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Nothing beats the free coffee you get at work! That's one of my favorite's!
I buy a medium priced coffee at home. I am very frugal with most things, but VERY picky about my coffee!
We have parallel lives! A couple of years ago I was drinking Starbucks every day. I didn't stop because of the money, but I was starting to get worried that drinking a latte every day was going to make me gain weight. Still, I drank them.
My brother bought me a Keurig for Christmas in 2010. That changed everything. No, it's not the same as a Starbucks latte, but it's pretty good. And I, too, buy K-cups at Costco. I either get the Donut House light blend or the Kirkland breakfast blend because I don't like mine quite so strong. It's $47-ish or so for 100 K-cups of the Kirkland brand and about the same price for 80 or 90 (don't remember exact count) of the Donut House brand.
I figure if I made a whole pot of coffee I'd be wasting coffee because I wouldn't drink it all. So really it's probably more frugal for me to use K-cups.
I have a reusable K-cup that I fill with my own coffee. Cheaper than kcups.
If you are going to roast your own coffee, turn the smoke detectors off first. - just sayin'. Put a layer of beans in a black cast iron skillet and on medium high heat, stirring frequently. The beans should be a very dark brown, almost but not quite black and when you hear the first few "pop" sounds, scatter them out onto a flat baking sheet so they can cool down quickly and not scorch.
When in frugal mode, we pick the coffee cherry from the coffee trees in the gulches around here as well as the trees in the back yard of our rental house. Then ya gotta pulp the coffee cherries, soak them, rinse them, dry them and then get the husk and the paper off of them. Which can be done by the local coffee processing plant if you happen to have a five gallon bucket of beans, that's about the smallest batch they'll process. For a bit more, they'll roast it for you, but it keeps longer as green beans. It's not Kona since that district is on the other side of the island, it's Hamakua which is a sweet brew indeed. Ka'u isn't too bad, either, but Kona will do, I suppose.
Otherwise we buy a case or two of Yuban when it's on sale and make it in the French press. A dash of cinnamon helps the flavor. The French press is a thirty year old insulated stainless steel one, it still works great. The house sitters from our last vacation couldn't figure out how to make it work, though, and got a "Mr. Coffee". However, since we put a big photovoltaic system on the house and electricity is essentially free, we now use the Mr. Coffee to make the hot water for the French press instead of the gas stove.
What a romantic vision that is! Picking your own coffee in Hawaii. Ahhhhhhhhhh.
All my friends laugh and say we drink brown water. We like Columbian coffee, but we make a twelve cup Mr Coffee pot and use 4 flat scoops and 1 heaping scoop of coffee. (Coffee measure is 2 tablespoons).
It's what we grew up with, and what we like...
According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America, the correct ratio of coffee grounds to water is 55 grams of coffee to 1 liter of water. In Europe, they typically do 65 grams of coffee to 1 liter.
I weigh my coffee beans on a scale that is accurate to 1 tenth of a gram. It is much more accurate to measure roasted coffee by weight, since dark roasted coffee takes up more room than light roast. A "standard coffee scoop" (which in reality can vary widely) ought to be equal to two level Tbsps, which is 8 to 9 grams of dark roast, or 10 to 11 grams of light roast coffee.
Just for comparison purposes, take a standard US nickel (5 cents) out of your pocket & put it in the palm of your hand. You are now feeling 5 grams.
There is some good information, including a chart with good data here: Tips on Brewing Coffee
Tallysmom, since you are in Oakland, you could save on shipping charges if you go pick up coffee from www.sweetmarias.com, and roast it yourself -- or buy some of their pre-roasted coffee.
I buy the most affordable coffee at a quality supermarket that doesn't sell poorer quality brands, usually whichever is on sale but the darker roasts. I've bought coffee at a dollar store and it wasn't worth it.
We also have free coffee at work so I also drink that. I'll stop at a convenience store or truck stop for fresh brewed coffee by the cup -- it's pretty affordable.
I use coupons to get free ground coffee (Starbucks) at CVS. We go through a couple bags every 10 days or so in my house (hubby lives on coffee and works at home).
(No, there are not free Starbucks coupons. But there are coupons for other stuff, and after you do that for a while, you will build up a stash of Extra Care Bucks, which I burn on coffee.)
Nothing beats the free coffee you get at work! That's one of my favorite's!
Depends what kind of coffee it is. At one of my old offices, it was some generic Folger's. At my current company, our main coffee available is Tim Horton's - some of the best coffee on the planet in my opinion, and it is simply not available most places in the U.S. (except for closer to the Canadian border).
We love Kona coffee. When we lived in Hawaii we could get a bag of ground for as little as $2.99 a bag. On the mainland, the best price is $6.99. We would love the 100% Kona, but that is very expensive, so we get the 10%, which is still really good. One other splurge is to add some vanilla bean In-bru.
Their dark roasts are full bodied without the burnt tastes. And they are a lot cheaper than Trader Joe's.
Ooo I like their coffee too! I like the New Orleans blend (coffee + chicory).
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A couple of years ago I was drinking Starbucks every day. I didn't stop because of the money, but I was starting to get worried that drinking a latte every day was going to make me gain weight. Still, I drank them.
