Cheap Coffee Beans
Again, with the rising costs of every commodity in our lives buying cheap coffee beans is another weapon in our arsenal to savor the luxury of enjoying a good cup of coffee while not breaking the bank. Days of the giant mocha latte for five dollars are gone. Times are tight and everyone is looking for ways to stretch their paychecks without having to live in cardboard boxes and eating ramen.
Here are some tips to buy cheap coffee beans for at home roasting, grinding, and brewing. Changing your way of thinking about your coffee will save you some precious bucks too.
Know the varieties of coffee beans
Before you run out and buy any kind of bean, you will need to know how you like to drink your brown beverage such as strength, flavor, and richness. Your decision determines what kind of bean you should purchase. Especially if you want to purchase the beans already roasted or not.
Basically there are only two main varieties of coffee beans, Arabica and Robusta. Arabica beans are the highest in quality between the two. The Robusta has higher caffeine content in the bean but also an accompanying increase in bitterness. This bitterness makes it a little less desirable than its counterpart.
Buy green beans or a roaster?
Once a variety is selected you will want to now decide if you are going to roast them or buy them already roasted from the coffee company or distributor. If you really want to get cheap coffee beans then buying them green or unroasted are usually more cost effective.
On the contrary, buying the beans roasted is slightly more in cost but you now have to decide again on the flavor of the roast. This again depends on your taste. Only know that the longer the roast the more that the original flavor is lost and the roasted flavor is now replaced. Usually you can find these degrees of roast ranging from a light Vienna roast through to a deep French Roast or dark roast flavor.
How much should you purchase?
You really need to know how much coffee you drink in a 4-6 week time period. Knowing this will determine how much coffee beans to keep on hand.
The shelf life on beans mainly depends on how they are stored. If you are buying green coffee beans they will need to be kept in a dry and tightly covered place to keep them from sweating. They are more prone to mold if they are exposed to moisture.
Roasted beans should be kept in lock tight containers in cool areas like the freezer to keep as fresh as possible. When grinding the beans only grind what you will use for a one or one and a half week period. Once the fibers of the beans are broken down their freshness begins to deteriorate as well.
Compare products online
One of the best places to find cheap coffee beans is online. The internet has many wholesalers that will sell smaller quantities to individual customers at lower prices that you can sometimes find in the grocery or specialty store. However, when shopping online consider these points before you buy.
Price VS Quantity
Make sure that you are comparing apples to apples. In this case, does the price per unit of measure match the other vendor’s price per unit? 99 dollars for .8lbs of Kopi Luwak is far different from 99 dollars for 8lbs of Green Mountain French Roast.
Shipping costs
Watch the shipping cost into your final price per pound. Many different sellers will have the same product, in the same quantity in their product listing but have varying prices listed on their shipment to you.
Places to search
Some of the best places to locate cheap coffee are on eBay and Amazon.com. You can also search for specialty coffee bean suppliers for a wide variety of beans.
Buying cheap coffee beans won’t make you a millionaire but if you can cut your budget a little to spend in other areas of your life without sacrificing the luxury of one of the oldest and most traditional beverages on the planet, then life is good.
Knowing what to look for in type and quality of the beans will make your roasting and grinding process a little more exciting when you brew that next cup of coffee.