My wife and I go through about 4lbs a month using mainly Chemex and Areopress. Used to get (decent) crummy coffee at Aldi and Grocery Outlet, occasionally splurging for local roasts at the coffee shops. Still, I calculate that’s about $35 or so a month on beans, Chemex filters should probably be calculated with how pricey they can be - napkin maths say $11 roughly for a months supply.
$46USD ain’t bad compared to my other vices 😪
Curious to hear if I’m around the average spender or how it tracks! Maybe you have some tips on cheap but amazing coffee? I wouldn’t know unless I asked y’all
Just had this conversation with my partner who wanted to get a Nespresso (no idea why). I also have an espresso machine and have 2 large coffees a day, a 1kg bag of beans is £10 ( $13) and lasts over a month. Espresso machine and a grinder is the most eco and pocket friendly way.
Beko make a bean to cup espresso machine for about €250, it’s a tank
Needs cleaning every month but makes amazing coffee with good beans
I’m an advocate for separate grinder and espresso machines, just seems like an unnecessary complication, and the combo machines seem to take up more space than both the dedicated ones.
If you are looking at the lower end of the market, spare parts and repairability are often nonexistent or afterthoughts at best. If combo machine breaks you now have to get another combo or buy the separates, and even the best value combo is more $ than comparable separates.
