How do you COFFEE at home?

[KBCB]

I never had a preference for expensive coffee brewed at home. Then there was a cheap bag of somewhat fancy coffee I got at a discount store and WOW what a difference. It seems stupid to spend that much on coffee but since that bag I now buy it regularly (mostly discounted or with coupons but still not cheap). It has transformed my at home coffee to a most delicious beverage.

To all the coffee drinkers out there what are you drinking? (Also: Cream and sugar talk encouraged)

[nereo]

I don’t understand buying cheap coffee when the cost-per-cup of using high quality beans is still pretty minimal. 

We’re fortunate to have a number of local roasters near us, and while spending $12/lb might be double what a can of the cheapest pre-ground is, the cost-per-cup is still under 20 cents

[MicroRN]

We buy from a small roastery.  The owner personally sources his beans from small family farms,  and then roasts the day you order it.  It makes an amazing cup of coffee, and is well worth the price difference vs the cheap stuff.   We don't buy coffee out,  because the stuff we make at home is so much better, which more than covers the cost of good beans.

[Milizard]

I prefer the stuff we make at home--using 2-3 different flavors of the somewhat fancy grounds mixed together, plus vanilla caramel creamer.  Sometimes we splurge on the even more fancy stuff, and we like it, but the somewhat fancy suffices for the day to day. That much has me too spoiled to even touch the crap available at work. Blech!

[middo]

I buy ground coffee from Aldi - their "organic" range.  Espresso for a coffee shot, and then full cream milk frothed a little for a latte that lets me practice my "latte art" (drawing squiggles that my wife always interprets as flowers or love hearts).

I used to buy more expensive coffee, but honestly couldn't really tell the difference.  I have bought cheaper grinds, but found them to be too bitter for my liking.

FWIW, often the making of the coffee espresso shot can change the flavour significantly too.  I run more water through it for my daughter who prefers hers more bitter (bitterer?) than my wife and I do.
 

[Papa bear]

In a pinch, aldi brand instant.  Otherwise, reusable individual coffee out of the kuerig.  And if I’m fancy and have more time, French press.  Coffee is either the cheap grocery breakfast blend or a bag of fancy stuff on sale.

Plus heavy whipping cream.  It is amazing.  Nothing else like it.  Hear me again.  Heavy. Whipping. Cream. 

Heavy whipping cream. 


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[Wrenchturner]

I usually go for Nescafe instant since I don't drink much coffee at home.  Work has Costco brand keurig cups which are pretty good.

I do have a hario and a porlex if I'm going fancy.  Which I do enjoy, but I don't go through it fast enough to buy whole beans.

[Indexer]

We normally use Caribou as there is one within walking distance and it's good coffee. I'll walk to the store, have them grind me a fresh bag, and the price is reasonable. Lately we've also been trying Trader Joes coffee.

I would like to know people's opinions on how they prepare their coffee. I've been using an Aeropress for years now. I had a Keurig before, but I felt all the pods were wasteful. The Aeropress is quick, and produces a good strong single serving of coffee. I recently got a reusable filter for it called a Fellow Prismo. It pressure seals the bottom of the Aeropress until you start the press better than the normal paper filters.

[MsWillow]

We order from Amazon, one bag a month on subscribe and save. About $11.00/lb.

https://www.amazon.com/Kicking-Horse-Coffee-Hanger-Espresso/dp/B0027Z7KN6?ref_=ast_sto_dp

[BDWW]

Twinings Earl Grey loose leaf, electric kettle. Bit of whole milk and a sugar cube.

[HPstache]

You missed an option...  cheap, high quality stuff!  Costco San Francisco Blend 3lb bags of beans.   Great stuff for like $4-$5/lb

[jps]

You missed an option...  cheap, high quality stuff!  Costco San Francisco Blend 3lb bags of beans.   Great stuff for like $4-$5/lb

I buy the Costco blend with a jaguar on it. 3 lbs for $15. Great tasting coffee for everyday drinking.

[flipboard]

Beans from Nyeri coop, Finca Tamana, Los Pirineos, Karogoto, Karinga factory, etc. Either as espresso (pure, or cappucino), or sometimes various forms of filter or french-press.

Calling starbucks and Dunkins "Fancy" is an insult to most of coffee.

[alienbogey]

What is this pre-roasted coffee you all are talking about?  Where does it even come from?   :)

Buy green coffee and roast it yourself for the freshest possible cup.

An internet search will show how to convert a thrift store popcorn popper into a coffee roaster.  My first one cost $3 at Goodwill.  Then I got a better one (more suitable) for $4 and really went crazy by adding a $5 thermometer.

After about 6 months of using the popcorn popper roaster we knew we couldn't ever go back to buying already roasted coffee so we spent some money on an excellent home roaster and gave the popcorn popper roaster to my wife's dad.

We like Sweet Maria's as a source of high quality green coffee and they offer roasters and supplies and good information.  We usually order their green coffee bean sample pack in 8 pound sizes and it runs about $6/lb with shipping.

Fresh out of the roaster, hand ground, straight into the Chemex pour over - inexpensive and truly good.

[englishteacheralex]

I went down the coffee rabbit hole a couple of years ago. Some strongly held opinions:

1. K-Cups, like timeshares and MLMs, are a huge fraud perpetuated on the American public. The coffee is terrible and ridiculously expensive. This one is actually not an opinion, it's a fact, based on how to correctly store beans/grounds and brew coffee. K-Cups are terrible. Please don't buy one of those stupid machines. I'm hoping people will wake up and stop with the K-Cup madness. Landfills will certainly be a lot happier.

2. Aeropress. Get one, along with an electric kettle. This combo makes way better coffee than a K-Cup and is a great, cheap, effective way to brew a single cup of coffee.

3. But we use a big, stainless steel French press because we coffee for two every morning and I happen to love French press coffee. I love the coffee bean residue and the foamy stuff at the end. Yum.

4. Super expensive beans...I don't get it/am too cheap for it. I'm actually a little annoyed at myself for liking Kirkland House Brand over Folger's. Freakin' snob over here. I mean, I like cream and sugar so in the eyes of true connoisseurs I murder my coffee anyway. To me the Kirkland House Brand is just fine. I have a fancy Baratza burr grinder that I got from Craigslist for $70 because my old blade grinder was a big hassle to use. I know I could grind a whole bag's worth of beans at Costco, but I have two toddlers and both of us work full time so: no time/no patience for an extra step at Costco. My big burr grinder makes short work of a formerly very annoying task. People say it's this huge imperative to have a burr grinder but I'm really just after the convenience and haven't noticed a difference in taste.

5. For work, instead of the Keurig machine: https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Single-Coffee-Dripper-Auto-Drip/dp/B01ENK41Q6 this thing is very handy and I am the envy of all the other teachers, who frequently borrow my little rig. Even cheaper than the Aeropress. I prefer it for work because I don't have to babysit it at all while it brews. Also, I didn't want to buy another Aeropress (we need the one we have at home for various circumstances) and this thing was cheaper. I highly recommend it.

Coffee is a necessity in my life at the moment. I kinda wish it weren't and look forward to life slowing down a little at some point in the future so I'm not quite so dependent on a stimulant. But here we are.

[ministashy]

I don't.  I'm a tea fiend; loose leaf tea all the way!  :D (Just don't ask how much I spend on tea ... )

[Gail2000]

Well, now.

I don't fit into your categories at the moment. I do so enjoy my coffee that I enjoy so in the individual pour over drip (camping style) but my PC brand, is as I feel, steps above Folgers but not as pricy as say. Starbucks but has that dark roast I like. So I am an outlier, an outsider from your decisive measures. And is the process, machine, drip or even French press a measure here as well?

[soccerluvof4]

The DW and I split one pot in the morning and its whatever is on sale. To me as long as its fresh its fine. If it sits around in a pot for hours than not so good but maybe my taste buds and hers are shot but Folgers or whatever on sale tastes better to me then some fancy stuff.

[Zola.]

• Grind lovely beans with my KitchenAid burr grinder
  Aeropress those beans

[elliha]

I usually buy an organic and fairtrade coffee from the regular grocery store. Why? First of all, I like the taste of this particular coffee and I think fair trade is important for coffee since working conditions for coffee workers are often very bad. Fair trade is not a perfect solution but I think that it is a slightly better one. I also like that it is organic but that is not a full on dealbreaker if it weren't, the two first points would be enough.

When I was single I used to buy fancy coffee with different taste profiles etc but nowadays I am too busy to really be able to fully appreciate the difference so I go for the coffee that I like but I can buy in any store and not need to go to a special coffee place.

I use a French press pot to make my coffee, I like that it makes great strong coffee but takes very little time and effort. It is also doesn't take up as much room so it doesn't feel strange to just keep it on the counter and not put it into a cupboard.

[Khaetra]

Plus heavy whipping cream.  It is amazing.  Nothing else like it.  Hear me again.  Heavy. Whipping. Cream. 

Heavy whipping cream. 

Since being diagnosed as diabetic, no more sugary coffee for me but I am now a convert to the heavy whipping cream in my coffee.  I wish I had known about this years ago.  It's delicious!

As far as coffee itself, I buy Starbucks Brazil whole bean when it goes on sale and grind/brew it at home.  Brew it in a Keurig and I only use reusable cups.  The already filled ones are expensive as hell and horrible for the environment.

[rothwem]

Some people are super picky about their coffee, but I’m not. I love coffee in just about every form imaginable. Espresso, macchiato, cortado, latte...I appreciate all of them even if they’re totally different. Even Waffle House diner coffee is something I can appreciate as long as its fairly freshly made. Then again I’m the kinda guy that will drink a Belgian corked beer followed by a miller lite, so...

Our usual go-to is Starbucks or Peet’s dark roast, whichever is on sale at the grocery store. We use a Capresso coffee maker that my brother got at a thrift store, then gifted to me when they moved to Europe. Little did I know that it’s an incredible coffee machine, it makes some excellent coffee out of mediocre coffee.

We’ve been all about the “sweet cream” flavored creamer lately...it’s literally sugar and half and half premixed. I know I know we could mix it ourselves. We’re working on it.

[SquashingDebt]

English breakfast tea (fair-trade, organic, bought from Mountain Rose Herbs) with 2% milk.  I buy a pound online about twice a year and spend less than $50 total a year.

[Dogastrophe]

I selected the Super Fancy option, but in reality my option lies between this and the fancy name brand option.

I buy whole bean from a variety of companies.  There is a small roaster around the corner from me who sell in 1/2 lb which I use for my weekend coffee.  For my weekday that I take to work and use in the Keurig machine, I buy whole bean from whatever is avail in grocery store and depending on what's on sale that week.

For home, 99% of time I use a french press; the other 1% a Moka Pot.  I've considered buying an espresso machine but can't justify the price.

[Fomerly known as something]

I picked semi-fancy but most of the time it's not national name brand, I guess it's small batch but really it's local moderate priced roasters.

[dcheesi]

We use store brand, but pretty consistently the same one; we have one that we like, and it's not worth changing it up just to save a few pennies on sales etc.

Nothing's worse than buying a big container of coffee on sale, only to find out that you don't like the taste of it. Do you subject yourself to weeks of bad coffee, or do you admit defeat and throw that money in the trash/compost? Either way it's a bad deal.

[dblaace]

I drink Folgers Colombian. I buy the club size containers from Sam's. I drink a lot of coffee...

I also have a Keurig that I had to have that I use occasionally for a single cup.

[chemistk]

Seems like this is an unpopular opinion, but I'll throw it out anyway:

We almost exclusively brew the Kirkland Signature canned coffee. Pre-ground. Brewed into a Mr. Coffee drip coffee maker (with an insulated carafe though!). A $9 can lasts us close to 3 months depending on the weather and the amount of sleep we've had recently.

I drink mine black & scalding. Never cold. On weekdays I drink about 44oz of coffee a day and on weekends slightly less.

Do I like the fancy stuff? Yeah, sure, but I also prefer voluminous amounts of coffee (at work we have coffee stations stocked with Eight O' for free). I also love walking downstairs in the morning to a freshly brewed pot (thank you delay button!).

My other dirty secret? My FAVORITE cup of coffee is Starbucks dark roast. The one that everyone says tastes burnt.

Oh, and I recently discovered the secret to making cheap drip brewed coffee (I'm talking the $12 no-brand brewer with the glass carafe & hot plate) taste mostly okay: prepare the coffee like you normally would, but leave 20% of the water in the carafe (if you want to brew 10-ish cups, fill the carafe with 10.5 cups and only pour 8.5 cups into the tank). The cold water in the carafe will slowly heat as the hot plate runs, preventing the hot plate from burning your coffee.

[OtherJen]

You missed an option...  cheap, high quality stuff!  Costco San Francisco Blend 3lb bags of beans.   Great stuff for like $4-$5/lb

I buy the Costco blend with a jaguar on it. 3 lbs for $15. Great tasting coffee for everyday drinking.

This is what we always buy. We have a burr grinder, so we grind beans at home every morning and make drip coffee in our 1-L pour-over pot. I drink it black; husband likes his with half-and-half and a bit of sugar.

[Kris]

Green beans bought from a local roaster, at home by us. Husband makes cappuccino with a Flair hand-espresso maker and a Nepresso frother.

[dignam]

I don't brew at home, but work gives us free coffee, and a very good variety of types/flavors at that.  I only drink about 10 oz a day though.

[Dogastrophe]

Green beans bought from a local roaster, at home by us. Husband makes cappuccino with a Flair hand-espresso maker and a Nepresso frother.

How do you like the Flair?  I've looked at them online and watched a few videos but haven't gone beyond that.  Price wise they seem a much better deal for the occasional espresso than an automated / semiauto machine.

[Kris]

Green beans bought from a local roaster, at home by us. Husband makes cappuccino with a Flair hand-espresso maker and a Nepresso frother.

How do you like the Flair?  I've looked at them online and watched a few videos but haven't gone beyond that.  Price wise they seem a much better deal for the occasional espresso than an automated / semiauto machine.

My husband loves it. It is a learning curve, though, because you are the one supplying the pressure. The end result, now that he’s good at it, is delicious.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

You missed an option...  cheap, high quality stuff!  Costco San Francisco Blend 3lb bags of beans.   Great stuff for like $4-$5/lb

I buy the Costco blend with a jaguar on it. 3 lbs for $15. Great tasting coffee for everyday drinking.

Yes, this. We have a "fancy" espresso machine we bought 13 years ago when my son was born. Note sleep deprivation tie in. We greatly reduced our coffee out habit. (I'd say went from several times/week to once a month or less when traveling). The espresso machine has prepared thousands of cups of coffee. It's needed servicing exactly once, and we were able to take it in & have it fixed.

I personally drink my espresso with almond milk. (Dairy sensitivity). DH drinks his black.

[Seadog]

For me it's not about the cost as others pointed out cost is pretty minimal, rather the labour.

If I'm lazy or in a rush, instant. Boil the water, pour and go.

If not so much, then the fancy stuff, in an espresso machine, clean, brew, froth the milk, clean milk frother. Still pretty minimal I guess, But several x the effort and time of option #1.

[Metalcat]

I drink cheap shitty drip coffee because I have trash coffee taste. Really, it's because my stomach can't handle decent coffee, so I drink what DH calls "dirty bean water".

DH on the other hand only likes one particular, rather expensive coffee bean from one particular roaster, and had two aeropress coffee makers, one for home and one for work.

We have a Breville milk frother, and it's great.

[Adam Zapple]

I brew an entire pot for myself and stick the pot in the fridge.  I am impatient (fiending) in the morning so I like to just microwave a cup first thing in the morning.  I am aware that my coffee pot has a timer but cannot bring myself to set it up the night before.

[Philociraptor]

Beans are generally bought from the bulk section of Sprouts, alternate between a few non-flavored varieties.

Beans are ground in a regular-ol' blade grinder, we've had it for about 7 years and I wipe it down about once a quarter.

Coffee and paper filter go into our also-7-years-old Mr. Coffee 12-cup with the single button.

[LiveLean]

As much as I hated waking up every morning growing up to the smell of my dad chain smoking and pounding coffee, I'm grateful for the experience. I hate the smell of both. I've never smoked or tasted coffee.

[mountain mustache]

I love super expensive coffee beans from small local places. But that is too pricy for my daily every day coffee when I'm trying to keep the budget tight. Mostly I buy my local grocery store's organic fair trade medium roast coffee. It's like $9.99 for 1.5 pounds, and it's good enough. Not great, but I'll take the cost savings over the most amazing cup of coffee every morning. Oh, and I use a Moka pot, which is supposed to be 3 servings, but I drink it all. If I have company I make French press, but it takes forever!

[YoungGranny]

I buy super fancy coffee from a local roastery. It's $12 a pound which is like 2-3 times what other coffee is, however, we're not everyday coffee folks in my house. I scored an espresso maker off craigslist this summer which is now my go-to method. Homemade cappuccino for $.45 each. Sure, I could get the price down $.20 more but I drink 2-3 a week so it wouldn't add up to much. Certain pleasures in life, I let myself have :)

[Metalcat]

I brew an entire pot for myself and stick the pot in the fridge.  I am impatient (fiending) in the morning so I like to just microwave a cup first thing in the morning.  I am aware that my coffee pot has a timer but cannot bring myself to set it up the night before.

Buuuuuuut isn't setting it up the night before almost exactly the same as brewing it the night before, only less effort?

[PDXTabs]

Costco coffee through a nicer burr grinder and into a french press.

[norajean]

Italian manual lever espresso and locally roasted beans which I grind on demand. About $5/month for stunning coffee.

[OurTown]

Costco.  Dude, Costco is worth it just for the coffee and gas.

[Rufus.T.Firefly]

Costco.  Dude, Costco is worth it just for the coffee and gas.

Just started shopping at Costco. Do you like the 3lb cans of Colombian coffee or the fancier bags of Costa Rican, Guatemalan, etc?

[HPstache]

Costco.  Dude, Costco is worth it just for the coffee and gas.

Just started shopping at Costco. Do you like the 3lb cans of Colombian coffee or the fancier bags of Costa Rican, Guatemalan, etc?

Try the San Francisco Blend French Roast

[Peach]

Publix organic fair trade breakfast blend is my brew of choice at home.  I drink it black and find this light blend goes well on an empty stomach in the morning.  I buy it when on sale when a bag that lasts me a month goes for $6.49.

It's a little weird how I make it.  I use a 30-year old Melitta 4-cup cone drip machine.  While it makes a great cup the regular way, I prefer to heat my water on the stove and slowly pour it into the cone sitting on top of the pot.  When full, the pot goes on the hot burner to stay warm.  Just that little extra hotness makes a difference in taste.  Plus, all of that water isn't going through the plastic hoses in the coffeemaker.  It only takes a few minutes to do.

I also have a bag of decaf for when I want a cup in the afternoon -- whole bean "Jo".  It's also organic and they don't use chemicals to remove the caffeine. 

[FLAFI]

Nescafe instant coffee purchased on sale at Costco. It's one of the cheapest options per cup. To improve the flavor, I'll mix it with hot almond milk for a quasi-latte.   

[Just Joe]

We use beans consistently. Sometimes Aldi's brands. Sometimes 8 o'clock. Sometimes whatever store brand we are visiting.

Little Braun blade grinder. 2x Hamilton Beach single cup drip makers. Ready to go to work.

Weekends: a french press for two. Same grinds as the rest of the week most of the time.

Occasionally when at home: espresso via our ancient Bialetti moka pot or coffee from a Neapolitan flip coffee pot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neapolitan_flip_coffee_pot

To be honest I can drink any coffee. I have had some very good JFG drip coffee over the years. A percolator coffee pot makes good coffee too.