Have you actually calculated how much you spend for coffee annually?

[Agapostemon]

In the last 12 months I have spent $365 on coffee. This includes replacing a couple parts of my Aeropress. I also have a burr grinder that has held up for years, knock on wood.

Every morning, I drink a single 12oz mug of coffee. I usually pay between $12-16 for a 12oz bag, but occasionally splurge on a special roast. I have tried a lot of other coffees, from Whole Foods, Trader's Joes, BJs, various roasters near and far -- but eventually concluded that the best coffee I could find is from a local roaster: George Howell.

Seeing that my spend is mid-range within this thread, confirms my belief that I'm getting good value for my cup of joe.

Thanks!

 

[EvanC]

I like this post. Actually I never thought about it before. I used to use 8 o’clock I never really thought about how much it cost. I drink about 20 ounces a day. I’ve have been drinking TruCup Low acid coffee. It was $55 for 5 pounds. Which when I bought it sounded expensive. I use whole beans in a Breville fancy coffee maker. And I use those individual half-and-half‘s of which I use two a day.

I am I admit in search of the perfect cup of low acid coffee.. as I like my coffee.

I cannot remember the last time I bought coffee out. Life is too short to worry about the cost of a good cup of coffee.

With that said psychologically I don’t like any of the pods.
But I admit I think that’s me just being goofy.

 

[almost there]

Don't care. With this [MOD EDIT] inflation combind with stupid low interest rates has coffee at the bottom of my worry list. Wished I cared about coffee. But its nothing compared with everything else.

 

[CTRetiree]

About $130 per year

I drink about 16 oz of coffee a day. My wife does not drink coffee. For a long time I drank Folgers, but since retirement, I started trying to "up my coffee game."

I notice that I liked Cumberland Farms Farmhouse blend. I bought a bag, and that was a step improvement from Folgers. I did some reading, and Consumer Reports recommended some coffee makers, and I decided to buy a Bonavita BV1901TS drip coffee maker. IIRC, it was about $120 and the thing that made it attractive was that CR said that it made small batches well. It meets the coffee standards institute for temperature and time, so it's a good machine.

Serendipity, the throat is tall enough to allow me to brew directly into my 16 oz insulated coffee mug. I drink it over the course of 2-3 hours and it stays warm.

I was happily brewing my CF Farmhouse blend for months and I happened to have some coffee at an inexpensive restaurant that I liked better than my own. When I thought about it, I realized that the first pot of the CF coffee was great, but subsequent pots were less great. So I decided to grind my own.

Again CR comes to the rescue with a $16 coffee grinder that their experts could not detect the difference vs. expensive burr grinders. I tried a number of whole bean coffees, not including CF - they don't sell in whole bean. After reading more reviews and tastings, I settled on 8 O'Clock 100% Columbian peaks. I experiment with other brands, but I keep coming back to that one. It costs $13.24 for 40 oz. Since I use 1 oz per 16 oz water, that works out to 40 days supply. $.33/day. 40 days supply is too much, quality deteriorates at the end, but I am too cheap to buy smaller quantities at a much higher price. At this time I started using the proper amount of coffee per cup. I was using only about 60% of what I should have been using.

I didn't mention it, but the Bonavita has a "pre-infusion" setting that wets the coffee and lets it outgas for a minute or so. That setting does indeed improve the coffee. I put artificial sweetener in my coffee, but no milk or cream. That gets the cost per year up to about $130.

It doesn't take long in the morning to blitz 2.5 scoops of beans and put them in the filter basket. It brews in 5 min or so, so not a big convenience penalty over K-cups. I really look forward to that coffee each morning.

Along the way in this coffee experimentation, I tried brewing with different water. I have great tasting well water with a ph of 5.9. My son has decent tasting water with a ph of 8.0. The coffee with my water was significantly better. Water matters.

The point of all this is that you can drink a lot better coffee for not a lot more money.

 

[Steeler75]

Approximately $2,500 per year, made up of 100% Kona dark roast pea berry coffee and two types of espresso beans I buy from Vivace in Seattle. Drink Kona during the week and espressos and Lattes on the weekend.

Lived in Kailua-Kona on Big Island for 3 years in the early nineties and got hooked on the coffee. Have it flown over every 6 weeks since I returned to the mainland.

 

[harllee]

I don't spend any money on coffee. A few years ago I would break out in hives every time I drank coffee. Had the allergy test and turns out I am allergic to coffee beans. Fortunately I was not a big coffee drinker anyway. Saves some money I guess.

 

[reneeh63]

May I ask why?

My story: I got badly addicted to coffee as a young man. Working jobs (fishing, trucking, food service) where coffee was required to stay alert. When I was up to 2-3 pots of coffee per shift I started noticing the physical effects. I quit cold turkey and never looked back.

I can drink it, and I can drink caffeinated soda, but now that I'm not feeding the addiction I find the taste of coffee isn't really that good.

I always chuckle at how much money, time and effort people put into "perfect" coffee. Back in the day it was sort of a badge of honor to be able to drink the nasty sludge that passed for coffee at truck stops or industrial facilities. It helped me realize that coffee is just a drug delivery system for caffeine.

Seriously...coffee lovers can become obnoxiously close to wine connoisseurs, whiskey afficionados, beer "xxx's".

I came to coffee very late in life in my 40's and I drink WalMart instant! I think it comes to between a dime and $0.15 a cup to which I add a healthy splash of milk and some sweetener. So totals of under a dollar a day for 2-3 cups - I can live with that - especially since I get a Starbucks frappucino maybe 4 times a year.

 

[brett]

Five to six cups a day. Dark roast. At home.

Will I/we cut back if we knew how much we spend in the year buying coffee beans at Costco? No. Why would we if it makes zero difference on our spending regime.

It is all about choice. We do not add up how much we spend on red wine, ice cream, seafood, or fresh fruit and veg in the winter either. Nor do we really care.

 

[brett]

We have friends that were always astounded that we could afford to take a vacation every year. I noted to my husband that the wife stopped at Starbucks everyday.
Approx. $5/day x 365 = $1825/yr. Vacation paid for!

I have a Keurig but a reusable cup. I brew 2 cups per pod, each day.
Coffee: Aldi brand.
I usually use half & half (Aldi) & sugar but I do splurge on pumpkin spice creamer in the fall.
So I dunno...$10/month typically, maybe $15/month in the fall?

And if they gave up red meat, rode a bicycle to work instead of driving, they could have a luxury vacation. But this might not be their preference.

 

[Winemaker]

It's a very simple beverage that I enjoy immensely. I ran around for 35 years making it happen for megacorp, so now I take the time to enjoy flavor and smell the aroma, just like food and wine. I don't go to Starbucks and sit in lines for a cup of java, it's not worth my time. Budget for coffee? No clue. One of life's simple pleasures. Just like the ~$4900 I spent on wine grapes this fall.

+1 On the 8 o'clock Columbian Peaks.

 

[troutnut1]

We have a favorite from a local coffee roaster that’s been made affordable with a wholesale club they have where we buy 5 pounds at a time for $67 shipping included. Each cup uses .6 ounce so we get 27 cups per pound at about $.50 a cup. We spend $548 a year for that and also have an annual subscription to their “Coffees of the World” club where we get to try a different coffee each month for $216 a year. We use re-useable K-cups for our Keurig Supreme Plus so no costs for filters, etc. So for $764 a year or about $63 a month we have really great coffee. I never figured it out before but I am happy to find out its not more.

 

[Wincherr]

I mean no offense by this comment at all. Just sharing what I feel after reading it and many replies. But, it’s posts like this that make me hesitant to retire. Read into that what you will.

 

[aja8888]

San Francisco Bay K Cups....about $250/year.

 

[someday soon]

and i've never tasted coffee. and we've never had coffee or a coffee pot in our house since we've been married. i worked 35-years in public safety and friends wonder how i got thru it without coffee, nicotine or alcohol.

but one day my boss did ask me to make a pot of coffee for a meeting with some of the police and fire chiefs in our system. ok, i thought, how hard could this possibly be? we had one of those Mr. Coffee machines but no pre-measured packs in those days. so....there were 7 or 8 people in the meeting so i used one scoop of coffee for one person. i truly had no idea how much coffee to use. LOL...i was never asked to make coffee again.

That sounds a lot like me. Coffee smells delicious but I've never had a cup. I get nervous around coffee machines because I have no idea what goes where or which bottons to push LOL!

 

[CaptTom]

Seriously...coffee lovers can become obnoxiously close to wine connoisseurs, whiskey afficionados, beer "xxx's".

Well said. That makes two of us in the whole world who noticed.

 

[BruinBones]

Picky but frugal

I do enjoy Starbucks plain black coffee but refuse to pay full price. So I make my own, buying their ground coffee when it’s on sale at Publix for $6.99 a bag and brew in my Keurig with reusable filters. At 2 cups a day in the morning (and sometimes another cup later in the day), I go through a 12 oz bag every 3.5 weeks. So about $104 per year brewing at home. I will purchase a cup of coffee if we're at breakfast in a nice restaurant or if I have to drive long distance for several hours (ie, leftover habit from college years).

 

[Time2]

I mean no offense by this comment at all. Just sharing what I feel after reading it and many replies. But, it’s posts like this that make me hesitant to retire. Read into that what you will.

Wait until we get into the thread on the pleasure of using the restroom.


P.S. I take pleasure in my two mugs of morning coffee.

 

[CTRetiree]

I mean no offense by this comment at all. Just sharing what I feel after reading it and many replies. I just don't understand why people need to post about topics that no one forced them to read and that they hold in contempt.

 

[Steeler75]

One man’s virtue is another man’s vice?

 

[levindb]

OK, you made me look...my DW does not drink coffee...

1. Folgers at Costco/Samsclub for $9.99, lasts 80 days or $0.125/day
2. Sugar, at Kroger $1.99 for 4 pounds or $0.045/day

That is $0.13/day and I drink at home 300 days/year which is $39/year

The other 65 days/year we are at an all inclusive resort which is fully paid until year 2052...that was a BTD investment, but the coffee is FREE.

 

[Time2]

I mean no offense by this comment at all. Just sharing what I feel after reading it and many replies. I just don't understand why people need to post about topics that no one forced them to read and that they hold in contempt.

Since you responded to my post, just want to say, I don't hold the thread in contempt and I'm thick skinned enough that I take no offense. I was just trying to add a little humor to the thread. Some may have even enjoyed it!
I have poll--- no, no, just kidding.

 

[pacergal]

Approximately $2,500 per year, made up of 100% Kona dark roast pea berry coffee and two types of espresso beans I buy from Vivace in Seattle. Drink Kona during the week and espressos and Lattes on the weekend.

Lived in Kailua-Kona on Big Island for 3 years in the early nineties and got hooked on the coffee. Have it flown over every 6 weeks since I returned to the mainland.

Kona coffee is too good! I only purchase it occasionally from Mountain Thunder coffee plantation.

 

[mcbraemer]

Costco sells the original Starbucks House Blend whole bean in 2.5 pound bags for $12.99. It's branded Kirkland but identified as Starbucks on the package.
Getting 20 or more pots per bag, bean cost is $0.65 per pot. We use One 12-cup pot per day, which is $0.65 per day for coffee.
Adding low cal sweetener and coffee cream powder estimates to be $0.30 per day and $0.25 per day respectively, our combined daily cost for two coffee drinkers is approximately $1.20 per day or $0.60 each, for 2 large coffee mugs each.
Total cost per year approximately $430 for two drinkers, or $215 per person.
Now that I look at this, we'd be much cheaper drinking it black, but don't like it that way.
Would be many multiples higher had we purchased at a coffee shop by the cup.

 

[OneMarcilV]

Actually I do occasionally purchase coffee if needed if I have peeps over for a gathering. Like once. The last time was like 3 years ago.

No more than a few dollars. Like maybe 4 dollars.

 

[Koolau]

Kona coffee is too good! I only purchase it occasionally from Mountain Thunder coffee plantation.

No longer a big coffee drinker, but agree that Kona coffee is quite flavorful. It can be difficult to buy 100% Kona coffee. So many sources locally show "KONA" in big letters but the fine print reveals that it's a 10% blend. I guess that's for the tourists. YMMV