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Copyright © 2016 Dr. Penny Pincher. All Rights Reserved. Coffee Maker Journal

How to Warm Up Cold Coffee?

Problem: Cold Coffee

Today, I made a great cup of coffee as usual.  I used my coffee grinder to make fresh coffee grounds from whole bean coffee.  I used filtered water, and brewed my coffee in a coffee maker with a cone filter for maximum flavor extraction.  Here are details on how to make a great cup of coffee.

I got distracted in my workshop, and found that I had about 1/4 cup of cold coffee.  I like my coffee hot.  I have tried heating up cold coffee in the microwave, but it tastes terrible.  What can I do to warm up cold coffee without making it taste bad?

Update June 1, 2015:  I tried some further testing of heating up coffee in the microwave- I found that if the coffee is still fresh (less than an hour old) and if you don't microwave it too long that it still tastes OK.  Still, I think adding hot water is the best way to heat up coffee, but briefly microwaving it can work too.

https://twitter.com/Dr_PennyPincher/status/605351211273842689

My coffee got cold- how can I warm it up?
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Solution: How to Warm Cold Coffee without Making it Taste Bad

When I end up with cold coffee that I want to warm up, I make a sort of "Cafe Americano".  I heat up a small amount of water to boiling, and add the boiling water to the cold coffee.  This does make the coffee a bit weaker, but the flavor is still good, and the coffee is hot again.

Put a small amount of water in a coffee mug

Heat the water in the microwave

Add the hot water to your cold coffee
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

I use an amount of water slightly less than the amount of cold coffee.  For the cold coffee shown in the pictures, I microwaved the water for 1:30 to get it boiling a little, and then poured it into my cold coffee.  It was a little weaker than the original coffee, but still drinkable.  Give this method a try next time you end up with cold coffee that you want to warm up.

Copyright © 2014 by Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved. Coffee Maker Journal

How to Quit Caffeine or Reduce your Caffeine Intake

How much caffeine are you getting?

I was surprised to learn how much caffeine I was getting every day.  I was drinking two 16 ounce cups of strong coffee brewed from fresh ground coffee beans.  From this caffeine table, I learned I was getting about 400 milligrams (mg) per cup, a total of 800 mg of caffeine every morning.  That is a lot of caffeine!  For reference, a Five Hour Energy has 200 mg of caffeine and a 20 oz Mountain Dew has 90 mg of caffeine.

Should you quit caffeine or reduce caffeine consumption?
Image by Icey, ClockworkSoul- Public Domain

As they say, caffeine is slightly habit forming.  I didn't feel right if I didn't get my 2 big cups of coffee promptly each morning.  I decided to reduce my caffeine intake to a more manageable level.

How much caffeine is too much?

Caffeine affects individuals in different ways- some people metabolize caffeine more rapidly and can tolerate higher levels of caffeine better.  For me, I would say 800 milligrams a day was too much.  One issue was the logistics of getting that much caffeine.  I would brew and carry two cups of coffee with me.  Sometimes I would need to stop to use a restroom on drive to work.  When travelling it was sometimes not possible to get that much coffee before the day started.  Once when visiting my brother, who is not a coffee drinker, I was climbing the walls until he took me to Einstein Brothers for a couple cups of coffee.  He was pretty amused by how badly I wanted some coffee.

Health effects of caffeine is a complex issue.  From what I understand, your blood pressure does increase for a short time, for example one week, when you first start taking in caffeine- but then your blood pressure stabilizes and is no longer elevated after that.  I have also seen reports that drinking a small amount of coffee every day makes your blood vessels more flexible and actually reduces blood pressure.  But please check out health effects of caffeine for yourself- I am not a doctor.  Well, actually I am a doctor, but not that kind.

Another health effect of caffeine is sleep disruption.  This was not really a problem for me since all of my caffeine consumption was in the morning.  The half life of caffeine in the human body is approximately 8 hours, so by evening most of the caffeine from your morning coffee has been metabolized and is not going to keep you awake or disrupt your sleep.  However some people drink coffee in the afternoon, and even at night.  This is almost certain to cause sleep disruption which can have a range of negative health effects.

Caffeine in high doses can cause headaches and jumpiness.  I did experience a caffeine headache from too much caffeine once and it was not pleasant.  You can also get headaches from caffeine withdrawal- if you are not able to get your morning coffee, you may get a headache and generally feel crummy.  I also experienced this type of headache many times when my caffeine supply was disrupted for various reasons.

Cutting your caffeine intake can save you money.  If you don't "need" several cups of coffee each day, you can certainly reduce your coffee spending.  If you don't require as much caffeine to get through the day, you can choose lower cost or free beverages instead of springing for highly caffeinated coffee which goes for over $2 per cup at coffee shops.

How to reduce caffeine intake and still enjoy great coffee

So, you've decided to cut back on caffeine or even quit caffeine.  How can you reduce your caffeine intake, avoid headaches and withdrawal symptoms, and still enjoy great coffee?  You want to slowly reduce your caffeine intake, avoiding sudden changes.  I tried suddenly cutting my caffeine intake in half and this caused headaches and I felt grumpy and couldn't concentrate.  After going back to my full level of caffeine, I slowly stepped down my caffeine level over a two week period.  I was able to adjust easily to this rate of change.

There are methods to gradually reduce your caffeine intake:
Method 1:  You can just cut back on the amount of coffee grounds you use each day- and cut back on the water by the corresponding amount to gradually reduce your caffeine consumption.

Method 2: Another approach is to mix decaf coffee grounds with your regular coffee grounds, gradually increasing the ratio of decaf to regular.  This method has the advantage that you still get your normal amount of coffee all the time, which can be easier to deal with than having less coffee each day.

There are a number of coffee substitutes such as chickory, carob root, Teccino, Pero, Postum, and others that have little or no caffeine.  These can be mixed with coffee grounds, or used to replace a second cup of regular coffee.  Also hot tea (either black tea or green tea) has much less caffeine than coffee- try to substitute tea for some of your coffees.

Method 3:  Set a strict cut-off time for caffeinated coffee.  For example no coffee (except decaf) after 10am or noon, etc.  This will help you reduce or avoid sleep problems, and can help you lower your overall caffeine intake.

You may find the best approach for you is to use a combination of all of these methods to gradually reduce your caffeine intake.  If you cut caffeine too quickly, you will have withdrawal symptoms and are likely to resume your previous high level of caffeine intake to relieve your symptoms.

My goal was to cut back to a single 16 ounce of regular coffee per day, which I reached after 2 weeks of gradually reducing caffeine intake.  This seems like a manageable and moderate level of caffeine intake, and I focus on making one great cup of regular fully-caffeinated coffee every morning.  After that I switch to decaf coffee, decaf black tea, and green tea.

If you decide to go further in reducing your caffeine intake, how do you completely quit caffeine?

Quit Caffeine

The approach to quit caffeine is the same for reducing caffeine intake- keep reducing your caffeine intake gradually each day.  If you want to quit caffeine, you'll need to keep going until you are drinking only decaf or coffee substitutes.  To really quit caffeine completely, you'll need to watch out for caffeine from sources other than coffee such as soda, tea, and chocolate.

I think enjoying coffee in moderation is good for you.  As with most things, too much of even a good thing can have consequences.  It is worth considering how much caffeine is the maximum you want each day, allowing you to enjoy some coffee without negative consequences of too much caffeine.

Copyright © 2013 by Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved. Coffee Maker Journal

Keurig K-Cups Cheap

How to get Keurig K-cups Cheap

While checking out the latest Keurig brewers that use expensive Vue packs instead of K-cups, I noticed something interesting about K-cups:  You can now get K-cups cheap.  There are three ways to get Keurig K-cups cheap:

1. Generic or less expensive brands of cheap K-cups are now available

The premium brands K-cups are fairly expensive.  These brands include Coffee People, Donut House, Green Mountain, Gloria Jean's, Timothy's, Celestial Seasonings, Emeril's.  Green Mountain is also the maker of Keurig Brewing Machines.  These brands typically cost about $10.99 for an 18 pack of K-cups, or 60 cents per K-cup.

Starbucks brand K-cups are sometimes even more expensive than the premium brands above.  Starbucks K-cups typically cost $11.99 for 16 K-cups or 75 cents per K-cup.

The good news is that lower cost brands are becoming easy to find on store shelves and on the internet.  Examples of these brands include Eight O’Clock and Folgers and San Francisco Bay coffee from Rogers.  These companies  are offering lower cost K-cups cheaper that premium brands.  I would expect more lower cost brands to emerge soon at 50 cents or less per K-cup.  You'll want to try a small quantity when first trying a new, inexpensive brand of K-cups- the coffee quality could vary from your favorite brands.

Keurig K-cup- Emeril's is a premium K-cup brand
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

2.  Refillable K-cups are now common- make your own K-cups cheap!

If you look at what is inside a K-cup, you can easily see how you could make a refillable K-cup.  At the local store, there were 3 different options for refillable K-cups available.  These are washable plastic cups that you fill with your own coffee grounds and use in a Keurig K-cup brewer.  It costs about 30 cents for coffee grounds to fill a refillable K-cup.  Some use disposable paper filters, and some use reusable filters.  The paper filters cost a few cents each.

Get a refillable K-cup and make your own cheap K-cups!
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

You can refill a K-cup for about 30 cents using high quality ground coffee such as Starbucks.  The main drawback is loss on convenience- you will need to do some work to refill and clean the reusable K-cups.  A benefit of refillable K-cups in addition to lower cost is that you can reduce the amount of disposable material that you throw away.

3.  Big discounts: Get K-cups cheap on-line

You can get big discounts on K-cups on internet sites such as amazon.com and eBay.  If you drink a lot of coffee or order coffee for a group of people, getting a good price on K-cups can make a big difference.  For me, 50 cents is a psychological barrier.  If I can make coffee with cheap K-cups for 50 cents or less per cup, I’ll drink a lot more!

Typical cost for K-cups in stores is about 60 cents per cup for 18 packs.  It pays to seek better deals on –line.  Check out bargain on large packs of 54 or even 80 K-cups.  Divide the price by the number of K-cups to check the cost per K-cup to see how much of a bargain you are getting.  You can find 80 packs of K-cups cheap!  I found a pack of 80 K-cups for under $30 which works out to less than 38 cents per K-cup.

The Future of Keurig K-cup Cheap Prices

I wonder if increasing competition in the form of lower cost K-cups was a factor in the introduction of the new Keurig Vue brewers.  The Keurig Vue single serve brewers use a new type of coffee pack that is about twice the size of a K-cup.  Keurig Vue brewers offer the ability to brew stronger since more coffee grounds are available and have more control over the brew strength and temperature.

I did not see any low cost alternatives to Vue Packs, and only noticed one type of refillable Vue Pack for sale.  I would expect competition to emerge quickly, probably from the same companies that are producing low cost K-cups and refillable K-cups.  It would not be difficult for these companies to expand their product line to include Vue Packs if the market develops.  The Vue is a new product, so we’ll have to wait and see how popular this will become compared to K-cups.

The established market for K-cups is large, and this ensures that K-cups and refillable cups compatible with K-cup brewers will be available on the market for many years even if the market for Vue Packs grows.  I would expect more generic brewers as well as K-cups to appear over time, bringing down the cost of both K-cups and K-cup brewers over the next few years.

Copyright © 2013 by Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved. Coffee Maker Journal

Make Coffee Without a Coffee Maker

Make Coffee Without a Coffee Maker

If you don’t have a coffee maker available and want hot coffee, here are seven ways to make coffee without a coffee maker:

1. Buy coffee at a coffee shop, restaurant, or convenience store

This is a way to get coffee without using a coffee maker.  If you drink coffee a lot, you will save money by making your own coffee at home.  Coffee at a convenience store costs about $1.50 per 20 oz cup.  Coffee at a coffee shop costs about $2.00 per 20 oz cup.  If you make your own coffee at home, it costs about 50 cents per 20 oz cup to make your own coffee using quality coffee beans or ground coffee.

2. Instant coffee

People sometimes overlook instant coffee and focus instead of brewing coffee using coffee grounds.  Instant coffee is cheap and all you need is hot water and the instant coffee crystals.  Instant coffee is dehydrated coffee that dissolves easily in hot water.  To make one cup of instant coffee you can microwave a coffee cup of water for about 2 minutes, 30 seconds and then stir in instant coffee powder.  To make more than one serving of instant coffee, you can heat a tea kettle of water and make multiple cups of instant coffee at once.

Instant Coffee
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Instant coffee does not taste like brewed coffee to me.  It tastes a bit like coffee, but I think it is really a different drink than brewed coffee.  I suppose this is like the difference between fresh milk and powdered milk.  Both are milk, but powdered milk does not quite taste like fresh milk.  However instant coffee does have some caffeine, although not as much as brewed coffee, and can get you through a situation where you need to make coffee without a coffee maker.

Close-up of Instant Coffee Powder
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

3. Cowboy coffee

You can brew coffee using coffee grounds without a coffee maker.  The process involves letting coffee grounds steep in a pan hot water for a few minutes.  The coffee grounds settle to the bottom of the pan and you can carefully pour off the coffee, leaving the grounds at the bottom of the pan.    This article has more detailed instructions on making cowboy coffee without a coffee maker.

4. Pour Over coffee dripper

This is a method of making pour over coffee without a coffee maker.  You place a cone filter in a plastic dripper on top of a coffee cup and pour hot water over the coffee grounds- hence “pour over”.  This article has details of how to make pour over coffee without a coffee maker.

Coffee Dipper to make Pour Over Coffee
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

5. Put grounds in a paper coffee filter and steep

This is for people who want hot coffee but do not want cowboy coffee.  Cowboy coffee and French press coffee actually contain fatty substances that increase cholesterol.  If you use a paper filter, you nearly eliminate this harmful compound from your cup.  You can place coffee grounds in a cone filter, filling it about 1/3 of the way.  You can also do this with a basket filter if you do not have cone filters.  Then cinch the top with your fingers or use  a rubber band.   Place this “coffee bag” in a cup of hot water and let it steep for about 3 minutes.  This way you can make a cup of filtered brewed coffee without a coffee maker.

Steep coffee grounds using a coffee filter without a coffee machine
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

6. French press coffee

OK, a French press is actually a coffee maker, sort of.  You place coffee grounds in the bottom of a glass pot and add hot water.  A French press has a plunger that you press to screen the grounds and hold them at the bottom of the pot.  You can get a French press really cheap and you do not need power to use a French press pot- only hot water and coffee grounds.  This article describes French press coffee and how to make it.

7.  Coffee tea bags

Folgers and other companies make coffee in tea bags that you steep in hot water.  I have used these on camping trips to make coffee without a coffee maker.  I think this coffee is a bit better tasting than instant coffee and is nearly as convenient.  Here is a discount on a quantity buy from amazon.com:  Folgers Classic Roast Coffee Singles, 19-Count Single Servings (Pack of 6).  You can find these coffee tea bags in grocery stores as well.

Coffee Maker Options

If you drink a lot of coffee, it is hard to beat the convenience of a coffee maker.  You can get a basic automatic drip coffee maker for under $30.  You can get a nice auto drip coffee maker with a thermal carafe for about $50.  A thermal carafe keeps the coffee warm without heating in on a burner- resulting in much better tasting coffee.

If you want coffee fast, consider single serve coffee makers like Keurig, Verisimo, and Senseo.  These machines make a great cup of coffee very fast using small sealed cups of coffee grounds.  These machines are more expensive than auto drip coffee makers.  This article describes single serve coffee brewing systems including Keurig and how much they cost.

Copyright © 2013 by Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved. Coffee Maker Journal

K-cup cost: Is it expensive to make coffee with a Keurig Coffee Maker?

Are K-cups expensive?

You can buy a Keurig coffee maker starting at about $70.  Keurigs make a great cup of coffee very quickly using a special K-cup instead of a traditional coffee filter basket and ground coffee.  But how much do K-cups cost?  Is it more expensive to make coffee with a K-cup than from ground coffee or coffee beans?

K-cup selection
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

High quality ground coffee or coffee beans sells for $9.99 for 12 oz.
A package of 18 K-cups sells for $11.99, with a net weight of 6 oz.


K-cups cost more than twice as much as ground coffee or coffee beans.
The cost per cup for K-cup vs traditional coffee maker:

• 66 cents per cup of coffee from a premium K-cup.  The amount of coffee brewed with one K-cup is typically 4 to 10 oz, depending on how you set your Keurig machine to brew.  
• You can find cheap K-cups for less than 50 cents if you go bargain hunting.
• 28 cents is the cost to brew just under 8 oz of premium coffee from ground coffee or coffee beans. 
• 4 cents is the cost to brew just under 8 oz for cheap generic ground coffee

One advantage of making coffee one cup at a time with a Keurig coffee machine is that you are less likely to waste coffee.  If you brew a pot of coffee with a standard coffee maker, you are more likely to waste some coffee if it gets stale or cold.  Even considering efficiency, making coffee with K-cups is much more expensive.

What is inside a K-cup?

A K-cup is a plastic cup with a built-in tiny paper coffee filter.  Ground coffee is placed in the coffee filter at the factory, and a foil lid is sealed over to the top of the K-cup to ensure freshness.  When you place a K-cup in the Keurig coffee maker, a hole is punched though the foil on top and through the plastic cup on the bottom.

K-cup with hole punched through foil lid
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

K-cup with hole punched in bottom of cup
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

The Keurig coffee maker forces hot water into the K-cup through the hold in the lid using a special needle.  The hot water contacts the ground coffee in the K-cup and brews.  A tiny coffee filter is attached inside the plastic K-cup and filters the coffee, keeping the grounds inside the K-cup as brewing occurs.

Ground coffee inside a K-cup
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Coffee filter inside a K-cup
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Can you make your own K-cups for your Keurig and save money?

Yes.  You can buy reusable cups to use your own ground coffee to make your own K-cups that work in Keurig coffee makers.  Some reusable K-cups have disposable filters, and some have reusable filters.  The disposable filters cost only a few cents each.  Making your own K-cups using your own ground coffee is potentially a lot less expensive than purchasing K-cups.  Reusable K-cups start at less than $10 and will quickly pay for the initial expense.  Below is a picture of a MochaMate Refillable Filter Cup for Keurig K-Cup Brewers

Refillable K-cup for Keurig Brewers from Mochamate
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Save money by making your own K-cups:

Look for reusable K-cup filter kits on eBay.

Deals on Amazon:

Copyright © 2013 by Dr. Penny Pincher.  All Rights Reserved. Coffee Maker Journal