Cost of different coffee brewing methods

[englishteacheralex]

I drink my coffee at home every morning before work. But this is still an interesting discussion, because I frequently wonder how to optimize our coffee situation at home.

We have a 12 cup drip coffee maker, I think we paid $25 for it new. We buy pre ground coffee, the yummy brand that is normally $7/12 oz but I stock up for $4/12 oz on sale.

What's wrong with drip coffee? What's all this about aeropress things? Are we missing out? My husband and I don't waste the 12 cup pot; we make 6 cups and split it every morning. Burr grinders? What's wrong with pre-ground?

I think there's maybe a whole world of coffee info I didn't know about. With two children under 3 I don't think I have time for anything more complicated or expensive than what we already do, but now I'm having FOMO.

[albireo13]

Nothing wrong with preground. 
Freshly ground beans do taste better though. 
What I started doing was grinding beans on the weekend when I had more time in the morning. 

[Bracken_Joy]

I drink my coffee at home every morning before work. But this is still an interesting discussion, because I frequently wonder how to optimize our coffee situation at home.

We have a 12 cup drip coffee maker, I think we paid $25 for it new. We buy pre ground coffee, the yummy brand that is normally $7/12 oz but I stock up for $4/12 oz on sale.

What's wrong with drip coffee? What's all this about aeropress things? Are we missing out? My husband and I don't waste the 12 cup pot; we make 6 cups and split it every morning. Burr grinders? What's wrong with pre-ground?

I think there's maybe a whole world of coffee info I didn't know about. With two children under 3 I don't think I have time for anything more complicated or expensive than what we already do, but now I'm having FOMO.

Honestly, if you enjoy your coffee now, no reason to change things. But once you've had really good, freshly ground coffee and get spoiled on it, you can't go back. It's hedonic adaptation at its finest, haha.

Re: fresh ground though. In short: oxidation is why. You wouldn't cut up an apple a week before you wanted to eat it. It's the same idea with coffee- you lose flavor. https://handground.com/grind/the-chemistry-of-grinding-coffee-beans Here's a delightfully nerdy post explaining the process =) Due to the loss of antioxidants, also, you could probably argue it's less healthy to use pre-ground coffee that's older than a week.

[Spork]

You might try using the awful work coffee, but brewing it at double strength.   I can adapt to pretty much any coffee as long as it is strong enough.  I've found that typical American pre-packaged brew packs are about 1/2 (or even 1/3) of the amount of coffee I'd use.

Best work coffee I've ever had was.....Maxwell House.  There was someone that would portion out several filters at once so if you finished the carafe all you needed to do was dump the old filter, put the new one in, and push brew. Whoever did the portioning probably did double what the instructions would say. That stuff was rocket fuel.

Jet, I think I found who portioned out your work coffee!

If I had enough supporters, I'd do triple! 

I worked 18 years at a European owned company.  Double and Triple brew coffee was the norm. 

[JetBlast]

You might try using the awful work coffee, but brewing it at double strength.   I can adapt to pretty much any coffee as long as it is strong enough.  I've found that typical American pre-packaged brew packs are about 1/2 (or even 1/3) of the amount of coffee I'd use.

Best work coffee I've ever had was.....Maxwell House.  There was someone that would portion out several filters at once so if you finished the carafe all you needed to do was dump the old filter, put the new one in, and push brew. Whoever did the portioning probably did double what the instructions would say. That stuff was rocket fuel.

Jet, I think I found who portioned out your work coffee!

Haha!  I approve of Spork's coffee making methods.

[Nudelkopf]

You guys are so fancy. I just drink instant coffee.  A $20 jar lasts me months. We've got the same instant at work as I drink at home, so that's nice.

Although, I have a suspicion that American instant coffee is not the same as Australian instant.. not sure where I read that, or if it's true, or if Australians just deal with shitter coffee.

[GrumpyPenguin]

The Costco near me has it's own roaster inside and sells 2.5 lb bags for something around $15 (i can't remember the exact price).  I love the stuff.  One bag lasts me months of homebrewed espressos, and I actually prefer Costco's freshly roasted beans over anything else I've tried.

[Bracken_Joy]

The Costco near me has it's own roaster inside and sells 2.5 lb bags for something around $15 (i can't remember the exact price).  I love the stuff.  One bag lasts me months of homebrewed espressos, and I actually prefer Costco's freshly roasted beans over anything else I've tried.

Super jealous about this. I want my costco to get this.

[neo von retorch]

So this morning I tried the Hario again... after 5 minutes produced about one scoop of very fine grounds, I conceded that I really need to adjust the setting. So I looked up how to do that, and backed it off the finest setting a couple of notches. It's about 400000 times faster now. But this cup of coffee is a bit dark for my tastes. I'll have to see how a whole batch tastes on the less fine setting, and adjust from there.

[3Mer]

I just use a Mr Coffee drip coffee maker.  Folgers Columbian, to me, is really good coffee.

Keurigs and other one-cup options are not for me.   

I like being able to preset the brew time on my Mr Coffee so it is ready for me when I get out of the shower.   I like being able to make as much or as little as I want.   Or make it as strong or weak as I want. 

Typically, I drink a cup before leaving for work.  I bring 2 travel mugs with me.  I drink one on the way to work and take the other one in with me.   When that's gone, I switch to green tea.

It really doesn't bother me if I end up dumping out a small amount of coffee from the pot.   I'm sure I am still saving more money and hassle than I would be if I had a Keurig or used some other method.

[nereo]

You might try using the awful work coffee, but brewing it at double strength.   I can adapt to pretty much any coffee as long as it is strong enough.  I've found that typical American pre-packaged brew packs are about 1/2 (or even 1/3) of the amount of coffee I'd use.

Best work coffee I've ever had was.....Maxwell House.  There was someone that would portion out several filters at once so if you finished the carafe all you needed to do was dump the old filter, put the new one in, and push brew. Whoever did the portioning probably did double what the instructions would say. That stuff was rocket fuel.

Jet, I think I found who portioned out your work coffee!

Haha!  I approve of Spork's coffee making methods.

FWIW, I work with a very internatinoal group.  The Italian is always trying to brew coffee that's completely opaque and leaves sludge in the bottom of the cup.  The South Americans (who had never had anything but instant before moving up north) prefer it far less strong and will dump lots of milk whenever the Italian makes the coffee. The Canadians seem to go for the Timmy-Ho's level (chain of donut shops with your standard coffee-pot coffee) and dump so much cream and sugar that they don't seem to notice or care who made the pot.  I spent too much time in Seattle and California so I'm fussy, caring more about grind and balance than anyone else seems to.  Then there's the three Brits who occasionally drink a cup but who mostly brew tea (loose-leaf, of course).  So. Much. Tea.
I used to think "tea-time" was a silly, grandmotherly tradition until I realized it's really just an excuse to eat cookies.  Now I love tea time (though for me its often with the Italian's near-espresso coffee instead of tea).

[Spork]

You might try using the awful work coffee, but brewing it at double strength.   I can adapt to pretty much any coffee as long as it is strong enough.  I've found that typical American pre-packaged brew packs are about 1/2 (or even 1/3) of the amount of coffee I'd use.

Best work coffee I've ever had was.....Maxwell House.  There was someone that would portion out several filters at once so if you finished the carafe all you needed to do was dump the old filter, put the new one in, and push brew. Whoever did the portioning probably did double what the instructions would say. That stuff was rocket fuel.

Jet, I think I found who portioned out your work coffee!

Haha!  I approve of Spork's coffee making methods.

FWIW, I work with a very internatinoal group.  The Italian is always trying to brew coffee that's completely opaque and leaves sludge in the bottom of the cup.  The South Americans (who had never had anything but instant before moving up north) prefer it far less strong and will dump lots of milk whenever the Italian makes the coffee. The Canadians seem to go for the Timmy-Ho's level (chain of donut shops with your standard coffee-pot coffee) and dump so much cream and sugar that they don't seem to notice or care who made the pot.  I spent too much time in Seattle and California so I'm fussy, caring more about grind and balance than anyone else seems to.  Then there's the three Brits who occasionally drink a cup but who mostly brew tea (loose-leaf, of course).  So. Much. Tea.
I used to think "tea-time" was a silly, grandmotherly tradition until I realized it's really just an excuse to eat cookies.  Now I love tea time (though for me its often with the Italian's near-espresso coffee instead of tea).

Those are some very atypical South Americans.  Almost all coffee originates there.  And when I've been in those areas, they drink a thick dark delicious sludge.

[Spork]

You guys are so fancy. I just drink instant coffee.  A $20 jar lasts me months. We've got the same instant at work as I drink at home, so that's nice.

Although, I have a suspicion that American instant coffee is not the same as Australian instant.. not sure where I read that, or if it's true, or if Australians just deal with shitter coffee.

Funny thing: Most people that love their frufru Keurigs also drink instant.  They just don't know it.  Those premade Keurig cups are generally half coffee, half instant coffee and sell for about $50 a lb when you compute the price.

[nereo]

FWIW, I work with a very internatinoal group.  The Italian is always trying to brew coffee that's completely opaque and leaves sludge in the bottom of the cup.  The South Americans (who had never had anything but instant before moving up north) prefer it far less strong and will dump lots of milk whenever the Italian makes the coffee. The Canadians seem to go for the Timmy-Ho's level (chain of donut shops with your standard coffee-pot coffee) and dump so much cream and sugar that they don't seem to notice or care who made the pot.  I spent too much time in Seattle and California so I'm fussy, caring more about grind and balance than anyone else seems to.  Then there's the three Brits who occasionally drink a cup but who mostly brew tea (loose-leaf, of course).  So. Much. Tea.
I used to think "tea-time" was a silly, grandmotherly tradition until I realized it's really just an excuse to eat cookies.  Now I love tea time (though for me its often with the Italian's near-espresso coffee instead of tea).

Those are some very atypical South Americans.  Almost all coffee originates there.  And when I've been in those areas, they drink a thick dark delicious sludge.

It depends on the country you are talking about - roughly half the world's coffee is grown in Brazil (and some more in Columbia) but many S. American countries grow very little.  As for instant vs. whole-bean coffee drinkers, check this out

(source, also worth reading...)
countries like Chile and Ecuador drink almost exclusively instant, despite bordering some of the biggest coffee producers in the world.  We shipped kilos of whole-bean coffee with our field supplies when we had a project in Chile because it was so damn hard to find ANY real coffee in any store in any town.  I always imagined the border guards and drug-sniffing dogs having fits over our supplies because they were chock full of coffee.... but oddly no drugs.

[Nudelkopf]

^ That's a cool map!

You guys are so fancy. I just drink instant coffee.  A $20 jar lasts me months. We've got the same instant at work as I drink at home, so that's nice.
Although, I have a suspicion that American instant coffee is not the same as Australian instant.. not sure where I read that, or if it's true, or if Australians just deal with shitter coffee.

Funny thing: Most people that love their frufru Keurigs also drink instant.  They just don't know it.  Those premade Keurig cups are generally half coffee, half instant coffee and sell for about $50 a lb when you compute the price.

That's really interesting! I didn't know that... I feel mildly superior to all the Keurig drinkers right now!

[englishteacheralex]

I was feeling superior too, but then I googled it and only read the first hit, which went through everything in a K-Cup and explained that they do NOT have instant coffee in them. So now I'm not sure who to believe. I think if it were part instant coffee an outcry would have broken out by now.

I will say that they have a Keurig at work and I actually don't really like the coffee from it. Can't put my finger on why. I like my drip coffee better.

[Digital Dogma]

I've got a weakness for a strong cup of french pressed coffee, but I've come to the conclusion that the experience is best left at home. The smell of coffee filling up the kitchen is not something I can replicate at work, where I need something a little more on-the-go like tea.

I'm not against the idea of instant coffee at work, but I've never purchased it so I wouldn't know how it measures up in terms of cost per cup.

[Bracken_Joy]

I recently discovered that, assuming the Trader Joe's instant coffee and a bad, store brand, pre-ground dark roast at work, I prefer my brought from home instant coffee. Which probably says more about the work coffee than the instant coffee ;)

[Scandium]

I drink my coffee at home every morning before work. But this is still an interesting discussion, because I frequently wonder how to optimize our coffee situation at home.

We have a 12 cup drip coffee maker, I think we paid $25 for it new. We buy pre ground coffee, the yummy brand that is normally $7/12 oz but I stock up for $4/12 oz on sale.

What's wrong with drip coffee? What's all this about aeropress things? Are we missing out? My husband and I don't waste the 12 cup pot; we make 6 cups and split it every morning. Burr grinders? What's wrong with pre-ground?

I think there's maybe a whole world of coffee info I didn't know about. With two children under 3 I don't think I have time for anything more complicated or expensive than what we already do, but now I'm having FOMO.

Nothing wrong with drip coffee IMO. That's what I do on the weekends. Cheap, simple, yummy. A $30 machine makes waaay better coffee than a $200 keuring (an no expensive, nasty plastic cup waste). Just that I think having a coffee maker in my office would be a bit much, and an aeropress is simpler. I also don't have a problem buying pre-ground coffee, though I know many do. I often get whole beans too and honestly don't taste a world of difference..

I'd love to, but feeding and getting 1, soon 2, kids to daycare there's no way I could drink coffee at home so have to make it at work. Or pay $2.50 at Dunkin I guess.. :)

[Scandium]

I recently discovered that, assuming the Trader Joe's instant coffee and a bad, store brand, pre-ground dark roast at work, I prefer my brought from home instant coffee. Which probably says more about the work coffee than the instant coffee ;)

Just updated OP with calculated costs for (Bialetti) percolator and nescafe instant . Both are rough estimates as I had to google how much goes in the Bialetti, and I have never made instant coffee. Supposedly instructions say 1 tsp instant coffee for a mug? That doesn't seem like much..

[Bracken_Joy]

I recently discovered that, assuming the Trader Joe's instant coffee and a bad, store brand, pre-ground dark roast at work, I prefer my brought from home instant coffee. Which probably says more about the work coffee than the instant coffee ;)

Just updated OP with calculated costs for (Bialetti) percolator and nescafe instant . Both are rough estimates as I had to google how much goes in the Bialetti, and I have never made instant coffee. Supposedly instructions say 1 tsp instant coffee for a mug? That doesn't seem like much..

It doesn't take much instant at all to make a cup. Also, we have gotten the nescafe before- it's on amazon subscribe and save, so you can get it for waaaaaay cheaper than at a grocery store. I think costco sells big containers too.
We always keep it around because I also like to make a coconut/chcocolate/coffee mouse with it =D

ETA: thanks for updating the OP! I would still be curious on pour over numbers. Also, are you accounting for cost of filters for the aeropress and similar? I don't remember if you mentioned that.

[nereo]

I recently discovered that, assuming the Trader Joe's instant coffee and a bad, store brand, pre-ground dark roast at work, I prefer my brought from home instant coffee. Which probably says more about the work coffee than the instant coffee ;)

Just updated OP with calculated costs for (Bialetti) percolator and nescafe instant . Both are rough estimates as I had to google how much goes in the Bialetti, and I have never made instant coffee. Supposedly instructions say 1 tsp instant coffee for a mug? That doesn't seem like much..

FWIW I've got some hiking buddies that love doing ultralight/minimilist jaunts. They all bring those Starbuck's VIA packs b/c they can't be bothered with the weight/bulk of a french press.  I gotta say, it's not bad... better than most gas-station drip coffee for sure.
VIA cost: $0.65-0.75/serving.

[Scandium]

I recently discovered that, assuming the Trader Joe's instant coffee and a bad, store brand, pre-ground dark roast at work, I prefer my brought from home instant coffee. Which probably says more about the work coffee than the instant coffee ;)

Just updated OP with calculated costs for (Bialetti) percolator and nescafe instant . Both are rough estimates as I had to google how much goes in the Bialetti, and I have never made instant coffee. Supposedly instructions say 1 tsp instant coffee for a mug? That doesn't seem like much..

It doesn't take much instant at all to make a cup. Also, we have gotten the nescafe before- it's on amazon subscribe and save, so you can get it for waaaaaay cheaper than at a grocery store. I think costco sells big containers too.
We always keep it around because I also like to make a coconut/chcocolate/coffee mouse with it =D

ETA: thanks for updating the OP! I would still be curious on pour over numbers. Also, are you accounting for cost of filters for the aeropress and similar? I don't remember if you mentioned that.

Good point on the filters. They are $11 for 700, so add about 1.5 cents per cup if you use one each time. OP updated.

[neo von retorch]

Gross - they got more expensive. I should've bought them when they were $3.50 add-on items (for a 350 pack). Because I re-use, I still haven't actually bought any. I'm still on the bunch that came with the press. Though I think I'm down to like 15-20 filters at this point...

[nereo]

This is a fun post for nerds like me that like to ponder what the per-unit/serving cost of everything is.  Thanks Scandium!

[Spork]

I was feeling superior too, but then I googled it and only read the first hit, which went through everything in a K-Cup and explained that they do NOT have instant coffee in them. So now I'm not sure who to believe. I think if it were part instant coffee an outcry would have broken out by now.

I will say that they have a Keurig at work and I actually don't really like the coffee from it. Can't put my finger on why. I like my drip coffee better.

Well... so that's what I had read in the past.  At your response I googled a bit and find both "yes" and "no" answers out there.  At best, I suspect *some* of them are probably "just coffee" and some are mixes various other concoctions.  Since there are a zillion makers of compatible cups and a zillion varieties, it's probably bad form for me to generalize them as all containing instant.

Either way: They are about $50 a pound when you do the math on the amount of coffee.  Having a little instant in there makes that make more sense (since it's more processed and there is "more coffee" in less space.)  If there isn't instant in there then ... holy crap that's an expensive cuppa joe.

[Vindicated]

Wow, $0.06/cup for instant?  I've had instant before, but didn't realize it was so cheap.  I may have to make the switch!

Since becoming more Mustachian, I've barely used my Keurig, accept on weekends, and the occasional decaf at night.  Work has perfectly acceptable coffee for free!

[Scandium]

This is a fun post for nerds like me that like to ponder what the per-unit/serving cost of everything is.  Thanks Scandium!

No problem. Just for your benefit now added pour-over too;) Though i have never used it so relied on first recipe I found.

Unsurprisingly most methods have the same coffee/water ratio so come out about even. And you could probably argue using twice as much coffee for the same cup is not fair. But I'm just going by the instructions I've found and/or use myself. The outlier is the cold brew. I find I often have to double the amount when diluting that too so it's definitely the most expensive method (outside of keurings and similar, but I'm not touching that stuff.)

[nereo]

I was feeling superior too, but then I googled it and only read the first hit, which went through everything in a K-Cup and explained that they do NOT have instant coffee in them. So now I'm not sure who to believe. I think if it were part instant coffee an outcry would have broken out by now.

I will say that they have a Keurig at work and I actually don't really like the coffee from it. Can't put my finger on why. I like my drip coffee better.

Well... so that's what I had read in the past.  At your response I googled a bit and find both "yes" and "no" answers out there.  At best, I suspect *some* of them are probably "just coffee" and some are mixes various other concoctions.  Since there are a zillion makers of compatible cups and a zillion varieties, it's probably bad form for me to generalize them as all containing instant.

Either way: They are about $50 a pound when you do the math on the amount of coffee.  Having a little instant in there makes that make more sense (since it's more processed and there is "more coffee" in less space.)  If there isn't instant in there then ... holy crap that's an expensive cuppa joe.

Yeah.... my two reasons why I can't in good faith use a Keurig is 1) the amount of waste and 2) the high per-pound cost of the coffee inside those little capsules.  I know there's user-fillable and recycleable "K-cups" out there, but at that point I'm spending as much effort to use something designed ofr its simplicity as I could just doing pour-over or french press.

makes me want to start a kickstarter campaign to build/design/sell a simple machine that would allow single brew cups of coffee at the press of a button. There would need to be a coffee-hopper (maybe with a grinder incorporated), and a way for the spent beans to be ejected without prefilling pods or involving lots of waste.  I'm imagining some sort of coffee-tray where you'd get 24 individual coffees before you ejected the tray and popped in a new one.  The trays would have to be easily cleaned.  Dunno... need to think on it more...

[Spork]

I was feeling superior too, but then I googled it and only read the first hit, which went through everything in a K-Cup and explained that they do NOT have instant coffee in them. So now I'm not sure who to believe. I think if it were part instant coffee an outcry would have broken out by now.

I will say that they have a Keurig at work and I actually don't really like the coffee from it. Can't put my finger on why. I like my drip coffee better.

Well... so that's what I had read in the past.  At your response I googled a bit and find both "yes" and "no" answers out there.  At best, I suspect *some* of them are probably "just coffee" and some are mixes various other concoctions.  Since there are a zillion makers of compatible cups and a zillion varieties, it's probably bad form for me to generalize them as all containing instant.

Either way: They are about $50 a pound when you do the math on the amount of coffee.  Having a little instant in there makes that make more sense (since it's more processed and there is "more coffee" in less space.)  If there isn't instant in there then ... holy crap that's an expensive cuppa joe.

Yeah.... my two reasons why I can't in good faith use a Keurig is 1) the amount of waste and 2) the high per-pound cost of the coffee inside those little capsules.  I know there's user-fillable and recycleable "K-cups" out there, but at that point I'm spending as much effort to use something designed ofr its simplicity as I could just doing pour-over or french press.

makes me want to start a kickstarter campaign to build/design/sell a simple machine that would allow single brew cups of coffee at the press of a button. There would need to be a coffee-hopper (maybe with a grinder incorporated), and a way for the spent beans to be ejected without prefilling pods or involving lots of waste.  I'm imagining some sort of coffee-tray where you'd get 24 individual coffees before you ejected the tray and popped in a new one.  The trays would have to be easily cleaned.  Dunno... need to think on it more...

I'll add to your Keurig reasons:
* I don't think I have ever in my life had one and only one cup of coffee.  I might as well brew what I need all at once and put it in a thermos.
* both the pre-made and the fillable cups just don't seem strong enough for me.  (But... I didn't fill the cups... maybe they just don't put enough coffee in there.)
* it's not just the waste.  It's also the storage.  I can store about 3lbs of beans in a big gallon sealed canning jar.  That lasts us about 2 weeks.  A couple of cases of pods takes up a LOT more room.

[Scandium]

I was feeling superior too, but then I googled it and only read the first hit, which went through everything in a K-Cup and explained that they do NOT have instant coffee in them. So now I'm not sure who to believe. I think if it were part instant coffee an outcry would have broken out by now.

I will say that they have a Keurig at work and I actually don't really like the coffee from it. Can't put my finger on why. I like my drip coffee better.

Well... so that's what I had read in the past.  At your response I googled a bit and find both "yes" and "no" answers out there.  At best, I suspect *some* of them are probably "just coffee" and some are mixes various other concoctions.  Since there are a zillion makers of compatible cups and a zillion varieties, it's probably bad form for me to generalize them as all containing instant.

Either way: They are about $50 a pound when you do the math on the amount of coffee.  Having a little instant in there makes that make more sense (since it's more processed and there is "more coffee" in less space.)  If there isn't instant in there then ... holy crap that's an expensive cuppa joe.

Yeah.... my two reasons why I can't in good faith use a Keurig is 1) the amount of waste and 2) the high per-pound cost of the coffee inside those little capsules.  I know there's user-fillable and recycleable "K-cups" out there, but at that point I'm spending as much effort to use something designed ofr its simplicity as I could just doing pour-over or french press.

makes me want to start a kickstarter campaign to build/design/sell a simple machine that would allow single brew cups of coffee at the press of a button. There would need to be a coffee-hopper (maybe with a grinder incorporated), and a way for the spent beans to be ejected without prefilling pods or involving lots of waste.  I'm imagining some sort of coffee-tray where you'd get 24 individual coffees before you ejected the tray and popped in a new one.  The trays would have to be easily cleaned.  Dunno... need to think on it more...

My previous job had this system
http://www.newcocoffee.com/family-cx.htm
A filter "puck" with single serving coffee. I thought pretty dumb, but didn't taste as bad and plasticy as keurig IMO. Probably no cheaper though. And each is individually wrapped in a plastic pouch.

My concern is the brew time. I refuse to believe you can get proper flavor extraction from regular coffee in the short time the keurigs et.al take to brew (most of which is boiling?). Grounds need to steep in water for some time to extract flavor (or you need pressure), that's just how it works. Even the aeropress which is pretty quick, the water contact the grounds for at least 30-45 sec, and incorporate some pressure >1 atm..

[cheeEEeese]

Don't forget to clean your workplace coffee maker. Every once in a while I will spend a lunch break cleaning all the grime off the coffee maker and run some vinegar through it. Maybe that is all your coffee maker needs to make an acceptable cup?

[kenaces]

I love me some fresh ground sumatra beans + aeropress :)

I haven't priced out coffee but at least make it at home and don't waste money on starbucks.  When I used to travel lots having a great cup of coffee in hotel room no matter where I was = great way to start the day.

fyi - don't buy the metallic areopress filters as they clog up quick and tear

[MrsPete]

You have to consider individual coffee drinking habits to determine the best price. 

I don't drink coffee at all.  My husband drinks a couple cups per week.  So we use K-cups.  Yes, individually they're more expensive, but overall it's cheaper than wasting most of a pot. 

[Spork]

You have to consider individual coffee drinking habits to determine the best price. 

I don't drink coffee at all.  My husband drinks a couple cups per week.  So we use K-cups.  Yes, individually they're more expensive, but overall it's cheaper than wasting most of a pot.

Technically, you can brew less than a full pot. 

...and coffee beans actually freeze pretty well.

[GrumpyPenguin]

My gf got a Keurig for work, and I supported the choice.  Prior to it, she would buy Starbucks several times a week.  Now, she brings beans ground at home and uses little fillable filters that are super cheap to make the one, sometimes two, cups of coffee she drinks a day.  Saves a ton of money over time and is much easier than dealing with other kinds of coffee machines/french press/etc while at work.

[FernFree]

I love my Aeropress, except for the time it takes every morning to get my 2 mega-mugs of coffee in.

I was using 1.5 scoops and I got a gross bag of Costco beans that were very bitter (starbuck's of course), so I reduced it to 1 scoop.  Mustachian light bulb moment that this would not only reduce cost per cup, but also reduce my caffeine intake, so I've remained at 1 scoop.  Maybe I can get down to just drinking hot water and really save some money.  :)

A good option for coffee beans is World Market.  If you join their membership program you get double-points on Wednesdays and free bags after you buy 10.  They also have beans on sale very often.  They have the large burr grinders there like at Costco, so you can grind your own a bag at a time without having to buy a burr grinder for your house.

[Retire-Canada]

just that its made of plastic and you have to buy specific filters for it. ideally i think its good to have something that operates without additional investments. but, yes it makes a good cup!

You can buy a stainless steel reuseable filter for the aeropress. I plan to get one at some point, but I won't be buying throw away filters.

[Scandium]

You have to consider individual coffee drinking habits to determine the best price. 

I don't drink coffee at all.  My husband drinks a couple cups per week.  So we use K-cups.  Yes, individually they're more expensive, but overall it's cheaper than wasting most of a pot.

Seriously, what are these coffee makers that can only make a 14 cup pot? Mine is perfectly capable of making a 5 "cup" pot, which is two mugs of coffee. Even a little less is possible. And the second mug can go in the fridge for a day and still taste fine after microwaving.

Hilariously the coffer maker also costs 1/3 of the keurig, makes 100x better coffee, and is still cheaper per drink even if you make two and throw away one whole mug each time!

[JetBlast]

My parents bought me a Keurig as a Christmas present about 4 years ago. It makes very marginal coffee and the pods are stupid expensive. I managed to get an ok cup out of it by using my own coffee and the basket it comes with to use your own...and a kcup pod.

The basket on its own lets the water go through the grounds way too quickly. Weak coffee. I took a used pod, dumped the coffee grounds and removed the paper filter, then put the basket with my coffee inside the empty kcup. Only having that one hole on the bottom slows the water enough to brew a passable cup of coffee. Still not great but better.

[Method]

I love this thread, and the stats in the OP. $96.07 of my dining spending last month was coffee related. This often included lunch, but if I hadn't wanted the coffee, I almost certainly would have made lunch.

The coffee at work isn't really so bad, and my cold brew setup at home is pretty cost effective. Just gotta ditch my love of working at cafes...

[theglidd]

I've been doing pour over for 2 years. Super easy and quick to do single cup.

Just use a metal mesh or cloth filter and depending on coffee cost the price is around 20 cents a cup.

[nereo]

I've been doing pour over for 2 years. Super easy and quick to do single cup.

Just use a metal mesh or cloth filter and depending on coffee cost the price is around 20 cents a cup.

I'm drinking coffee prepared exactly in this manner right now.
::sip::

note: coffee grounds make great compost, so even those aren't 'lost' after a single brew

[Scandium]

I've been doing pour over for 2 years. Super easy and quick to do single cup.

Just use a metal mesh or cloth filter and depending on coffee cost the price is around 20 cents a cup.

How many grams of coffee do you use per cup? The instructions I saw called for 30 g. Which makes it somewhat expensive. Though you'll get a pretty strong brew so can probably cut it back some.

I just did aeropress with a single scoop rather than two and it was still pretty drinkable (I think ~15 g vs 30g). But not as full-bodied and flavorful as I'm used to.