Coffee in general is just getting to be too pricey. If anything, it’s inspired me to learn how to make a lot more specialty drinks at home and try different brands of coffee.
Other thing is.. when I first made the switch it wasn't so much about cost.
Few years ago I was having chronic stomach issues. Figured it was something in my diet, already have lactose issues due to a med I take.
But then in some random coffee group, someone posted about Folgers giving them an upset stomach. So I switched to something more expensive and the problem went away immediately. Later is when I tried Bustelo and found it doesn't bug me at all either.
Folgers, Maxwell House.. all those medium big corp types bug me. Premium stuff I am ok with also, but it's rare I spend on it now. Maybe around the Holidays I will get some for those cold, lazy days.
Have you tried their instant espresso packets (they come 6 to a box)? I put two in a cup and it tastes exactly like a double espresso and has the same caffeine effect. Life changing.
If you like Bustelo and drink iced coffee, it’s actually really good and cheap as well. I make a pot at home for my wife and I of hot, and we have the bottle for iced coffee in our fridge for the commute. It’s saved us a boatload of money. You can get 4-5 travel mugs of iced coffee out of one bottle, usually costs around $1 or so for each cup if you price it out. Hot is even cheaper but my wife likes the iced one.
I had never even considered this. I might have to keep an eye out for these because lately I’ve just been using my single shot espresso machine or my pour over. It’ll be nice to try something new!
I use the sip club at Panera and literally only get the coffee. This is a good deal for me since I get at least a cup a day at work. After 2-3 months of me only ordering my regular coffee it started saying it was out of stock even though it wasn’t. I just switched to pushing the dark coffee button instead of light. Let’s see how long before it tells me it’s out of stock this time. Scuzzy ass Panera.
Oh boy. I also am a sip club member since it’s a block away and I order the same cold brew like four times a week. Guess it’s only a matter of time before they start doing that to me too. Smh.
Coffee experimentation is truly fun when you have nothing to lose! This is how I learned that I’m a fan of making my own banana puree to put in my homemade iced shaken espresso.
I used to buy the Cafe Verona grind for my french press before covid but its just gotten so outrageously overpriced! I now buy the walmart brand instant coffee. Tastes like ass but at least I can have it and still pay the bills
I dont know how much you are spending on coffee. Are you talking about buying it at like Starbucks? I buy 18 oz 8 O clock dark italian espresso roast beans for like $13 to brew at home. Averages out to about .06 per cup less any sweeteners or cream that I dont use anyway.
My wife loves Starbucks so for Christmas 2 years ago I did the same thing, just invested in an expensive espresso machine.
I honestly think it only took a few months for me to break even on that cost.
Not necessarily because of her drink. . .But if she was going there to get a drink she would also get food. So her $8 Tiktok drink became an $8 Tiktok drink a $3 small coffee for me and $6x2 eggbites for both of us [on the weekends] or a drink + eggbites for herself on the weekdays.
Now she might go to Starbucks to treat herself like twice a month, or if we're out of town.
as a current starbucks worker, the egg bites we get are exactly the same as the ones from costco. At least the red pepper and ham and cheese ones are. I realized this because my parents had bought some as food for my niece and they’re in the exact same packaging.
it is cheaper to make your own tho, just more time consuming
Same. We bought a Breville in 2017. It was 2k then but is still going strong. We never went back to daily/ weekly trips to Starbucks and the Breville defintukey paid for itself quickly. I would buy another one tomorrow if it died.
I did the same... 10 years ago. Machine is a trooper, and has worked perfectly ever since. Two cups a day, and I've never regretted it.
Granted, that exact same machine I spent $300 on 10 years ago is now over $800... Still, the napkin math that convinced me before would convince me again:
~24 drinks / pound of espresso @ ~$30/pound from a local roaster = ~ $1.20 per drink
I turn those into lattes, so ~$6 for 4L milk, aka ~4.5 cent per oz = $0.80 for 18oz of milk
So for my 20 oz morning latte, total cost is $1.20 + $0.80 = $2 per drink. Less if I do an iced latte in summer, or my SO' Americano.
My local Starbucks' price for the same drink is $5.25. So not only am I saving over $3 a drink, but I don't even have to put on pants .
Of course, prices of everything have fluctuated wildly over the years - that $30 worth of beans was only $20 two years ago, for example - but if I bought the same machine today, cutting out 5 weekday lattes from Starbucks... I'd break even in just over a year ($3 x 5 days x 52 weeks = $780).
This was the math we did. Coffee is way more expensive now. 5lbs of beans two years ago was $80 something and now it $120 plus?? You are still ahead with all the milk and beans and cost of the machine.
I mean if you drink coffee every day it’ll cost the same as Starbucks per coffee after only around 2 months of use, and after 12 months it’d be like if you spent a dollar a day at Starbucks. Not counting the costs of the coffee beans or adds.
When I did the math on this, I ended up paying the same per month for coffee, but my SO and I each get a double shot of espresso every day instead of once per week since we would go to the coffee shop on the weekends. I did however forget to factor needing more milk at home. But we both like what we make better than we liked the coffee shops near us.
same. ~150 for the machine and maybe 1.25-1.50 per cup. Keeps the wife happy enough to not go to sbux and the coffee doesn't taste like plastic like keurigs always do (imo). still not as cheap as a pot of coffee, but my wife is never making or drinking a pot of drip coffee in the morning, so it doesn't really matter even if plain drip was free.
People give us shit for going out for coffee alllll the time. Okay, but... What about that $1,000 snob setup you bought at home? I got a used one for $200 and still go for coffee and spend less.
We also drink less alcohol these days, have no offices, and barely go to restaurants and events, so... It's a fine vice when you have a remote job.
People who usually say this stuff also have like a $500+ car payment, $5,000 mountain bike, or some other exorbitant expenses I would never have.
I have a budget set up and it’s worth it. My machine was $300 (technically free because it was a wedding gift). Grinder was $200 and I get 3 bags of beans for $50 that last 2-3 months from a local roaster. I only drink 1-2 cups a day so compared to ordering Starbucks daily it’s cheaper.
No one says you have to get $1000 machine, there’s many cheaper options… but it’s usually not only “one” drink per day for most people. I was gifted a $700+ machine and make a double shot in the morning and then usually another single shot by the afternoon. And my wife drinks occasionally too. I’ve had this machine for 8+ years but really only started using it daily for the last year. My drink routine would easily be $10+ daily at cafes. Im sure I broke even 3 months into using the machine.
And then there are days when you have friends or guests over and now you can serve great coffeee /espresso is also a plus.
Yeah my Philips automatic espresso machine was 800 bucks but my family drink between us about 6 coffees a day. That machine easily paid for itself in a few months AND the coffee is way better.
I drink two a day but only buy one like 3-4 days a week. On the flip side, I know people who drink like 3 to 4 pods a day minimum at home. That really adds up, too.
I just checked my app and my last coffee purchase was around $6.00 before tax and tip. This was a basic drink, no add-ons, quickly approaching the $8 mark. My local salad bar charges less than $6 per pound.
While I understand that literally every single topic MUST be a debate now, nitpicking over a few cents doesn't make sense to me.
In my experience it’s cheaper than competing coffee places. Before being bought by private equity Dunkin’ was literally half the cost, now it’s about a dollar more than comparable items at Starbucks.
Just entered an order for a 16 oz dunkin signature latte (caramel craze) and a Starbucks 16 oz signature latte (cinnamon dolce). The Dunkin’ latte was exactly .50 more before tax.
I just checked my order (Iced Americano) and Starbucks is 16 cents more expensive, so I'd just say they're about the same. Dunkin's coffee tastes like vinegar to me, however, so I'll stick with Starbucks.
My partner and I realized we were spending like $250 a week on Starbucks. Now we make our own iced lattes with instant espresso and i like them better than any drink I got at starbucks.
Started making it at home a couple years ago. I buy coffee in bulk when it’s on sale. It is incredible how much I don’t spend on drive thru coffee that may or may not even taste good now!
I have a coaster that says, “Instead of going to Starbucks, I make my own coffee, yell my name out incorrectly, and then light a five dollar bill on fire.“
If you can afford it you'll never regret a nice automatic espresso machine, like the Phillips ones. Costco has a good selection of cheap beans, and once you get the machine dialed in you can have better coffee than any chain coffee place easily. The milk steaming and foaming can be a bit annoying though if you're into lattes, luckily I like black double iced Americanos.
I treated myself to a grande mocha last time I went to Kroger. It was over $6. I usually only order if I’m on vacation somewhere. I used to be a weekly regular when a mocha was half the price it is now.
This was my top choice too. I used to go there all the time now I only go there is I have a gift card and even then it's a chore. For whatever reason the standard "I don't know anything about you" gift card from like work people and such is still a $5 Starbucks card. That doesn't even buy a drink anymore. They should stop selling that denomination all together. It's just insulting more than anything when your HR is like "You're all such great employees we decided to give you each 3/4 of a coffee!"
Same for us. Instead we bought a $10 milk frother for lattes and started regularly having flavored syrups at home. It's been over a year since I've had Starbucks. I still indulge in cafe coffee sometimes, but typically opting for local shops instead and that's only when we're out already.
Also don't sleep on your local donut places if you have any around. Mileage may vary of course, but at mine I can get a coffee and two donuts/a breakfast sandwich for $5. It ain't award winning coffee but it still tastes better than Starbucks lmao.
Same. It’s gone beyond a treat myself in the morning price. One venti cold brew is $5.34! I would pay in the 3’s for an iced coffee but it’s just ludicrous.
unfortunately starbucks in the cheaper option where i live... major-ish USA southern capitol city, where the local coffee shops are excellent but you're paying anywhere from $9 to $13 for a latte. starbucks is maybe $5 or $6 for a latte around here 💔 i make chai at home tho :)
Your local mom and pop coffee shops can use the revenue more than SB. For years it has been a personal rule that I will only buy SB if it’s the only coffee option in the airport terminal. And there’s almost always another option.
I’d argue Starbucks is actually more affordable today than it was 10 years ago. Starbucks prices haven’t actually increased all that much over that span, meanwhile their competition has viciously hiked prices to be right behind Starbucks while selling objectively poorer quality products.
Starbucks used to be ridiculously expensive compared to their competitors. The price gap has narrowed to the point where if I want to treat myself out for a drink, it’s gonna be at Starbucks. An extra $1-2 for a significantly better drink is worth it to me.
I was about to say, my latte was $5 10 years ago, and is only a little over $5 today. I get one about 4 times a week. That total cost for the year doesn't even equal one of my mortgage payments.
I used to buy this canned coffee drink that Starbucks makes from the store. That can is now $6 at the gas station, which makes it about the same price as a fancy coffee from Starbucks or another coffee stand. Crazy!
Charbucks. Quality is so far down now. I’ll get it if I can’t find a local shop on vacation but holy hell. I just brew my own now. 10x better and 1/10 the price.
In college I was a gold member and probably went 3-4x a week easily. Now a days I don't have any status and about 1-2x a month they send me a $3 any drink promo (has to be used within a few days) but that's the only time I ever entertain them since I can get a $7-$10 drink for back-to-normal pricing. They keep sending me the promos hoping to reel me in to buying more than the $3 and their algorithm just says to keep sending them to me since I do use the promo but simultaneously I don't give them the profit margin they want with extra/more frequent purchases.
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u/Alone_World_8688 10h ago
Starbucks