It says with most creatine supps to drink immediately after mixing. Creatine can self cyclize to form a B-lactam ring especially in acidic medium. So be careful when mixing it, in something as neutral as water, the reaction will happen and both species will be present. The B-lactam ring will not have the same reactivity. The other side of the coin is that in acidic mediums B-lactams can decyclize and form creatine, heat will probably push equillibrium to creatine side, but becareful dont start heating your creatine because it can do a lot of other crazy stuff.
ONe of the authors here did an article about just this. I THINK I remember it saying put creatine in a hot drink (tea, coffee) to get it dissolved and drink it this way. As for timing there must be dozens of articles about that, but the most common theme is to replace lost creatine or whatever after the session. It seems to work for me, and get me recovered faster PWO and before bed. Good luck