Around two-thirds of us drink coffee every day. This has led one financial guru to refer to any small regular splurge as a “latte factor”.
However, you don’t have to quit drinking coffee to save money. There are tons of ways that you can enjoy a world-class cup of coffee, even on a budget.
Here are 8 ways to enjoy amazing coffee without getting ripped off.
You’ll save money on coffee if you make your own. The challenge for many is making a decent cup of coffee at home without buying tons of equipment or expensive consumables.
The first step to getting great coffee is to buy whole beans and grind them yourself. But you don’t have to grind the coffee by hand; grind-and-brew machines allow you to enjoy quick coffee without all that work.
There are some clear benefits of using beans over pods.
Plus, grind-and-brew machines come with the same benefits of pod machines such as eliminating the mess that comes with grinding your own coffee.
You also have to learn how to find great deals on coffee beans and save. You can find tons of frequent deals on a variety of coffee beans online. Another thing you can do is buy your beans wholesale.
There are tons of outlets that will allow you to get a discount on coffee beans if you go over a certain quantity. You could end up saving as much as 30% on fresh beans that way. If you’re worried that would be too much for you, call some of your friends or family members and ask if they’d like to split with you.
While you want to cut costs, you still have to make sure that you get quality beans.
If you’re going to buy in small quantities, the first thing you should look at is the packaging. Specifically, you’re looking for two things:
After two weeks, beans start to lose their character, and after a month, they’ll start to taste like cardboard. If the roast date is missing, this is probably because the producer doesn’t want you to know. This is another sign of a poor-quality coffee, and you should definitely put it back on the shelf.
You might be able to save money by investing time and effort into measuring things out. If you’re using a machine, doses are pre-measured for you. If you’re using a French press, pour-over, or one of the myriad other coffee brewing methods, take the time to measure things out. You won’t overdo it with beans and you’ll get a more consistent cup.
Use a scale to measure things out. You’ll typically save enough to pay for the scale in a few weeks. This is especially true if you invest in high-quality coffee beans.
There are several reasons you don’t want to brew coffee from unfiltered tap water. The chlorine in the water hurts the quality of the end product. Minerals in the tap water can build up inside the machine, too, yet bottled water is expensive. The solution is to get a cheap, simple water filter for the coffee machine that removes chlorine and minerals.
Cold coffee tastes horrible. The solution is to buy an insulated container, whether it’s a cozy wrap for your coffee mug or a Thermos bottle. However, you shouldn’t make more than what you can think you could consume within 30-60 minutes.
Coffee can lose its flavor if stored improperly. If you store it in the fridge, the humidity can hurt the coffee beans, especially if the container isn’t tightly closed. This is why it’s better to store coffee beans at room temperature.
So, keep containers full of coffee beans and ground coffee closed. This will help it retain both its fragrance and flavor.
Don’t try to get a second pot of coffee from your coffee grounds. The end result will be bitter. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t reuse the coffee grounds. You could use them to clean your fireplace or deodorize your freezer. You can also compost coffee grounds. Coffee grounds can also be used as an exfoliant.
Here are 23 awesome ways to use leftover coffee and coffee grounds.
You can make your favorite flavor of coffee for a lot less than what they’d charge in the coffee shop, and the savings will really add up over time. Make sure that you follow these few tips, and always try to find ways to save while keeping an eye on quality.
