Anyone love coffee? 😉
For most of my life, I was not a coffee drinker. I preferred my caffeine cold in the form of Diet Coke.
And then fate stepped in…
But before we get to that, let me say that the following is a guest post I originally wrote for Get Rich Slowly. It was written over a year ago and since then, I have had to change my coffee-making methods. So at the end, I’ve provided an update to reflect my current habits.
I hope that you non-coffee drinkers can see the humor in this post (it is crazy how people obsess over coffee) and those of you who love coffee might be able to give me some tips to make mine even better.
For now, here’s the post (with a few updates) detailing my love affair with the elixir of life…
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A Gift Opens the Door
As I said above, I was not a coffee drinker. I hated the taste the few times I’d tried it, though admittedly that was when I was much younger.
Then four years ago we moved to Oklahoma and my sister-in-law gave us a Keurig machine.
I thought, “That’s an interesting gift for a family that doesn’t drink coffee.”
But a set of sample k-cups came with the machine so we started trying them.
The kids liked the sugary cups which were more like hot chocolate than coffee. And I found that I liked the taste of coffee now and then. I played with combinations of coffee, sugar, and milk until I found out I liked it a lot. I later dropped the sugar and went straight for the coffee/milk combo.
Within a month or two, I was hooked.
The Latte Factor
The often-derided phrase “the latte factor” was coined by David Bach in his book The Automatic Millionaire
. He followed that up by recently writing a book called The Latte Factor
which I have not read (anyone out there have an opinion on it?)
The phrase was meant to illustrate the impact small purchases can have on a person’s finances. They don’t seem like much but they really add up. By minimizing small spending and saving the difference, one could become wealthy over time.
Bach just happened to use coffee as the example but small purchases could be anything where money trickles out here and there — a daily muffin at Panera, a soda or two in the machine at work, lunch out every day, and so on.
Of course the coffee people were up in arms thinking Bach suggested they go without coffee. Perish the thought! They threw a collective fit, but abandoning coffee wasn’t his intent. Nevertheless he became the personal finance expert most likely to be hated by coffee drinkers.
But he did have a point.
When we got our Keurig, my brother-in-law had given me a rule-of-thumb for buying k-cups: 50 cents or less per cup was a “good deal”. So I had a guideline to work against as I decided what I would spend on coffee.
As my coffee obsession grew I discovered Starbucks (of course) and found out that a latte can really rack up the spending. I don’t know about where you live, but a venti latte with only one shot is $4.60 here.
Put that into any financial calculator at a couple lattes a day for 20 years and it adds up to some serious moo-lah. (Get it, “moo”-lah and “latte”? Never mind.)
Anyway, that sort of spending could derail retirement if it got out of control.
Spending My Retirement on Coffee
Soon after I retired I started walking quite a bit (my goal is 15,000 steps per day). It was ever-so-natural to stop by our local Starbucks and grab a latte while I was out. A hot coffee was particularly nice on those cold Colorado winter mornings.
By the time I had racked up enough Starbucks points for three free lattes, I started thinking this habit was way too expensive to have in retirement. Yes, I could afford it if I wanted, but that’s just not how I roll. I thought I could probably make my own latte that tasted just as good for a lot cheaper.
And so the challenge was on!
Coffee Experiments Gone Wild
The last job I had before retirement had a plethora of coffee aficionados. I would go to the kitchen and be surrounded by all types of coffee, various machines for making it, and different techniques that were “guaranteed” to make the “best” coffee. At least that’s what each person claimed — that their method/beans/process resulted in the best tasting coffee possible.
I asked questions and discovered the world of pour overs, French presses, and all sorts of things that were previously foreign to me — each claiming to be better than the rest.
In the end I knew I needed to try several alternatives to see what tasted best to me.
So I did just that and began to experiment with the following:
- A variety of k-cups at various prices and coffee-to-milk ratios
- Different types of coffee (light, medium, and dark) in a couple forms (already ground versus beans)
- Differing methods of preparation including pour overs, French press, and drip
While doing this I tracked the cost per cup to see how low I could get the price. Yes, I was retired and had plenty of time on my hands.
It was actually a pretty interesting process. A whole new world came to life for me as I experimented. I also supplemented my efforts by reading about coffee online as well as chatting to anyone who claimed to know anything about making great coffee.
Through the process I began to narrow down what I liked best. For me this included:
- About a 50/50 split of coffee to milk — 6 or so ounces of each in a cup
- Dark roast blends over regular or light
- Beans seemed fresher/more flavorful than pre-ground
- There wasn’t much difference between the processes except the mess, so since the Keurig was the easiest to clean, I stuck with it
Getting the Price Down
As noted above I had established a couple cost numbers going into my trials:
- $4.60 was the “high”, Starbucks price
- 50 cents was the cut-off point for k-cups
Those were my benchmarks. But how low could I get the cost and still enjoy what I was drinking?
I experimented with k-cups as high as 70 cents each (usually pretty good) to as low as 30 cents each (Walmart generic cups on sale, weren’t as good). But I thought I could do much better, both in cost and taste.
By this time I had purchased a small grinder. I went to the store and purchased a whole host of beans. I used the Keurig one-cup filter to brew them immediately after grinding.
Here’s a list of where I bought my beans, the brand and blend, and the ultimate cost per cup of each from August 2106 to May 2017:
- Walmart; Starbucks Breakfast Blend; $0.272 per cup
- Walmart; Starbucks Espresso Roast; $0.220 per cup
- Walmart; Boyers Medium Roast; $0.249 per cup
- Walmart; Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend; $0.289 per cup
- King Soopers; Starbucks Café Verona; $0.237 per cup
- King Soopers; Starbucks Italian Roast; $0.214 per cup
- King Soopers; Starbucks French Roast; $0.227 per cup
- King Soopers; Starbucks Veranda Blend Blonde; $0.230 per cup
- King Soopers; Starbucks Pike Place Roast; $0.200 per cup
- Starbucks.com; Starbucks Cmas Blend Vintage; $0.239 per cup
- Starbucks.com; Starbucks Cmas Blend Espresso; $0.217 per cup
- Starbucks.com; Starbucks Holiday Blend; $0.239 per cup
- Starbucks.com; Starbucks Cmas Blend Decaf; $0.262 per cup
- Costco; Kirkland Espresso Blend; $0.134 per cup
- Costco; Kirkland Decaf; $0.142 per cup
- Costco; Kirkland Espresso Blend; $0.133 per cup
Told you I had a lot of time on my hands.
Most of the items above were purchased on some sort of deal/sale/coupon. I hardly ever paid full retail price except at the beginning when I simply wanted to try a bunch of options.
Through this process I discovered:
- Buying on sale/at a discount can make a big price impact. I don’t know why anyone would pay full retail when coffee deals seem like a dime a dozen. And getting even a decent deal can shave several cents off the price of a cup.
- Making your own coffee can be much cheaper than a k-cup. A LOT cheaper. Like at least half the price.
- Grinding it fresh seemed to make it taste better. You might not be able to notice a difference, but when I compared k-cups to pre-ground to freshly ground, the latter tasted best to me.
- The Kirkland Espresso Blend ended up winning on both taste and cost. Yet another reason to be thankful for Costco.
As a result, Kirkland has been my go-to coffee ever since I stopped tracking my results. Coffee for 13.3 cents per cup versus $4.60 for the same or better taste was a no-brainer. Yes, I realize the Starbucks venti is larger. That said, I could have 34 cups of the Costco coffee for the same price as one venti latte.
A nice perk is that I can make my favorite coffee at home. It tastes great, I’ve saved a ton of money, and I don’t have to go out at 5:30 am for the cup of coffee I prefer.
And my latte factor is well under control. David Bach would be so proud.
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Hahahaha! I look back on this post and smile. What a nerd I am!
Anyway, time has a way of changing things, so here’s what’s happened in the year since I wrote this post:
- I bought a new grinder, going from the small KRUPS F203 Electric Spice and Coffee Grinder
to the Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill. The reason for this will be apparent in a moment. - I switched my process since grinding one k-cup at a time was very tedious (too much effort and clean up) and I wanted to batch my efforts. So I began to grind large amounts in my new grinder, then put the grounds and water in a large container (about 80 ounces) and place it in the refrigerator. It would brew over night. The next day I’d spoon out what grounds I could with a strainer, then use a pour over cup with filter to get the rest, transferring the coffee into a clean container. Then when I wanted a cup, I’d pour out some coffee, mix with milk, and put in the microwave.
- This process began with one container “brewing” in our refrigerator and now it’s up to two at a time.
- I used to purchase my beans at Costco (Kirkland espresso brand mixed with Kirkland decaf beans), but for some reason our Costco has decided not to stock the beans any longer (I guess they weren’t selling well). So now I’m experimenting with a combination of whatever beans I can find at Costco (Starbucks and others, usually on sale) mixed with Kirkland ground decaf coffee at a 60/40 blend.
- I currently use about 75/25 coffee to milk ratio for each cup. The 50/50 blend I was using started to seem too weak especially when I moved to mixing in decaf.
- I’ve tried some flavorings like cinnamon to spice up the coffee (get it, “spice up” and “cinnamon” — I kill myself!) but haven’t found anything I really love. Any suggestions here?
to the 
. The reason for this will be apparent in a moment.I haven’t been tracking costs but they are likely in the neighborhood of what’s detailed above. Plus, does it really matter if it’s 15 cents a cup or 20 cents? I think I can give myself that much lee-way.
Anyway, what tips do you have for me? I think my coffee tastes “fine” but am entirely open to suggestions you have for making it better. One thing I’m not open to though is roasting my own beans — just too time consuming. Other than that, let me know your secrets to making a great cup.
Fun post. The engineer in me loves the methodical, scientific approach including all of the detailed math! 🙂
I am going to use this format to make a confession. Despite my frugality, I have a coffee issue and more specifically a Dunkin’ Donuts issue. I recently totaled up our DD spending for 2019. Admittedly that includes my wife and youngest son (age 17 – just so you do not think me a really poor Dad) but the lion share is from me. $1,352 last year. That is embarrassingly insane.
I have much room for improvement in 2020!
I might get run out of the door on this one by coffee lovers, but you should look in to instant coffee. Its SUPER cheap ($0.02475 per 6 oz cup for Beaumont Instant Coffee at Aldi), I personally think it tastes fine (I would honestly say I like it – others may disagree) and its biggest draw back is lower caffeine level (which you don’t care about since you’re mixing in decaf anyway). The biggest benefit (besides cost) is how easy it is. No beans to grind, messy filters to throw away, pots to wash etc. Just boil some water and consume. I love it and have no plans of going back to traditional coffee. At the very least it’s worth buying one container of just to experiment.
Instant sure would make life a lot easier!
You really do have a lot of time on your hands 😉
We use a Cuisinart coffee maker/grinder and buy roasted beans in 5lb bags directly from our favorite roaster. Not sure the cost per cup, but its pretty convenient to have shipped to my doorstep, beans get freshly ground each morning, tastes great, and a big bag lasts us 3-4 weeks. I like that the Cuisinart does the grinding and brewing all in one process, so all I have to do is load the hopper and water chamber, and hit a button. The carafe is insulated which is nice in winter. Just have to discard the grinds and rinse off the filter assembly and carafe each day – not much trouble.
I do find I have to play with my formula as the roast can vary slightly from bag to bag. Also finding the coffee maker becomes more efficient as time passes, and have to adjust by water to beans ratio for that as well…. strange.
lol TOTES agree about having a lot of time on his hands!!!!
We have a Cuisinart coffee maker/grinder as well. It is super convenient and makes an excellent coffee. We use the Starbucks French Roast from Costco. My one “complaint” is that mine wastes a decent amount of beans in the grinder. Not a cost complaint, but just don’t love seeing the amount of ground coffee that stays in the grinder instead of into the filter assembly.
Definitely agree with grinding whole bean coffee – any brand freshly ground and brewed beats pre-ground stuff (which is in the K-cups). I haven’t found any deals on coffee at Costco that come close to the cheap “Pablos Pride” whole bean coffee from Sams Club ( https://www.samsclub.com/p/pablo-s-pride-gourmet-coffee-whole-bean-2lb/prod1420227 ). I prefer to use a 4-cup small coffee brewer also – makes enough to fill a large Yeti mug (or a thermos) to keep hot at least half the day (maybe not with a 50/50 milk though). Half & Half is WAY better than milk – you need to use less to lighten the coffee to your liking, keeping a higher concentration of coffee (i.e. more caffeine).
I can’t quite wrap my head around your explanation of cold brewing overnight and then putting in the microwave. Putting anything in a microwave simply psychologically ruins it for me!.
I second the half & half, but I nuke it the microwave for a couple seconds just to take the chill off before adding coffee… makes a difference though has to be only a couple of seconds or you ruin it.
You asked if anyone had an opinion on the Latte Factor. I not only read it but also wrote a brief summary.
It’s a parable about a girl, Zoey, that befriends a barista (goes great with your post!). Anyway, he teaches her the same principles that Bach teaches in his other books. It’s a fun read and also had my kids read it too. They’re 14 and 12.
This is a fun article! My wife and I went through a similar process of cutting the Starbucks habit and looking for less expensive options. My parents had a Nespresso, and the coffee tasted very fresh, so we bought a machine to try it out. The cups are about $.75 but Nespresso sends them directly to my doorstep, so they don’t sit on the shelf. We also found we didn’t get that acidy feeling you can get from drip coffee. We are hooked, and although it’s not $.15 a cup, it’s a lot less than a latte. BTW, we started using half & half, but now that most of it is ultra pasteurized (to add half life) it has a burnt taste. We now use whole milk, just add a little more and still costs less than half & half.
You most definitely have too much time on your hands!
I have a Cuisinart grinder and a 12 cup Krups coffee maker. I grind my beans at night, add the water, and flip the switch when I get up in the morning. Does it lose something sitting overnight? Maybe. But it isn’t measurable to me.
As for the mix – black coffee, dark roast for me. Vanilla creamer for Cathy. I buy the beans at Costco. Never Starbucks beans.
I rarely go to Starbucks. It’s such a ripoff, even if one can afford it. Plus, I can’t stand Howard Shultz (go ahead, let me have it).
I have no idea what the cost per cup is, nor do I care. I know it’s much cheaper than buying cups at any coffee shop and much cheaper per cup thana Kuerig. That’s good enough for me.
Grab an aeropress, a water boiler and a nice conical grinder – I prefer the kirkland green bag that was roasted at starbucks, I really enjoyed the xmas starbucks blend at costco they just had out on sale last month.
I found an aeropress suited my needs better than the keurig, and you can make a cup quick – just one cup at a time. I love it, bought 1 for work/travel and keep 1 at home.
Like you, ESI, I never understood the coffee craze … until I was sent to a corporate training in Italy. Desperate to overcome the jetlag, I discovered espresso. That was the stuff! Came home and ordered one of those fancy machines: auto-grind, steam capability, make the espresso for you at 17 bar PSI to get the proper crema. It was expensive, maybe around $600 … but that was almost 20 years ago and the machine *still* puts out terrific espressos, lattes and cappucinos. Our coffee tastes so good that we make it at home and take it with us in a thermos, eliminating all coffee shop coffees except for those meeting friends (which are an investment, not a cost).
At a rough estimate of 600 coffees served or made/yr over 18 years, the fixed cost of each cup is $0.05. Variable costs are of course the quality of various beans and mix-ins (we like goat milk, less casein and easier on the stomach). I’d say we got our money’s worth out of the machine! Plus the ease of pushing a button and having ambrosia in 30 seconds is great for the early morning commute!
We love a good espresso/European style brew (made at high pressure like JB talked about). However, we hated the idea of all the trash k-cups or nespresso made and the limiting factor that you had to buy commercially packaged grounds rather than support the vast variety of small business local roasters that we have near us.
We finally found a splurge coffee maker that changed everything. Miele makes a counter top and a built in coffee maker that makes in our opinion the best coffee. Added benefit the unit cleans with the ease of a keruig and is an all in one grind and brew so no need for the separate grinder or added mess. The unit is a splurge but we used credit card points to order it at no added expense. Like JB we now only visit coffee shops to buy their beans or visit with friends. Williams Sonoma has the unit for sale and will let you make a test cup if you are interested in testing the unit out before committing.
My friend has this and LOVES it! He loves his espresso/coffee so much that he put one in his kitchen and a second one in his bedroom so that he can have an espresso shot first thing in the morning! First world problems! 🙂
I have a De’Longhi EC155 15 BAR pump espresso machine. It was $100. I feel that it pulls a great espresso. I’ve tried all of the more expensive brands, but the $3 brick of Bustelo tastes the best for me. 1 double shot/day and the Bustelo brick lasts a month! Not too shabby!
“About a 50/50 split of coffee to milk — 6 or so ounces of each in a cup”
What? What is this foul concoction??? Finally you came to your senses and at least went to 75/25…
Come to the DARK SIDE and drink black coffee like me… So good…
Following up on the DARK SIDE comment, I also stopped adding milk/cream and sugar after this video on NutritionFacts.org came out, showing research that adding cream/milk to coffee binds the chlorogenic acids in coffee (the “good stuff molecules”), thereby blocking the normal health benefits of drinking coffee that lowers both systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements, and other health benefits indicating that people who drink coffee live longer. Read the research or watch the video here: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/does-adding-milk-block-the-benefits-of-coffee/
That was an interesting video.
If I ever start drinking coffee for health benefits, I’ll cut out the milk. For now, I drink it for the enjoyment.
Sure, I understand. What I learned that I enjoy pure coffee now just as much as I did the cream and sugar version. It’s not sweet or white anymore, but my focus is on the rich coffee taste now.
if adding milk keeps you from adding sugar, the the health effects are positive.
also the majority of the health benefits from coffee likely come from the caffeine, which as the video said is not changed by the addition of milk.
last, many of the studies shown in that video were of two sorts, either in vitro (in a test tube), or the measuring of a metabolite and not the end result. for instance measuring the level of something in your blood instead of the end point of concern, say blood pressure for instance. so there was a chain of correlation they tried to put together, but causation was not shown. that’s generally a lot harder to do.
My husband and I got received an espresso machine for our wedding (we didn’t have a registry, just our caffeine addicted friend thought we would love it, and we do!) It was relatively inexpensive, and it makes lattes as delicious, if not better than Starbucks. It took a little practice (especially the milk frothing), but an amazing result! We use Cafe Bustelo for our espresso needs and local beans if we are feeling fancy. Because of the low amount of actual bean you need, both last forever despite our incredible coffee addictions. In the summer (we live in NC-so it is HOT!) we make our own cold brew–giant pitchers worth–that you can store in the fridge for the week. Recipe here: https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/perfect-iced-coffee/ except we often drink it black! We just reuse the same cheesecloth a few times, cheap and easy and curbs my need for a Dunkin’ iced coffee. Do try adding some sweetened condensed milk for a guilty treat from time to time though!
I too grind at night and my programmable pot brews right before I get up. I add a tiny pinch of salt to the grounds – it makes a smoother cup of coffee. I also buy non-fat instant milk and use a “shaker” or “blender” bottle to make my own creamer. I use twice the milk powder recommended to make a thicker, creamier blend. If you want you can add vanilla or cinnamon to add a bit of flavor.
Thanks for the post – you definitely have time on your hands! 🙂
As a result of reading the Automatic Millionaire book, my wife and I realized that between the two of us, we were spending around $2,500 a year in coffee. We had been doing this regularly for about eight years at that point, so we spent $20k in going out for coffee! Insane! So, I decided to revert to how my parents used to make coffee. I use the greek espresso maker (you know the one that has water in the bottom, coffee in the middle and you screw the top on and then put on the stove). I also tried different brands and ended up loving the Costa Rica Terrazu coffee from Wegmans. A bag of beans costs around $9 and it lasts me a month (my wife quit coffee altogether). So now I am paying around $0.23 a cup ( I drink two cups during the week). in addition to saving money, I have come to enjoy the ceremony of grinding the beans, placing them in the metal filter, screwing the top and then waiting for that great noise that comes out of the pot when the water simmers through.
I have drank many different coffee concoctions over the years…some years preferring flavored coffees, or grinding my own beans or cold coffee or instant, and a variety of different additives, like chocolate, or cinnamon, or just coffee mate or heavy cream or half and half only, and many varieties of sweeteners. I have decided that whatever tastes good at the time is what we prefer. And now and then our taste changes and we have to change things up a bit.
Look for beans that are organic and fair trade. Coffee that is not organic has a ton of pesticides used on it. More importantly, coffee (and chocolate) is grown in many parts of the world that still use slave labor. The Fair Trade designation is supposed to guarantee that your beans are being picked by people who are not enslaved and paid a fair wage.
From my husband the coffee drinker: finding a local roaster will give you an even better, fresher taste.
You did a detailed calculation of coffee alone prices at home but compared to a venti latte for $4.60. A Starbucks venti latte has 20 oz of milk. To make an equal comparison- you should include the price of the milk you use in your home coffee.
putting it in the fridge you have inadvertently made “cold brew”, though i suspect not very strong. i make that in the summer but do t filter out the grinds until almost a week. then its really more of a coffee concentrate. i just pour over ice and add milk or cream liberally.
i get the medium roast organic mexican beans from costco. $14 for 2 pounds of organic is a great deal!
i have a 4 cup Mr Coffee pot which makes amazing coffee. also a large automatic pot, a french press, and an aeropress. 👍🏼😃
… about ~60 cups, or $0.23 per cup
My recommendation: Mayorga Organic Cafe Cubano Dark Roast Whole Bean Coffee. My husband orders it online from Costco. It’s one of his Christmas gifts to me, and, on Christmas morning, he has this coffee brewing for me. No cheap, but it sure is good!
Like you I use to drink all the soda I could find, not a good habit. I don’t recall when I switched to coffee but found that the pre-ground coffee from Trader Joe’s for $4.99/ lb was perfect for my taste buds and budget. Especially since I drink a half a pot at home before I leave for work and then drink another half a pot at (provided).
My suggestion: “illy coffee” It is Italy’s favorite coffee, very smooth. I brew my own each morning in a small coffee pot, 8.8 ounces can be purchased for $11 – $15. This will last me one week, $1.5 per day. Some grocery stores carry this brand, usually on the top shelf. I do not even consider the cost, love it and am not inspired to penny pinch in this area. However I refuse to be a corporate coffee loyalist, very much a waste of money, only lines other pockets.
I also received a Nespresso Coffee Machine as a gift. I did not need this, but decided to keep because everyone raves about the coffee and how much better the coffee is compared to other K-cup systems. Coffee pods are proprietary and not sold in grocery stores. around $.75 per pod. Well worth the investment if you are a POD drinker.
I have an “off-brand” keurig with a reusable cup. I can make coffee for 10 cents a (strong) cup.
I used to buy the Kirkland Espresso, too. So bummed they quit carrying it:(
I’m pretty much a coffee snob, but definitely DIY. I’m on my 2nd Gaggia Classic espresso machine, a basic yet high quality machine that is reasonably priced through places like Whole Latte Love. I can whip up a “better than” Starbux latte in about 2 minutes. I have made thousands of lattes etc on weekends and holidays since I typically do drip in a thermos during the week to save time & clean up. Machine is also great for making hot chocolates for friends & grand kiddos that don’t do coffee and they like watching the milk frothing process. But.. I recommend that you keep espresso makers really clean and that takes ~10-15 minutes after a few days of use.
The Costco near me that carried the Kirkland Espresso beans quit about 3-4 months ago. And none of our local Costcos carry the Kirkland Decaf whole beans anymore either. However, one of the sales folks there said you can order it online, and when I looked it is available and the price is very reasonable..
Lately I discovered very reasonably priced coffee at our Sams Club from European Cafe, a roaster out of Scottsdale AZ. I really like the Kona blends, and their Espresso makes a very smooth latte. They have a website also.
Yo dude, awesome suggestion. They even have the organic Ruta Maya mexican coffee in decaf! Score!!