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Category: Coffee Hacks (Page 4 of 4)

A New Year and a New Coffee Regimen- Saving Money by Brewing Coffee Manually at Home

It’s the beginning of January which means nearly every blogger, podcaster and planner under the finance umbrella will be touting their lists of ways to trim the fat and save money in 2016. One of the items that is sure to turn up on practically every list is the old “save money by making coffee at home” suggestion.

It’s tired, overdone and an easy target but I thought it would be interesting to look at this popular exercise from a manual brewing perspective (and as someone who values financial scrutiny as well as a great cup of coffee).

If someone wanted to give up their daily trip to Starbucks, how would they go about making the switch? What equipment would they need? How much money could they save? And, perhaps most interestingly, how much of a quality increase could they expect for the same amount of money?

High Upfront Costs- What equipment do I need to start brewing coffee at home?

If you are starting from scratch, there is going to be a bit of an investment to begin making coffee at home (whether brewing manually or with an auto drip machine).

As the average price of an automatic coffee maker continues to climb, I believe manual brewing is the thriftier way to go. You should also be able to get a higher quality cup of coffee from manual brewing.

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Flash Brew- Two Easy No Mess Iced Coffee Recipes

When I wrote about cold brewed coffee last month, I shared some pros and cons of the brewing method. One thing I neglected to mention was that for me, one of the biggest drawbacks of the method is the mess it can make. While it is not unmanageable, when it is coupled with needing the foresight to start a brew 12 hours in advance, I will frequently take a pass on cold brewing and instead opt for flash brewing my coffee instead.

Sometimes you just want a quick and easy iced coffee. Here is an overview of flash brewed coffee (Japanese Iced Coffee) and a few recipes that should get you enjoying a cold, refreshing coffee over ice within minutes instead of tomorrow.

Is it Iced Coffee or Cold Brew?

You may recall from my post about cold brew coffee that there is a difference between the terms iced coffee and cold brew coffee. Cold brew, as well as flash brew, are methods of brewing coffee. Iced coffee describes a way of serving a brewed coffee.

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