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Which can be quite expensive, unless you are buying the dirt-cheap stuff. If you drink coffee, how do you balance quality against cost?
Here in the land of very low COL, ironically coffee, which is grown here, is quite expensive. As is chocolate, also grown here! SIGH.
But we love our coffee even if it's a major line item (right after wine) in our food budget.
Another important factor is how you brew it, so as to get the most out of it. Our automatic coffee maker seems to take a lot, compared to say, a French press. What do you use to have the least waste? We like it strong too, and with cream/milk or a Bailey's knock-off ($6 here).
But we only have one (large) cup, then during the day I drink cold tea with ginger....
Good coffee is not that expensive unless you're on a really nickel-and-dime budget. I buy 1 kilo bag each of caffeinated and decaffeinated beans, from a good local roaster, and for that $32 I get at least 30 10-cup pots.
its not in a frugal budget if that means going to starbucks but if you are brewing at home, not that expensive. you can even get a single serve brewer with coffee grounds instead of pods. cant add up to much per cup.
you can even get a single serve brewer with coffee grounds instead of pods. cant add up to much per cup.
Buying a $100+ machine to make a less-efficient production of coffee (10 single shots == 15 brewed cups) that is kind of second rate to boot isn't really what I'd call frugal.
I can get New England coffee, which is a pretty good brand, on sale for 3 bags for $10. I won't skimp on coffee, gotta have the good stuff, not the big blue/red plastic canister. I only drink 1-2 cups a day.
I buy 1 kilo bag each of caffeinated and decaffeinated beans, from a good local roaster,
and for that $32 I get at least 30 10-cup pots.
$32 ÷ 4.4lbs =~$7/lb? That's very reasonable for quality.
That quantity is the problem for me ... most of 6 weeks use here.
I don't like to take up freezer space that long.
$32 ÷ 4.4lbs =~$7/lb? That's very reasonable for quality.
It's a local company. Since the decaf only comes in dark roast, I alternate light and medium caffeinated to get a milder flavor.
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That quantity is the problem for me ... most of 6 weeks use here.
It's about that for me; I know that even on a frugal kitchen budget, the daily cost isn't enough for me to even think about. I won't give up a daily pot nor go down to crappy beans, so.
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I don't like to take up freezer space that long.
Never freeze coffee. Ever.
Given the timeline between green pick/ship/storage, roasting and your cart, another six weeks in a sealed container at room temp won't degrade it in the slightest. Freezing does.
(If you can't grind coffee within a few hours of roasting, there's very little difference between one day and several weeks. Maybe longer, assuming optimal storage conditions.)
I either buy it from a good roaster if I'm in his area, or the Dunkin Donuts Costco package. The local decent coffee shops, I'm not a fan of, everything's roasted too dark, or roasted in the same roaster they use for French Roast, which is burnt tasting to me.
There is a good local roaster that sometimes goes on sale at the Grocery Store. I'll stock up if they have that.
I either buy it from a good roaster if I'm in his area, or the Dunkin Donuts Costco package. The local decent coffee shops, I'm not a fan of, everything's roasted too dark, or roasted in the same roaster they use for French Roast, which is burnt tasting to me.
Which is why Starbucks coffee is undrinkable unless you add ice cream.
For a real treat, buy green beans (no, not "green beans") and roast them yourself. A hot-air popcorn popper does a great job. It will spoil the bejeezus out of you, though; even "freshly roasted" coffee that is a few days old doesn't come close.
(If you can't grind coffee within a few hours of roasting...
I know the story (wine too) but I have gotten lazy on it all. Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away...
I worked for two different specialty food shops that the owners liked to hear called the Zabars of _____."
They were mostly focused on repeat business for the 5000 other items on the shelves and in the deli cases
which made selling coffee by the 1lb bag a strategy.
Twenty open burlap sacks with 30lbs or more of recently roasted beans in each
along with a paper sign, the scale, some plain paper bags and a big shiny grinder.
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...six weeks in a sealed container at room temp ...
What do you use?
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...and roast them yourself. A hot-air popcorn popper does a great job.
After a nice dinner with friends? Yeah I can see that. 5:30am? Not so much
Last edited by MrRational; 01-17-2019 at 01:40 PM..
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a Bailey's knock-off ($6 here).
