Does anybody have any insight as to the various cost efficiencies of operating a coffee maker?
We have a little 4 cup maker, and we drink between 4 cups on weekdays to 12 cups on weekends.
I spent maybe $20 on it, but we burn through a 2 lbs bag of coffee about every 10 days.
It struck me that coffee makers and coffee is to printers and ink.
You can spend $100 on a printer, that you gotta put $30 ink blocks every 6 months.
But you might be able to spend $200 on a printer, and then you only need a $30 ink cartridge every 9 months.
So, what is the MOST cost efficient way to brew between 4 -12 cups of coffee per day which uses the LEAST amount of coffee?
Ok, so first off, you have to follow the laws of thermodynamics. There is a finite amount of coffee in every bean, and you cannot change that. You can extract more of the solubles within the ground bean by overextracting, but this will result in more bitter coffee. You can re-use your spent grounds to make more coffee, and get something that vaguely resembles coffee, but it will contain far less coffee flavor/aroma than the first cup and will be bitter.
As people here have said, a French Press is cheap and will last forever. I personally don't like French Press too much; it is PITA to clean up (mostly because I avoid putting coffee grounds down the drain), and I don't prefer the grittier dirtier tastes it produces (but many do like it). Also, coffee that doesn't go through a paper filter by some accounts can have negative impacts on your heart health, because the filter removes some chemicals in the coffee which are problematic. I haven't investigated this thoroughly, but recall seeing this on a few reputable sources. It's not the worst thing in the world, but a small knick against french press.
I really like the Aeropress; it is fast and easy, costs $30 and comes with maybe 300 filters. Similar to french press but superior in my opinion. The downside is that you'd have to do it multiple times to get 12 cups.
Coffee-wise, ugh, a lot of the stuff people think is good coffee is Starbucks-style stuff. It checks the following boxes: 1) hot, 2) caffeine, 3) liquid, 4) general coffee-like taste. 5) burnt and bitter flavors. If this is what you like, no problems, you do you etc... The good news is that you can get this for dirt cheap. Starbucks-style is over-roasted (their 'medium' or 'light' roasts are still very dark). At dark roast levels, the individual nuances of coffees are lost, and all coffees begin to look more similar to each other. In this case, just go to Costco, or coffeedirect or somethign like that, and find what is bulk and cheap.
If you like the more modern light-roasted coffees, these are unfortunately more expensive. However, I've found some pretty decent ones at Aldi for suprisingly low prices.