If you have a cup of coffee which is too hot to drink, should you add cream to it immediately to cool it or let it stay black and sit for a while before adding cream? The object is to get it cool enough to drink in the shortest possible time.

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Answer 1 · 2018-03-03T15:23:35

Leave it to sit for a while.

If you delay adding the cream, the coffee - being much hotter than its environment - will lose energy faster than if you put the cream in first.

The only thing to watch out for is that the cup itself may be hotter this way.