What’s the best way to get my caffeine kick each morning? Here’s the most common ways people get their coffee and a cost analysis of each:
Buying a Coffee Every Morning
Buying a coffee from Tim Horton’s, Starbucks, or Dunkin’ Donuts in the morning costs you at least a dollar, the time for a trip, and the price of whatever else you end up buying as a result of going to the store. Check out this latte calculator to see how much money a daily latte could be costing you long term (A $4 latte, 5 times a week saved at 3% interest gives more than $7000 after 10 years) .
| Initial Investment | $0 |
|---|---|
| Ongoing cost | $5-$25 a week |
| Time taken | About 15 minutes a day 5 days per week |
Keurig Machine
The infamous Keurig machine, makes you your coffee at the push of a button. It’s an environmental disaster but a convenient option used by many. The Keurig saves you time when compared with brewing at home, but the pods are expensive and only a single cup can be made at once.
| Initial Investment | $100-$200 |
|---|---|
| Ongoing Cost | 25 cents to 1 dollar a day |
| Time taken | < 1 minute a day |
Brewing Hot Coffee At Home
The smell of a hot cup of coffee brewing is a comfort for many. There are a multitude of ways to brew a hot pot of coffee and brewing a hot pot of coffee at home is probably the most common way to get a coffee in the morning. Brewing coffee has the initial cost of the coffee maker, plus the cost of filters and coffee on an ongoing basis. A permanent filter, rather than disposable filters, can be used to reduce long term costs (paper filters are pennies but need to be replaced for each pot of coffee, adding up to a higher cost than a permanent filter).
| Initial Investment | $17 (assuming this coffee maker, could be larger if you choose a french press or chemex) |
|---|---|
| Ongoing cost | $20 / year for a permanent filter + about 15 cents per cup (2g of coffee per 1oz buying coffee at about .9 cents per gram) |
| Time taken | 5 minutes to measure the coffee, heat the water and clean the pot and mugs afterward. |
Cold Brewing Coffee At Home
Cold brew is made using a cold brewing system such as a toddy or a cold brew coffee bag. You brew a concentrated form of coffee and then combine it with water when you want to have a glass. Cold brewing can be done once every 2 weeks rather than every morning as with hot coffee. It offers a few advantages compared with traditional coffee brewing: You won’t waste any coffee like you do if you accidentally brew too much hot coffee because cold brew concentrate stays fresh in the fridge. Many people prefer the flavor of cold brew. If you like hot coffee you can still make it by cold brewing concentrate and adding hot water instead of cold water. Unfortunately it also:
Costs slighty more, coffee grounds are used less efficiently. May not suit your personal taste preference
| Initial Investment | About $40 for a cold brew system |
|---|---|
| Ongoing costs | 2$ / 3 months for filters + about $10 / 2 weeks for a 12oz bag of grinds |
| Time taken | About 10 minutes every 2 weeks + 30 seconds to wash your mug each day. |
Tea
Brewing a cup of tea can be a great alternative to coffee. Tea typically has 24mg of caffeine a cup as compared to 100-200mg in a cup of coffee so you may want to supplement with a caffeine pill or have a couple cups if you really need your caffeine.
| Initial Investment | $0 (only a pot or kettle is needed and we’ll assume these are necessary regardless). |
|---|---|
| Ongoing costs | As low as 5 cents per cup (25 cents per week). |
| Time taken | About 10 minutes to warm up the water, steep the tea, and wash the cup. |
Caffeine Pills
Don’t enjoy the taste of coffee but still want a caffeine kick in the morning? Try a caffeine pill. If you only care about getting a kick of caffeine and not the taste, or your drink ritual then this option is incredibly cheap and effective.
| Initial investment | $0 |
|---|---|
| Ongoing cost | About $0.08 per table |
| Time taken | Almost none! |
Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans or other Coffee Chocolate
If you need a sugar kick as well as a caffeine kick, then a few chocolate covered coffee beans or other coffee chocolate such as an il morso may be an option. A coffee bean has about 1-2 mg of caffeine, so you will need about 15-30 to get the same amount of caffeine as you get from a cup of coffee.
| Initial investment | $0 |
|---|---|
| Ongoing cost | Assuming about 350 beans per pound, $9 per pound, and 20 beans = 1 cup, about 51 cents per ‘cup’. |
| Time Taken | Almost none! (but you may have to do significant extra exercise to burn those chocolate calories). |
June 11, 2017 at 08:16PM
