Gourmet Coffee Habit Costing Consumers as Much as $1,500 Yearly

Gourmet coffee consumers rarely consider the cost of their daily coffee in terms of the expense to brew premium whole bean coffee at home (50 cents to 75 cents) with prices of a pound of gourmet coffee beans versus a two or three cup a day ($4.50 to $6.00) coffee drinking habit when purchased at premium coffee houses. A recent Washington Post article discussed Seattle law students spending money from their student loans for Starbucks coffee across the street from the Seattle University School of Law.

Erika Lim, director of career services at the law school has launched a campaign to reduce coffee consumption by students attending the university on student loan money. She points out that students are spending education loans on luxuries like latte instead of necessities like a loaf of bread. That borrowed money takes years to repay and many students don't do the math to see that study time with 2-3 cups of coffee at Starbucks over 4 years can cost them significant sums - as much as $4500 in principle, interest and fees on their student loan - over the course of their education. An online calculator has been posted for those interested in calculating their caffeine expenses at:http://www.hughchou.org/calc/coffee.cgi

Gourmet Coffee drinkers have become accustomed to paying $2 or more per cup for fresh brewed coffees at Premium coffee houses - and many sources are predicting those prices may increase to as much as $4 per cup soon due to expected increases in green coffee prices. But smart gourmet coffee consumers have long known that premium coffee brewed at home costs just 12 cents or so per cup, depending on preferences for coffee strength.

Many coffee producers recommend starting with 1 tablespoon of fresh ground gourmet coffee beans per standard 6 ounce cup of water. Starbucks recommends double that amount for stronger coffees at 2 tablespoons per 6 ounce cup. A pound of gourmet coffee (that is 16 Ounces or 1 Lb.) divided by 1 1/2 Ounces comes to roughly 10 pots of 10 cups (6 Ounce cups) equaling 100 cups for the cost of one pound of gourmet coffee beans. At the average of 1.5 tablespoons per 6 ounce cup and average size of 12 ounce coffee mug, you can expect 50 cups of home brewed coffee per pound of gourmet beans!

Prices of premium gourmet coffee beans range between $10 and $18 per pound, making a cup of home-brewed gourmet coffee, made fresh to your liking, cost only between .10 cents and .25 cents per cup or between $1.00 and $2.00 per pot of coffee! Even the rarest and most expensive coffee sold, the exotic Kopi Luwak, at $175 per pound, is still less than $1.75 per 6 ounce cup when brewed at home! So if you have expensive tastes and want a 12 ounce mug of the rarest and most expensive coffee on the planet, you still need only pay what some premium coffee houses charge for a latte ($3.50) for that rare privilege.

When consumers learn that they can purchase gourmet whole bean coffee for between $10 to $18 per pound, then fresh grind and brew at home for significantly less than gourmet coffee companies charge, many see home brewing premium gourmet coffee as luxurious treat. Purchasing a thermos or a large travel mug to take coffee with them from home makes drinking rich, fresh roasted coffee a possibility for about one-seventh the cost of buying that coffee from expensive and crowded coffee shops.

Many so-called premium coffee houses keep their coffee heated on warmers after brewing, but this practice causes the flavor to turn bitter after less than an hour of warming. It is actually more likely you will get a rich flavorful cup of coffee from an insulated thermos or insulated type pump containers. Reheating coffee can destroy the flavor of good gourmet coffee - just as quickly as extensive warming.

Coffee purists prefer to make individual cups with a coffee press, fresh grinding beans for each cup and drinking the entire amount brewed before it turns cold to get the maximum enjoyment from their beans. Microwave a good cup of coffee that has gone cold and you'll see how much better it is freshly brewed. Using good clean, fresh water is essential since coffee is 99% water and bad tasting tap water can quickly ruin even the best fresh ground beans.

You can enjoy great gourmet coffee more and pay less for the privilege by starting with whole beans and grinding them yourself with a $20 coffee grinder. Make only what you can drink or carry with you in a nice thermos or travel mug instead of reheating coffee later. Use good tasting waterand keep your brewing equipment clean to prevent the rancid bitterness that can come from previous grounds in crevices.

You can brew at home with fine gourmet coffee beans, fresh ground and brewed in a French press coffee maker, carry a fancy thermos of great coffee to work or school and enjoy the best coffee available for far less money than you would spend at crowded and expensive premium coffee house.

© Copyright 2005 http://www.TastesofTheWorld.net

Written by Mike Banks Valentine for Tastes of The World coffee company, focusing on specialty gourmet coffees which are not readily available in the United States. Rare Gourmet Coffee is their business so they make shopping with them risk free. "If you are happy tell a friend if you are not tell us"

http://www.tastesoftheworld.net/Coffee-Cost-Per-Cup.htm
E-mail CustomerService@tastesoftheworld.net
Call 1-877-895-2662

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Coffee Information:

Related Articles

Which Coffees are Highest in Antioxidants?
As researchers learn more about antioxidants with health and disease, they increasingly find themselves drawn to their influence on overall health. With them becoming an ever larger realm of study, people are looking for new ways to obtain high levels for them to be beneficial.
Coffee and Alzheimers Disease
With the American population aging rapidly, diseases that affect the health of the elderly are becoming increasingly important. The prevalence of these conditions is increasing and is costing both insurers and taxpayers billions of dollars each year.
Roast Your Own Coffee - Secrets Revealed
For years, the idea of roasting your own coffee beans has been kept a mystery by the coffee roasting industry. It had been deemed "too hard" or "too complicated".
Arabica Coffee Beans Are Pricey Yet Priceless!
Arabica coffee beans are known for a better-flavored coffee. There are two main species of coffee beans that are grown for sale: Robusta and Arabica.
Coffee and Asthma?
Here are some facts about the relationship between coffee and asthma. Regular coffee drinkers have about 1/3 less asthma symptoms than those of non-coffee drinkers according to a Harvard researcher who studied 20,000 people.
Are Coffee Enemas The Real Thing?
Coffee enemas detoxify the liver, as well as cleans the colon. Some people claim that they provide immediate relief to toxicity symptoms, such as congestion, indigestion, pain and headaches.
Does Coffee Make You Fat or Help with Diabetes?
Who the heck knows?According to two studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association the opposite is true and it states if you have diabetes you should get rid of caffeine.Duke University Medical Centre in a 2004 study proved that caffeine ingestion significantly impairs the control of blood sugar and insulin after a meal.
How Is Kona Coffee Different?
Like much of Hawaii, Kona offers ideal climate conditions for growing coffee. But there is something different about the Kona coffee cherries produced here that has earned this coffee a worldwide reputation for excellence.
Woman Dies from Caffeine Overdose and Expert Calls for Action in New Book and FDA Petition
An autopsy released this week has found caffeine to be the cause of death for a woman from New Mexico. The incident took place in June 2004 after she was admitted to a hospital after a fight with her son.
Specialty Gourmet Coffee
Specialty gourmet coffee is a very hot commodity in today's market. The consumption of gourmet coffee has steadily grown with consumers enjoying the more sophisticated tastes of gourmet coffee beans.
The Great Bean Mystery - Find the World's Best Coffee
Who doesn't love solving a good mystery? Is the Loch Ness monster real? Who built Stonehenge? Does Big Foot really exist? What is the world's best coffee? While you may need to be an expert to solve the first three, no advanced degree or special knowledge is required to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of the 21st century: What is the world's best coffee?All you need to solve this caffeinated mystery is equip yourself with the right information. And, thanks to the Internet, finding the information for your coffee trekking adventure is as easy as the click of a button.
Fresh Gourmet Coffee
Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world. It's rich, full-bodied taste is a daily necessity to millions of people.
Coffee Roasting De-mystified
How many different names have you run across for different types of coffee roasts? Light, Medium, Dark? Espresso? Continental? Vienna, French, Italian, Spanish? City? Full-City? C'mon, who's thinking up these things?Well, the dark secret (pardon the pun) of the coffee industry is that, well, there really isn't full agreement on which roast is which. So basically, we all pretty much get to hunt around, try different coffees from different sources and pick the one(s) we like.
Coffee Storage Myths; Freeze Your Fresh Roasted Coffee & Other Popular Misconceptions
So you are finally fed up with that bland black liquid, you once called coffee, brewed from the finest can of generic supermarket grinds. You are financially outraged at the price of a single cup of designer coffee shop coffee.
Coffee from Guatemala
In Guatemala coffee grows in the heart of what was once the center of the Great Mayan Civilization. The Maya ruled this region of Central America from around 2500 B.
Why Your Cup of Coffee in the Morning May Keep You Up All Night
One of the most common complaints among coffee drinkers isthat the caffeine can disturb their sleep. This result has been known for thousands of years and is, in fact, one of the reasons why many drink coffee in the first place: to stay awake.
Coffee Commodities and Starbucks
If we look at commodity trading from a purely conceptual standpoint, we find that the true reason for having a commodity exchange in the first place, was to stabilize pricing so that the American farmer could have a better idea of what his agricultural product would sell for once the harvest was complete. It also helped manufactures who needed raw materials to know how much money could be charged in their end product, by knowing their costs.
Factors to Consider When Choosing an Espresso Machine
Buying an espresso machine is an important decision - choose a wrong one and you've wasted a few hundred dollars; choose a good one and you will be rewarded for years to come.Picking the correct machine for your needs is a matter of prioritizing the features that are most important to you.
How to Make Restaurant Quality Coffee At Home
Have you ever wondered how restaurants get their coffee to taste so good?First of all, restaurants are in the business of pampering you so they devote much more time to the perfection of a good cup of coffee. Sometimes I'll remember a restaurant just because of their excellent coffee.
Coffee Club Membership Is A Joy For Coffee Lovers
Coffee club membership is a joy for coffee lovers The coffee club concept is relatively new but is taking the world by storm. Reward yourself or your friends and relatives with coffee clubs by joining up and saving loads.