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How We Save Over $150 A Month By Making Cold Brew Coffee

August 14, 2019 by Whitney DeBerry

When my partner brought up the idea of making cold brew coffee at home, I was reluctant.

I didn’t want ANOTHER thing taking up precious real estate in the fridge, you know? I thought it would be a lot of work too. Despite my skepticism, we ordered a cold brew maker for $40 on Amazon.

That was the day our lives changed forever.

cold brew coffee recipe

Let’s back up. What is cold brew coffee?

Cold brew coffee isn’t the same as iced coffee. Iced coffee is made by making HOT coffee, then chilling it. Cold brew is brewed cold right from the getgo, making it smoother and fresher-tasting. No hot water needed. Personally, I find it stronger than regular ice coffee, but that could just be me.

What’s the big deal about making it at home exactly?

If you go to Starbucks, a grande (16 oz) cold brew will set you back $3.25. Tax will usually bring it to over $4. My partner used to go to our corner coffee shop where he spent a whopping $5.50 every day for a 16 oz cold brew.

That’s $165 a month on coffee, which is almost double what we pay for our electricity bill. Ouch!

On top of the cost, there’s the waste. If you don’t have a habit of bringing your own tumbler or mug, every cold brew comes with a plastic cup, lid and straw. Not great for the environment!

By making it at home, we avoid all of the waste (for us, making cold brew coffee has been a plastic-free process!) AND we spend a fraction of the price.

Here’s a breakdown of cost:

  • Our cold brew maker cost $45
  • One pound of coarse ground coffee cost $13
  • That one pound lasts us 3 weeks

So that means we now spend $4.33/week on coffee. Within 3 weeks, our new coffee habit more than paid for the cold brew maker thanks to the savings. Boom! (It’s hard to calculate cost per cup because I drink smaller cups of coffee than my partner)

Oh, and how can I forget the best benefit of all: amazing coffee without leaving the apartment!

Making cold brew coffee has become part of our meal prep routine. Like batch cooking, making a big batch of coffee each week has saved us time, money and we’ve significantly reduced waste. We’re sufficiently caffeinated at a low cost. The world is a teeny, tiny bit better for it. It’s a win for everyone.

How to make your own big batch of cold brew at home

Equipment:

  • This cold brew maker, which comes with a filter
  • COARSE coffee grounds (do not use regular coffee grounds, it will be really bitter and gross). Note you can make your own coffee grounds if you buy beans and a coffee grinder. Here’s the one I have and it’s okay – I don’t love it but it gets the job done.
  • Water (preferably filtered, we use a Brita)
  • A fridge big enough to hold the cold brew maker
  • OPTIONAL: An ice cube tray to make coffee ice with extra cold brew, so your coffee stays cold without getting diluted!

Ratio (recipe):

  • 2 cups of coarse ground coffee
  • 1 gallon (16 cups) filtered water

Instructions:

  1. Add 2 cups of coarse ground coffee to the metal filter inside the cold brew coffee maker
  2. pour water on top of the grounds, through the filter, until the coffee maker is full (16 cups total)
  3. Place the brewing coffee in the fridge for 24 hours to brew, then enjoy with your favorite coffee fixings!

Here’s my IGTV video where I walk you through my entire cold brew process. (3 minutes)

How long cold brew lasts:

This is partially personal preference. We have left ours in the fridge for two weeks and still really enjoyed it. I’ve heard some people who dislike the taste after three days. See what works for you! From what I know, two weeks is kind of the maximum amount of time you’d want to let it sit in your fridge.

You can always dump extra to make coffee ice (that’s what we do) so nothing goes to waste.

I also get asked a lot about the filter. We leave it in the entire time while the jug sits in the fridge, but you can take it out after 24 hours if you want!

Don’t have room for a giant mason jar in your fridge?

If you don’t have a lot of space in your fridge but want to try it, I highly recommend making cold brew concentrate instead.

It’s super easy — here’s a recipe from Cookie And Kate!

Other ways to jazz it up if you’re feeling adventurous:

  • spiced cacao coffee recipe
  • add cinnamon (recipe)
  • coconut cold brew coffee recipe
  • try it with cardamom
  • cinnamon honey vanilla (this sounds amazing)
  • chocolate mint cold brew

Not a coffee drinker?

If this is totally not something you can/would do, I hope this story inspired you to look closer at your daily habits to see where you might easily be able to cut down on money/time spent and reduce waste. It’s easier than you think.

If you found this post helpful, go ahead and save it for next time or share it with someone you know!

Save Money with Cold Brew Coffee

Easy Cold Brew Coffee Recipe How to make cold brew coffee

Read next:

5 Easy Ways To Reduce Food Waste This Week

 

Filed Under: Blog, Save Money, Sustainable Meal Prep, Uncategorized Tagged With: coffee, sustainable

Previous Post: « Workweek Prepper Meal Plan – August 15th, 2019
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Workweek Lunch | Talia Koren
Instagram post 17988759484286314 Last week’s prep was perfect! Not pictured are some of the servings we ate before I snapped this pic but I ended up with 13 meals from 4 different recipes.
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Deets👇🏼
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🍳Breakfast tortilla bake! The vegetarian version is already available in the WWL Program - vegan version is coming.
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🥗Crunchy spinach apple carrot salad with chicken! Recipe is already in the WWL Program
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🌶Vegan Rocky Mountain Chili - recipe coming to the WWL Program this week
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🍔Spinach feta turkey burgers with lemon dill rice (this was a winner) - recipe is already in the WWL Program!
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👉🏼If you’re not a member of WWL yet, you can join to get access to all of these tested meal prep recipes + 300 existing ones in my bio link!
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✅Reheating: in the microwave as needed
✅Storage: in the fridge until we eat them
✅Calories: don’t know, don’t count, don’t care
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❓Got questions about this prep or meal prep in general? Drop them below!
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🌞Today is our last full day in Mexico and I’m feeling so inspired to cook when I get home tomorrow!! I always look forward to meal prep after a vacation because it helps my body get back in its regular feel-good groove.
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Have an amazing Monday!!
Instagram post 18119875405011786 I don’t count macros or calories! That’s one of many reasons why I don’t include them in my recipes, my program or my IG posts. (All recipes in this pic are featured in the WWL Meal Prep Program and are for members only- sign up in my bio link!)
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👇🏼Other reasons why I don’t include them:
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1️⃣ macros tell us nothing about flavor, taste or satisfaction when it comes to meals. These are factors I’d rather focus on.
2️⃣ counting macros is still a form of dieting! As an intuitive eating advocate with an anti-diet approach to food, counting macros doesn’t align with my mission.
3️⃣ including macros makes us second guess our food decisions instead of listening to our gut/intuition
4️⃣ even if I included macros in recipes there’s NO WAY you’d replicate the recipe exactly the same in your kitchen, thus making the count inaccurate and kind of irrelevant
5️⃣ including macros would be very triggering to those who are dealing with or recovering from an ED or disordered eating. I want my page to showcase meal ideas in a way that’s safe for those who struggle(d) with this.
6️⃣ counting macros is simply too time consuming!! I’m meal prepping to save time, why would I add macro counting to the process?
7️⃣ I want people to see beyond the numbers. Does the meal look or sound appealing? What are the ingredients and are would they taste good? Is this easy to cook at home? Is this affordable? These factors matter.
8️⃣ even though I don’t count macros I still make sure there are macronutrients in each prep: protein, carbs and veggies as micronutrients. I don’t spend as much time on the fat aspect- but fats are there too if we look close enough. There’s a way to make sure all the macronutrients are present without counting.
9️⃣ my philosophy is... we simply have more important things to worry about in life than macros
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🤘🏼I get this question a lot but haven’t been able to fully explain it. If you do count and it helps you- that’s great. I’m not here to bash you. I’m just explaining my position on this topic - we don’t have to all agree here. As always I welcome discussion in the comments, but remember that there’s no right or wrong here!
Instagram post 18028238254244227 🙅🏻‍♀️Me: I don’t want to travel so much this year
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✈️Also me: *takes 7 plane trips in 2019*
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👈🏼Swipe left to see all my plane food grams! Not sure why, but you guys seem to love them. And yes, ALL of this food got through security (which is different than customs - this food was eaten on the plane not taken into other countries).
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🌏Travel is a big part of my life and it’s one of the reasons I started meal prepping in the first place (to save money to use for trips). When I started prepping, I saved $260/month and all of that went toward travel and savings. It’s why I keep doing it!
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☀️This year I went to California 3 times, Turks and Caicos, Toronto and Israel. And now I’m headed to Cancun with my amazing mom for a few days! Next year? Japan and maybe Spain or the UK with my partner.
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🍌Why do I bring food on the plane? Having food I know I will enjoy makes my travel experience better AND I don’t have to spend so much money at the airport.
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👇🏼Products I travel with:
@stasherbag reusable bags
@gocontigo water bottle
@stojo collapsible cup
Containers vary, but I stick with plastic for plane travel because they’re lighter and won’t break.
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Have an amazing Friday!
Instagram post 17890277281433577 These spinach feta turkey burgers with lemon dill rice were a hit! 💯The recipe for these and the vegan/vegetarian version is in the WWL Program for members as of today!!
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✅If you’re a member, a new meal plan is already waiting for you in your inbox with this recipe in it.
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👉🏼And if you’re not a member yet, you can sign up in my bio link for $7.99/mo to get weekly meal prep plans that change every week, a library of 300 tested meal prep recipes and access to our INCREDIBLE private Workweek Preppers FB group. Cancel anytime if it’s not for you.
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🍋This recipe is bomb because the flavors compliment each other and it’s made with very simple, easy to find ingredients.
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ℹ️It’s not freezer friendly but it can last in the fridge for up to 4 days. It reheats well in the microwave or on the stove. I have no idea what the calories are because we don’t count here at WWL!
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🤘🏼Can’t wait for you guys to try this one. Have a kickass Thursday!
Instagram post 18076894759154473 We all screw up in the kitchen! Here are just of a few of MANY epic meal prep fails from this year:
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🍕Pizza quesadillas with a side salad - might come back to this. The quesadilla was just sad, not filling or flavorful enough. Side salad and dressing too much work for what it was.
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🍳Hashbrown egg cups - just wasn’t into this greasy mess of a meal at all! Everything about it was weird.
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🤨I think I attempted curry noodles and it all just clumped together. Super ugly meal, terrible texture, will probably try again because I love the flavors.
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🥘Quinoa sausage butternut squash skillet - these flavors go well together but not in skillet form. Was going for a one pot meal but it turned to mush. Might try again!
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🍠Turmeric tofu Thai stir fry. This combination of ingredients literally came to me in a dream 😂 and might try again because I loved it, it just needs a sauce!
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🍔Vegan, GF black bean burgers. Guys I tried these 4 times with no luck. Bland, bad texture, just the wrong ingredient combos. Will definitely come back to it, but needed a break after so many failed trials.
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🥞Not pictured: French toast. I tried sooooo many meal prep French toast recipes but they were all awful. Great in theory, terrible in practice.
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🥦Also not pictured: the epic broccoli soup fail you may have seen on stories 2 weeks ago
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🤘🏼I’m not here to be perfect. If you watch my lives and stories, you know that I screw up often, laugh it off and embrace it. It’s part of cooking. It’s impossible to learn how to cook without screwing up many times. 👉🏼The only way to learn is by DOING. Each “failure” is a lesson. Time and time again, mistakes lead to something awesome if we keep going.
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☺️Can’t wait to see what failures I come up with next year
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✅And if you want access to my meal prep success recipes, you can join the WWL Program in my bio link!! All the recipes that work out (Over 300) end up there for members only.
Instagram post 18078789757183769 Introducing the MVP of the week: this breakfast tortilla egg bake! 😍I had it for breakfast this morning and I can’t wait to eat it again tomorrow and the next day (and the next!).
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👈🏼Swipe left to see what it looks like inside 👀🤤🤤 I added black beans at the last minute
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✅ This breakfast is kind of like lasagna but with tortillas. It can last in the fridge for up to 4 days and in the freezer for 3-6 months (it’s all about how you store it!). I’m reheating it in the microwave, but the stove or oven (or toaster oven) would work just fine!
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🙅🏻‍♀️Dont know what the calories or macros are because I don’t count and don’t encourage counting. We eat food, not numbers!
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🤘🏼Recipe, including the vegan version, will be in the WWL Program this week! To get access to new and existing meal prep recipes, join the WWL Program in my bio link for just $7.99/mo (less than the cost of 2 takeout breakfast sandwiches!!)
Instagram post 18082525816142755 So I’m going to Tulum on Friday. Before I ditched diet culture, I used to try to change my eating habits to “look good” before a vacation or big event where photos will be taken. 😪Now? You couldn’t pay me to restrict food before an event or vacation.
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🙋🏻‍♀️Anyone else do this or used to do this? The focus was never on ENJOYING myself or reducing stress, it was on my looks. I regret doing that to myself in my teens and early 20’s when I could have been in the moment.
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🌮How I look or feel in a bikini won’t make or break my trip to Tulum. It’s going to be AMAZING regardless of my cellulite, belly rolls and all. I seriously can’t wait to eat all the tacos and get out of the cold!!
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🍕RECIPE for the pizza enchiladas (bottom left) is in the WWL Program for members only- learn more in my bio link!
Instagram post 17994246034301484 Throwing it back to this prep from January... how is 2019 almost over?!
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🤘🏼All recipes for the meals you see here are in the WWL Meal Prep Program! If you’re not a member yet, you can sign up for $7.99/month to get access to all of these recipes AND my entire archive (over 300 meal prep recipes), plus get weekly meal plans with grocery lists and more. 👆🏼Learn more in my bio link!
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Meals in this prep:
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🍓Breakfast (just for me): baked oatmeal cups 3 ways! Strawberry, banana chocolate chip and apple walnut. I got 6 breakfasts total from this- only 3 are pictured.
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🌶Meal option 1: General Tso’s chicken and tofu with rice and mixed veggies
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🥕Meal option 2: carrot ginger soup with curried tofu (vegan, GF)
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🍔Meal option 3: salmon sweet potato burgers with green beans
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🥬Meal option 4: spinach Alfredo pasta bake with mushrooms/chicken
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👉🏼All of these meals can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days. Some are freezer friendly. I reheat them in the microwave but they can also be reheated on the stove/oven depending on the meal. I don’t count calories and I have no idea what the macros/calories are!
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❓Got questions about this prep? Drop them in the comments. Hope this gives you some inspiration to get it done this week!
Instagram post 17877165649486565 What’s in your Thanksgiving leftovers bag of tricks? 👇🏼Share below!
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🤘🏼I’m excited to enjoy leftovers this week since we are doing a family thanksgiving meal tomorrow (I’m bringing lots of containers with me, mostly for desserts...)
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👉🏼On the blog we’re sharing 20 best ways to use up holiday meal leftovers AND store them (most are freezer friendly!!). Just search “thanksgiving leftovers workweek lunch” or click on “blog” on workweeklunch.com and you’ll find it.
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🙏🏼Also happy small biz Saturday to my fellow small biz owners!!
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About Workweek Lunch

Hey! I'm Talia Koren, founder of Workweek Lunch. Here are the basics: I'm 27, I live in Queens, NY with my boyfriend and I've been meal prepping vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian and ...

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