The Cost Of Making Coffee at Home
Learning the basics of home coffee blending is much easier than you might imagine – and an excellent way to perfect your barista brew and reduce the cost of purchasing expensive take-out coffee.
Today we’ll look at the factors that impact the cost of making coffee at home and some of the essential equipment you’ll need, such as a great home coffee roaster.
How Much Does It Really Cost To Make Premium Coffee Myself?
You can get started with a decent manual grinder for about $20 and an AeroPress machine from Target for less than $40 – a $70 initial investment when you include a bag of beans.
Connoisseurs can often spend multiple times that on artisanal machines – but you don’t need to pay big bucks to save on your coffee budget.
What Does A Home Brew Coffee Kit Cost?
The reality is that you can spend a few dollars or splash out thousands – it’s all about balancing your budget with your palate!
Next, we’ll run through a few scenarios to explain the gold standard tools we’d recommend, depending on your budget and taste for quality coffee.
How To Make The Best Home Coffee On A Budget
Tough Nickel estimates that the highest cost isn’t your machine, water, or replacement filters, but the coffee grounds you buy – making up a huge 86% of the overall expense!
If you want to make amazing coffee but need to keep the costs down, the best option is to spend less on your machine and more on the beans.
Choosing Between Whole and Pre-Ground Coffee Beans
Pre-ground and whole beans don’t have a very different price point in-store.
Still, the American Chemical Society reports that packaged grounds can have an entire stack of filler ingredients you’re not expecting, including:
- Soybeans
- Rice
- Corn
- Barley
- Brown sugar
- Starch syrup
Your best option is to choose the finest whole beans you can afford, a reliable grinder, and a reasonable coffee machine. The benefit is that you don’t overspend on a coffee maker – which can’t improve the grade of your coffee if the grounds aren’t top quality!
The Home Coffee Equipment Upgrade
If you’re looking for an even better brew and want to invest in higher-end equipment, you’ll still make your money back quickly.
Our perfect setup costs about $300, including:
- An accurate kitchen scale – about $40 if you don’t have one already.
- A high-quality grinder – a top-of-the-range model costs around $140.
- A brewing system – we’d suggest either an AeroPress or a Kalita Wave (both retail at $50 or less).
- A great kettle – $70 or so for a fast, quality model.
Your Home Coffee Making Costs
Many people assume that the most expensive machine will produce the richest coffee, but it’s really your grinder and beans that have the greatest impact, so that’s where you should spend the most!
Paying $300 upfront on all this kit will mean that you can extract a higher quality taste and flavor from your beans. After around 100 brews, based on a daily coffee expense of $3, your investment will have paid for itself – and quality equipment will last for years if you look after it properly.
Set Yourself A Budget For Making Coffee At Home
As we’ve seen from these examples, there’s no set amount you need to spend to replicate the standards you expect from your favorite coffee chain. The caveat is that if you want truly exceptional brews, you will need to invest a bit upfront to ensure you’ve got the tools you need.
However, if you’re experimenting with making coffee at home, it’s more than possible to halve your expenditure and enjoy the luxury of a fine brew entirely at your leisure.
