SAVE MONEY: Make Espresso At Home
There are variable costs involved in brewing your own espresso at home; even with these variables included in the price of home brewing, it is safe to say that brewing your own espresso is cheaper than buying it at a coffee shop or restaurant.
People are starting to catch on to this money-saving fact. In 2010, the National Coffee Association estimated that about 85% of American coffee drinkers brewed their own coffee. Obviously, these people feel that they can brew a fancy cup of coffee that tastes just as great as the coffee that they would get anywhere else.
If you really want to brew high-end espresso, you need to buy premium coffee beans; if you grind them yourself, you get a product that tastes fresh and luxurious. Many espresso enthusiasts feel that buying beans that are already ground takes away from the taste of the beverage. Give both a try; you may find that you can't taste the difference between the two.
Do You Really Save Money Home Brewing Espresso?
You can purchase a high-end bag of espresso for about 76 cents per ounce; this adds up to about $27 for a 2.2 pound bag. A shot of espresso uses about eight grams of beans; you get about three shots per ounce of espresso beans.
When the math is all done, it turns out that brewing espresso at home costs a person about 25 cents a cup. If you factor in water, electricity, the cost of your equipment and your cups, your price probably goes up a couple of cents. Let's be safe and say your homemade espresso costs 35 cents a cup. If you buy espresso from a restaurant, you can expect to spend at least $2 per cup. If this is the case, then you end up saving at least $1.65 per cup you drink. If you drink only one cup a day over a year, you save more than $600.
Remember, there is a lot of leeway in these numbers. It really depends on the beans you buy; it also depends on how strong you like your espresso. Although there is a lot of variation in prices, you end up saving a lot of money over the long-run; this is true even when comparing low-end purchased coffee to a high-end cup of homemade espresso.
Is It Worth Your Time?
Brewing up a fresh cup of espresso doesn't take much more than five minutes. A person simply grinds the beans, puts them in the portafilter and lets the machine do its work. If you add in the clean-up time, the process still doesn't take more than seven minutes max.
Let's say you are a slow cleaner; just assume that the whole process takes you 10 minutes. Do you think that saving $1.65 for ten minutes work is worth it? Personally, I feel that the savings are worth the bit of extra time I need to put into it. Plus, I really think that the fresh espresso I brew at home tastes a lot better than the stuff I get anywhere else.
Most expert espresso drinkers will tell you that you have to consume it within 15 seconds of brewing it; you never know how long the espresso you order at a restaurant has sat out. If you always want a fresh cup, you really have to brew it at home.
If you drink espresso more than once or twice a week, brewing it at home is a great money-saving idea. Just a little time and preparation guarantees a fresh cup of espresso made just the way you like it.