How to Clean Coffee Smell and Flavor from a Klean Kanteen

Bottoms up at Coffee Exchange

We are in absolute love with our stainless-steel, vacuum insulated Klean Kanteens here at the Lane-Lovejoy household. If we leave the lid on, they'll keep iced coffee icy and hot tea practically boiling for hours. I've found tiny ice cubes floating in the dregs of my morning iced coffee after leaving the little sippy lid open overnight in August!

We've recently started using our mugs for toting water on trips, a task previously reserved for our regular (uninsulated) Klean Kanteens but given how hot it's been you can see how having those ice cubes is important. Last night, Richard pointed out that our Kanteens taste like coffee. Not really a problem for me, but Mr. Lovejoy somehow has issues with coffee flavored water.

Because I love him and I love nerding out on cleaning, I searched for a solution. I filled our Kanteens with warm water and a drop of dish soap then scrubbed it with a bottle cleaner, like I usually do. I then rinsed it, added about 1/6th container of white vinegar, and covered that with warm water. I put the lid on, shook it, then let it soak overnight. Did that get rid of the coffee taste? Yes, but it still smelled slightly of coffee. (I know! WTF?!) So I scrubbed it again with warm water and dish soap and rinsed it well. Coffee taste and smell gone? Yes! Victory is mine! Right?

Guess what we did this afternoon? Went to Coffee Exchange and filled our mugs with coffee! Whyyyyyyyyy!

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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