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Category: Coffee Trends (Page 5 of 7)

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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Bicycle Touring, Manual Brewing and Coffee Outside: An Afterword

The dust has settled on my Upper Peninsula adventures and before I returned to my regular schedule content (and weekly posting schedule) I thought I’d supply a brief afterword regarding my trip.

We had a great time and although the trip was more about biking, camping and exploration than about coffee, there were definitely some memorable and fun coffee moments along the way. Luckily for me (and you), my father-in-law, his camera and his superb photographic eye made the trip with me. Here are a few of his photos and the stories that go along with them.

The Lambeau-press

Our journey began in Manitowoc Wisconsin, a city that is about 40 miles southeast of Green Bay.

Even though we are Chicago Bears fans, we couldn’t ride our bikes through Green Bay without taking the opportunity to visit Lambeau Field. It was a Sunday morning, and fortunately for us, the Packers were the Monday night game (I’m sure it would have been mayhem had they been a Sunday noon game).

Somewhere along the ride, an idea was suggested. We should brew some coffee at Lambeau.

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Brewing Coffee Outside- A Quintessential Coffee Ritual

Coffee and the outdoors go together about as well as any two things can. Whether it is on the side of a mountain, a patio at your favorite cafe or at home on your back deck, the fresh air was never quite so sweet and the coffee never lasts quite long enough when the two are paired together. You gotta love coffee outside.

While the “coffee outside” genre encompasses a great many different ways to prepare and enjoy coffee and the outdoors together, I want to focus on the brewing and enjoyment in a general sense without talking specifically about camping, backpacking or other sub-genres. While this post will certainly touch on aspects that can be applied to them all, this is about getting outside and enjoying coffee exclusive from other pursuits that coffee outside is often added onto. (You can hopefully look forward to a post on coffee and bicycle touring in the near future)

The Setting- Early Mornings, Crisp Air and Hot Coffee

If you have never partaken in this quintessential part of the coffee experience, it is a good time of year to give it a try.

Around here, the mid-August mornings are starting to feel a little crisp and cooler. The sunrise is slated to be a little after six o’clock and getting later by the day. The birds are cheerfully chirping, breaking up the morning stillness.

Enjoying coffee in the outdoors doesn’t have to be a big production. If there was a flow chart for coffee outside, the first question would be: Do you already have a cup coffee? If yes, go outside and enjoy it.

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