Gourmet Coffee, an Affordable Luxury (First Post)

Hello all, this is my first blog entry and I thought I would share some math I did a few weeks ago regarding the savings associated with buying coffee online as opposed to your local coffee house/fast food joint.




First off, I use an Aeropress to make almost all of my coffee (more on this in future blog posts). The Aeropress costs about $25 and comes with paper filters. A metal filter is also available for $15. I reccomend the Aeropress because it has a good reputation for making a good cup of coffee. It is a bit more labor intensive than just pressing a button, but I think the difference in quality is worth it. Even if you don't have an Aeropress, the math should still apply (though you may actually save a bit more since the Aeropress uses a lot of coffee).

Coffee online runs the gammut of prices, but I can usually get 12oz on Roaste.com for around $12.

12oz. of coffee = 340 grams of coffee

One drawback to the Aeropress is it uses a lot of coffee (there are some ways around that, but lets assume you're following the default directions). I use about 17 grams per cup.

Coffee

340 grams / 17 = 20 servings of coffee.

$12 / 20 servings = $0.60 per serving

Now, you can add in the cost of creamer/sugar which is about $0.00-$0.20 per cup depending on the amount you use.

A medium cup of coffee costs about $1.50 at most fast food/coffee house type places.

So for straight coffee you save about $0.75 a cup. If you drink a cup a day that's $273.75 a year you save. The Aeropress pays for itself in a month. Double the savings if your spouse also drinks coffee every day.  Keep in mind this is money you're saving for drinking a superior product that you can custom tailor to your tastes. 

You save even more buy making your lattes and mochas at home. On another blog post I'll go into the math on that.



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