patrick.net

Like most people in America, I have coffee every morning.

I like to grind it to powder, because that clearly gives more surface area to extract flavor. I don't see why anyone should ever grind less than that. Big chunks of coffee bean can't possibly give you as much flavor or caffeine, just weaker coffee. A waste of money.

I also like very strong coffee. I suppose that's just a matter of taste, but I just don't understand why anyone would like weak coffee at all.

Now that I'm nearly retired, of course I'm getting paranoid about the cost of living even though it should not be a problem by a long shot. So I calculated that my 1 lb bag of Peets House Blend whole beans at $15 results in a cost per cup (with 15 grams of ground coffee) of about 49.5 cents. Say 50 cents.

Can I get that quality of roasted beans for less?

I considered buying unroasted "green" beans and roasting them, because that's only about half as much per pound, but roasting coffee looks pretty involved, maybe not worth the effort. You've got to get them very hot, well ventilated, and keep stirring them, then quickly cool them. Gives off some noxious gas and a kind of chaff, so you can't just use a toaster oven.

What's your coffee habit? What does it cost you?