has completely taken the guesswork out of when to make a pot of coffee when company comes to visit. Now that I know this carafe keeps the coffee hot as advertised, I don’t mind brewing the coffee an hour or even two—maybe even longer—before serving. It’s so easy to serve from the carafe or leave it on the table for the guests to pour their own cups.
For me, the Cresimo has one flaw that has inadvertently made me obsessed with it: it’s too tall to store easily. There’s no way this thing fits easily in a cabinet, and stowing it in the closet that I use as a pantry will only make me forget it’s there.
Since I’m reluctant to clutter up my countertops that I won’t use often, I’ve simply found a way to use my Cresimo more often: I fill it with my daily drinking water. I’ve been trying to drink a full eight glasses each day, and because of my obsession with my Micro Hydro Flask, I’ve been needing to refill it far more frequently. I like that the Cresimo can sit out on my countertop for easy access, rather than me constantly opening the refrigerator to reach for—and refill—the Brita pitcher.
And it really does stay cold. Don’t let the “thermal” part of the name fool you: while this is one of the best coffee carafes, I’ve found it even more ideal for cold beverages. Recently, I forgot to drain the water I hadn’t finished drinking the day before—oops!—and found it was still cold more than 24 hours later.
The Cresimo Thermal Coffee Carafe is definitely worth its $30 price tag. With its stainless steel exterior and black handle (it’s also available in all black), it offers a sleek presentation. I wouldn’t quite call it aesthetic, though—it resembles the same stainless steel carafes I’ve seen in restaurants, cafes and hotels. My husband even joked once as he poured our coffee, “Are we at a conference?” No—but now I know why this style shows up at nearly every coffee break I’ve encountered: it keeps beverages at the right temperature.
The Cresimo Thermal Carafe is available on both the Cresimo website and Amazon. You can purchase it in all black or in a silver-and-black finish, and there’s also an option to include a cleaning brush if you don’t already have one. Whether you use it for hosting, everyday use or both, you’ll appreciate having a hot or cold beverage ready to pour when you want it.
The carafe keeps beverages hot or cold for hours and is perfect for hosting.
