Save Cash: Brew Your Coffee at Home

November 28, 2011, By Gin A. Ando 1 comment

Gin A. Ando

Coffee often plays a crucial role in our lives. The pick-me-up. Some of us “can’t face the day” without their joe. So let’s take some time to appreciate the fuel that powers offices across the country by showing it the respect it deserves. Grind it yourself.

The trick is to find a coffee that’s good. If you get whole beans from both Starbucks and, say, Seattle’s Best, and can’t tell the difference when sipping them black, then that may be a problem. I find that the quality of coffee is best discerned at its basal level. (Besides, drinking black coffee from one of those small paper cups with the playing cards printed on them makes me feel like a detective.)

There are countless coffee grinders out there, and they're not expensive. Beans can be ground in seconds, and there really isn’t an excuse not to do it unless a few seconds each morning really make some sort of huge difference in the rest of the day.

While it may be painfully obvious that buying coffee from a shop on your way to work every morning is more expensive than getting it from your house, how much you're spending could be a little surprising. One pound of coffee can yield upwards of 50 six-ounce cups depending on how strong you like it. A one-pound bag of house coffee served in chains can cost as high as $12. That being said, it costs 24 cents per cup (black) when you brew it at home. Even the mysterious, cloudy liquid known as rest area “coffee” costs more than that.

Additionally, you can get creamers that emulate every popular coffee-based drink out there. And if you’re drinking something that tastes like a steaming, melted milkshake, it’s hard to taste the coffee anyway. Regardless of the price of creamers, it's going to be hard to justify spending $5 every morning for something you can make at home for pennies. 

The arguments are simple: chain coffee shops are identifiable and have the tastes we recognize. Coffee nowadays isn’t like the coffee our parents drank. And that’s OK.

Although the reasoning can be understood for buying pre-ground coffee due to its convenience, think about this: If you genuinely care about the taste of your coffee, buying whole-roasted beans and grinding them yourself will make a world of difference. The taste will be stronger and fresher even if the coffee tin/container has the flavor seal.

And like anything else—grating your own cheese, cracking your own peppercorns, mincing your own garlic—it’s more fresh that way. And it’ll save you a hell of a lot of money.