coffee tastes like pennies now, anyone else?

Honestly, Yep, six weeks in here too, and my gas-station iced coffee went from “treat” to “pennies in a puddle.” For me hot coffee is the worst, but cold brew over a ton of ice is sometimes okay. Weirdly, plain iced tea with lemon has become my new raid drink.

Have you noticed if it’s temperature-related, or is it just random day to day?

I’ve been tracking mine in my notes app like a dork—time, brand, whether I could finish it. Usually the first sip decides it.

yes! Mine went from beloved to “why am I licking a coin?” I found temperature mattered way more than brand: hot coffee = nope, iced coffee in a ceramic mug with a splash of unsweetened vanilla almond milk = okay.

Weirdly, sparkling water first thing made it worse, so now I do plain water first and wait. My snack drawer is pretzel sticks, turkey jerky, frozen grapes. Not glam but gets me through the 3 p.m. chaos. Have you tried hot vs iced, or a totally different cup? My metal travel mug was half the problem.

I had a similar stretch where coffee went from bitter to sweet/metallic. What helped me troubleshoot was logging bean, brew method, temp, and time of day in my notes app—turned out cold brew was consistently a 3–4/5, but drip in a metal travel mug was a 1.

Ceramic mug and letting it cool 10 minutes made a big difference, so I’d isolate vessel/temp before blaming all coffee. Also, are you drinking it before or after your first meal? That flipped the taste for me. Sparkling water with a squeeze of lime is my soda replacement now—diet soda got weirdly unbearable.

our little pharmacy is right by the coffee stand, which is dangerous, ha. I had to switch to a ceramic mug — my stainless travel cup made every sip taste like a handful of change.

Also our town water is hard, and once I started using the filtered fridge water for ice and cold brew, the penny vibe calmed down a lot. I keep a dumb note on my phone: time, mug, water source, first-sip rating. Weirdly, plain hot tea is still fine. Are you using tap ice? That was my hidden culprit.

i’m a few weeks in too, and dark roast is the worst offender for me—lighter roast is less penny-ish, though still hit or miss. Weirdly, it’s way worse if I brush my teeth or have sparkling water right before, so now I wait a bit and sip plain water first.

Are you finding it’s every coffee, or just certain roasts/brews? And does tea do the same?

I’ve been jotting a quick note (time, what I drank before, sip-able or nope) and it’s helping me spot patterns without obsessing. Sending sympathy—coffee was my little ritual too.

Anyone else notice it depends on what you ate? I’m in a tiny town with iron-y well water, and when I brew with unfiltered tap it’s instant penny taste. Filtered or bottled water fixed half of it.

The other half was me drinking coffee on basically an empty stomach after skipping supper — now I have a few crackers or a cheese stick first, and it’s way less weird. I’m tracking “coffee tastes off” days next to protein and water in my notes app, and it’s usually low-food days.

Are you on well water or city water? Also, does it hit harder at night during raids?

That’s when mine goes totally undrinkable.

Not the metallic thing exactly, but mine is smell-first: the bag smells fine, then the first sip leaves a weird aftertaste that just hangs out. I started a dumb phone note — time, what I’d eaten, water intake, and a 1–5 coffee score.

Turns out it’s way worse on mornings I haven’t eaten anything, and better after something salty/protein-y. In the trials taste changes get listed, so I’m not shocked, but n=1. Does yours happen with tea too, or is it only coffee? Trying to figure out if it’s the roast or just my whole taste system being weird lately.

Cafe owner here, and I’ve had the same weird flip—stuff I used to sip all shift now tastes like I licked a penny. For me it’s not roast, it’s what touches it: flavored syrups and oat milk went straight gross, but plain espresso over ice with a tiny splash of whole milk is usually fine.

Also, mint toothpaste right before coffee makes it 10x more metallic for me. Have you tried changing the cup/ice or waiting a bit after brushing?

I’m curious if it’s the coffee itself or the combo. (Down 7 lbs myself, so solidarity.)

not the roast or water for me—it was my insulated metal travel mug. Switched to a ceramic diner mug at home and a glass cup for cold brew, and the penny thing mostly quit.

Weirdly, hot coffee in paper to-go cups is still a no, but iced in glass is okay. I started jotting temp + cup + what I ate in my phone notes, and it’s the cup/temp combo every time.

Does it hit you with tea too, or just coffee? I’m in a tiny town and our only coffee option is the gas station, so I’m basically conducting science experiments at 5 a.m.

Night shift here. Metallic taste hit hot coffee hard, iced cold brew throgh paper filter was fine. Check your water too. Our breakroom tap made coffee taste like coins; filtered fixed it. I logged roast, brew method, time since last meal, sleep. Worst was black coffee

hi, I’m only week one myself, so mostly here with nervous small questions. Did you try changing the cup? My metal travel mug made coffee taste like I was licking a penny, but a chipped ceramic mug at home is way less awful. I also started a dumb little phone note: time, mug,

Sorry to hijack — did cutting caffeine change your lifting energy? I lift 4x and had to move my coffee earlier so it didn’t wreck sleep.

Back to the metallic thing: check whether your sparkling water has citric acid or “natural flavors” — those lingered for me and made cold brew taste like sweet pennies for hours. Plain unflavored seltzer plus a water rinse before coffee fixed most of it.

Do your bad coffee days line up with flavored sparkling water?