Economics of making your own coffee?

[aaarrrnnn Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close aaarrrnnn]

Hi,

While trying to justify the outlay of a Rancilio pair to myself, I wondered how long it would take us to break even. Im sure this has been asked before, but I couldnt find such a thread.

Generally, what is your price per cup for an espresso, and milk-based coffee?

Im guessing its something like this:

$9.00 per 250g of beans
250g = about 15 shots?
= $0.60 per coffee

$4.00 per 3l bottle of milk
150ml per milk-based coffee?
= $0.20 per coffee

What other operating costs would I be up for - eg, descaler, etc? (apart from electricity)

So would you say $1.00 per coffee is a reasonable estimate?

Can even more money be saved when roasting your own beans? I presume you could then "buy in bulk".

(Of course, I understand theres a lot more to gain from making your own coffee than just money saved, but I need this justification too!)

[JavaB Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JavaB]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

aaarrrnnn,

You cant put a price on quality..... and thats what you are talking about when making your own coffee - compared to most cafes....

But if you really are determined to be a bean counter ;D ;D ;D ;D

Home roasted coffee is about $10 a kilo for green beans (BeanBay).... and when you roast them you lose about 18% of the weight......

So yep, much cheaper - but you always have fresh beans roasted just the way you like!

[steve Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close steve]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

The only problem with having freshly roasted beans and a good machine is that you will drink more coffee :-) Thats good because it will take less time to break even.

[muppet_man67 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close muppet_man67]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

so I spend about 30c per cup including milk I home roast an I reckon it costs me roughly 15 cents for coffee (I couldnt be bothered working out milk. so if you were to buy a rancilio with an exelent grinder (cause if you dont youll be upgrading and spending more money)

compac K3 is about $500-$600
plus a silvia $780
-brita jug $30
-knock box/blind filter/cleaner/milkjug/thermometer/tamper.
2mcm sells a kit for $80
also as a package on all this youll probably get a discount.
so if where liberal its $1500

Now in all honesty the first coffees you make will probably be rubbish till you get the hang of it. so lets say the first 2 months your only getting 2 dollor servo coffee. @ 4 coffees a day your making $6.80x62 =421.60. After this period youll be making better coffee then youve ever had anywhere. Its easily worth $10 a cup. so youll be saving $38.80 a day it will take only one more moth to break even.

so there you go 3 months. if your coffee stays average @ $3 a cup it will take another four months. so its 5 months all up.

whoops a forgot I bought a roaster. add another 3 months. ;D

[Rolley Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Rolley]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

Heyyyy, the only advice I have is to shop around more, and dont buy in 250gm bags. Id never pay $9.00 per 250gms unless it was something really special.. (man Im a tight arse)..
Seriously though, go green and you can get 1kg from around $10 to $14, factor in the average 17-18% weight loss due to roasting and youll reduce your costs significantly. Either that, or like I said shop around more, sponsors such as coffeehit and the coffee barun have great prices, your talking $25-$30 per KG, and you get a discount with them.
Howzat!!!

Rolley

[grendel Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grendel]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

Welcome to self-justification central. If it is coffee-related and you need to justify it you have come to the right place!

Home roasting is where I have made big gains in savings (OK I am buying more coffee than at any time in my life but it is also a hobby!)

If you start out with a popper or an I-Roast you can roast small amounts for yourself and ensure that your Rancilio is well supplied at a cost lower than pre-roasted beans and much lower than Cafe prices.

[Bon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bon]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

There is a 101 different ways to calculate it...

dont forget that you may take a shot or two to dial the grind in... plus, seasoning shots... then extra shots until you get the pour youre happy with... then another one because its so good, another one an hour later.. it just goes on and on, there is no end really. I can easily turn over a kilo of beans in 2-3 days when my family & friends are drinking coffee too.

I say you ditch the milk ocassionally to offset the extra coffee youre going to be making/drinking and keep the costs down

[lucinda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lucinda]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

I sat down and worked it out one day to justify home roasting, from memory I came up with 40 cents per cup including milk.

At that price the machine had paid for itself in just over 12 months.

By home roasting I am also able to treat myself to other stuff that I would be hard pressed to go out and buy.

I am also a bit scotty and hate to pay fulll price for something when I can find a way of getting it cheaper.

[grendel Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grendel]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

Ahhhh I knew someone would have it worked out! Nice work - can I quote you as an authoratitive source when I go to upgrade?

[Thundergod Sleep is overrated Find all posts View Profile Close Thundergod]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

Dont forget I season with left over grounds so that costs me nothing.

[Cruiserman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cruiserman]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

Not to mention that should you ever decide not to drink coffee anymore you have the capital investment of the machine/grinder/paraphernalia that you can resell and recoup 60 - 75% of your cost. Damn cheap good coffee really.

[jimmyb Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jimmyb]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

plus the time you save not going to the cafe, fuel etc.

I still enjoy my coffee more at a nice cafe than at home though.

[lucinda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close lucinda]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

What I enjoy is having someone else make it for me as I am the chief Barista in our house.

[Myrtle Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Myrtle]

Re: Economics of making your own coffee?

What I enjoy is having someone else make it for me as I am the chief Barista in our house.

I am with you here - I am patiently waiting for my other half to learn the art also - but he is too fond of drinking it. So I have to make it myself.

I have managed to get him to steam milk for hot chocolate though - so we are getting there!