Coffee Alternatives: These Coffee Substitutes have Less Caffeine

Coffee Alternatives

Coffee is great, but since it has lots of caffeine, drinking it in the evening can interfere with your ability to get a good night's sleep.  Even drinking too much coffee during the day can result in headaches due to the caffeine content of coffee.

What coffee alternatives are available that have less caffeine or are caffeine free?

Half Caff Coffee

Half Caff coffee is a mix of regular coffee and decaffeinated coffee that has half the caffeine of regular coffee.  You can make this by mixing equal parts of ground regular coffee and ground decaf coffee.  You can also buy bags of pre-mixed half caff coffee.  Since half caff coffee still has caffeine, you'll still need to limit your consumption somewhat to avoid getting too much caffeine.

Half Caff coffee has one half the caffeine of regular coffee
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Decaf Coffee

Coffee can be decaffeinated through chemical processes.  The processing removes caffeine from coffee beans by creating an environment with low levels of caffeine surrounding the beans.  The caffeine from the coffee will naturally move to the surrounding area with less caffeine.  This process is repeated until the coffee contains almost zero caffeine.  Since decaf contains almost no caffeine, you can drink lots of it and drink it at night without interfering with your sleep.

Decaffeinated coffee
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate is an alternate to coffee that has much less caffeine.  You can buy packets of hot chocolate power that you mix with hot water to make hot chocolate.  Some hot chocolate brands even have marshmallow packets that you can add if you wish.  For a treat you can make hot chocolate from chocolate bars and milk instead of powdered mix.

Chickory Brewed Beverages

A coffee substitute can be made by brewing roasted chickory root.  Chickory is a perennial plant that has edible leaves and roots that can be roasted and ground to make a coffee substitute.  Chickory has been used as a coffee substitute in situations where coffee was not available, such as in prisons and during the Union blockage of New Orleans during the Civil War era.  Coffee with chickory is still a traditional drink served in New Orleans.  Since chickory is caffeine free, you can drink it any time without the side effects of caffeine.

Dandelion roots can also be roasted and ground to make a caffeine free substitute coffee brew similar to chickory brew.

Roasted chickory can be found in organic food stores or on the internet. You can find your own dandelion roots and roast them yourself, or purchase roasted dandelion roots on the internet.

Roasted Chickory from Amazon.com- ready to brew

Carob Brewed Beverages

Carob is used as a substitute for cocoa and is naturally caffeine free.  After noticing that carob was a main ingredient in some coffee substitute beverages, I tried using carob baking powder in my coffee maker.  I just place it in the coffee filter instead of coffee grounds and brew like coffee.  It tastes sort of like hot chocolate only a bit more bitter.  Brewed carob is an inexpensive coffee substitute.

Carob Powder- brew your own coffee substitute
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Coffee Substitute Blends

Teeccino coffee alternative
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

You can buy coffee substitutes that you brew in your coffee maker to replace ground coffee.  Several coffee substitute blends can be found at organic food shops or on the internet.  These products are blends of ingredients such as chickory, carob, roasted grain, roasted nuts, and other natural ingredients.  Not only do coffee substitutes have no caffeine, but they are much less acidic than coffee as well.  Teeccino, Pero, and Postum are examples.  Teccino has a chocolaty, nutty flavor.

Pero coffee substitute
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Deals on Coffee Substitutes from Amazon

Hot Tea

Hot tea varieties include both regular and decaf tea.  Either type of tea contains much less caffeine than coffee.  You can switch to decaf tea in the evening to avoid interfering with your sleep quality.  Another benefit of tea is that it is less expensive than coffee.

Hot tea is an alternative to coffee with much less caffeine
Image source: Dr. Penny Pincher

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

Keurig vs. Starbucks Verismo vs. Senseo Coffee Brewing Systems

Single Serve Coffee Brewing Systems

There are three major competitors in the single serve coffee brewing market:

• Keurig
• Starbucks Verismo
• Senseo

These coffee machines promise a hot fresh cup of coffee fast.  Which is better: Keurig, Verismo, or Senseo?

Keurig Review

The Keurig brewer uses small plastic cups filled with ground coffee called K-cups.  The K-cups have a tiny built-in coffee filter and are sealed with a foil lid to maintain freshness.  The Keurig brewer has a needle that punctures the foil lid injects hot water into the K-cup.  A cup of coffee is brewed in about 15 seconds.

Keurig Coffee Brewers start at about $65

The Keurig coffee brewing systems are currently very popular, and the machines and K-cups are readily available:

• Keurig machines and K-cups are common on store shelves at discount stores (Wal-mart, Target, K-mart)
• There are several Keurig machines at the office
• K-cups are sold in grocery stores

Keurig machines vary in cost depending on the size and control screen options.  The price range is about
$65 to $500.

The K-cups cost about 65 cents per cup, which is about twice the cost of the same amount of gourmet ground coffee.  A new Keurig brewer format has been released that uses Keurig Vue Packs instead of K-cups.

K-cup for Keurig Brewer contains ground coffee and built-in coffee filter
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Starbucks Verismo Review

The Starbucks Verismo brews coffee in a manner similar to the Keurig brewer.  The Verismo uses plastic cups called Verismo Pods that contain ground coffee and a built-in filter.  Like Keurig's K-cups, the Verismo Pods are also sealed with foil lids to maintain freshness.  The Verismo Pods appear to be about half the size of K-cups.  Like Keurig, the Verismo produces a fast, hot cup of coffee.

Verismo System 580 sells for about $180
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Unlike Keurig, the Verismo also has milk pods.  These are used to brew latte drinks.  The milk pods are filled with milk rather than ground coffee.  The Verismo machine comes in 5 color choices.

Verismo Pods cost about 65 cents each for brewed coffee pods, $1.25 for espresso pods and milk pods.

Verismo with Verismo Pod
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Senseo Review

Senseo coffee pods are sort of like round tea bags that contain ground coffee.  This is an older style of single serve brewer.  The machine opens up to allow you to insert a Senseo Pod.  Senseo machines start at about $65.

The Senseo pods are much less expensive than Keurig or Verismo pods at about 35 cents each.  This is about the same cost as ground gourmet coffee.  Sometimes you can find cheap Senseo coffee brewers on eBay.

Keurig vs Verismo vs Senseo Review

Machine Cost:

• Keurig and Senseo entry level machines are much less expensive
• You can find basic Senseo machines very cheap- around $25
• A Verismo machine costs about twice as much for a similar system
• Look for better Verrismo prices on eBay or Amazon instead of buying in a Starbucks store

Availability of Coffee Pods:

• Keurig K-cups are easily found in grocery, discount stores, and on-line
• Verismo Pods can be found at Starbucks stores and on-line
• Senseo Pods can be found at some discount stores and on-line, but are not as easy to find as Keurig K-cups

Cost of Coffee Pods:

• Senseo is the cheapest at about 35 cents per cup
• Keurig and Verismo are the same for brewed coffee at about 65 cents per cup
• Verismo has some more expensive pods for espresso and latte drinks

Coffee Quality:

• Keurig and Verismo produce high quality coffee
• Senseo tastes a bit watered down- too much "tea bag" flavor
• Senseo pods also go stale much more quickly than K-cups or Verismo Pods

Recommendation:

• Keurig is the best value for brewed coffee: inexpensive entry-level machine, readily available coffee pods, and makes great tasting coffee.  Check out Keurig coffee brewer deals on eBay.
• Keurig has refillable K-cups available so that you can use your own ground coffee to make your own K-cups to save money.
• Verismo may be worth considering if you want espresso or latte drinks as well as brewed coffee.  Check out Starbucks Verismo coffee brewer deals on eBay
• If cost is a major factor, Senseo is the least expensive single server brewing system.  Both the Senseo brewer and the Senseo coffee pods are the least expensive option.

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

How Does the New York City Soda Ban Affect Coffee?

Why do I Care about the Soda Ban in NYC?

I have never been to New York City, and I don’t drink soda.  So why do I care about the soda ban in NYC?  The ban affects coffee, and that’s something I care about…

Will the NYC Soda Ban Affect Coffee?

The soda ban in New York City, which goes into effect on Tuesday March 12, 2013, bans the sale of soda in servings of over 16 ounces.  This applies only to “regular” soda and not diet soda.  Coffee over 16 ounces is also impacted by the regulation if sugar is added.  It is then a sweetened beverage like soda and is regulated.  Most coffee shops and fast food restaurants will comply with the regulation by having customers add their own sugar and flavoring to coffee over 16 ounces.  Others may limit adding a certain number of packets to the coffee based on the size of the coffee.

NYC Soda Ban will Affect Coffee over 16 oz with Sugar Added
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

What will this mean for coffee drinkers and their morning routine?  I see 3 likely ways coffee drinkers will deal with this starting Tuesday morning:

1. If coffee drinkers want the convenience of having the barista add their sugar, they could order a smaller size- 16 oz or less.  I would anticipate few coffee drinkers would take this approach.  If you are used to drinking a 20 oz or 24 oz coffee, a smaller size simply will not do.    However some people will probably switch to either drinking one smaller coffee, or simply ordering 2 small coffees with the amount of sugar they like added.
2. Another approach would be to order the same size coffee as usual, but drink it black instead of adding sugar.  Again, unlikely for most people.  If you are used to cream and sugar, it would be hard to suddenly switch to drinking black coffee.  I imagine some people may end up learning to drink black coffee.
3. So that leaves option 3- add your own sugar at the coffee shop.  This will be somewhat inconvenient.  You’ll have to stop at a self-serve counter, take the lid off of your coffee, add sugar, stir, and put the lid back on.  Chances are there will be long lines in the mornings and frustration will run high at the sugar counter when supplies run out, etc. 

Will the NYC Soda Ban Lead to Less Sugar Consumption?

Overall, I think most people will end up drinking the same amount of coffee with the same amount of sugar, at least at first.  The new regulation will call attention to the health effects of consuming too much sugar.  That combined with the new inconvenience of getting sugar in your coffee may lead to less consumption of sugar in coffee over time.

Giant Soda- You wont get one of these in NYC
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Really the soda ban has minimal affect on the sugar supply in NYC- sugar will still be cheap and plentiful after the ban.  You can add it to drinks yourself, order multiple smaller drinks, or bring larger drinks from elsewhere.   The ban will have more of an impact on the demand for sugar in NYC.  If it is inconvenient to get large sugary drinks, people will find more convenient alternatives over time.

The soda ban in NYC reminds me of the smoking ban that went into effect here in Iowa a few years ago.  Smoking was banned in restaurants and bars.  Of course smokers and bar owners complained about this law, but it went into effect.  Smoking has also been banned at outdoor events such as football and baseball games.  I wondered how this would go over, but the smoking ban is effective- I haven’t seen it violated.

The smoking ban was enacted for health and safety reasons to protect employees at places like restaurants.  Does the government have the authority to regulate portion size of food products?  One example of government regulation of consumption is in the area of energy efficiency.  Automakers must maintain minimum fuel efficiency for vehicles across their fleet.  Light bulbs must meet energy efficiency standards and will likely lead to the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs in 2020.  So the government has a history of regulating the consumption of legal products for the good of the public.

It will be interesting to see:

1. Will the soda ban changes sugar consumption in NYC?  
2. Will public health improve in NYC after the ban is enacted?

I think sugar consumption in NYC will be reduced somewhat within a few months.  If public health does improve in NYC after the soda ban, I may see you at the sugar counter loading up your coffee in a few years…

Postscript

The New York City soda ban of 2013 was called off at the last minute.  A court decision did not allow the ban to proceed as planned.

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

Caffeinated Beverages Table: How Much Caffeine Content and Cost per Cup

How much caffeine is in your cup?

How much caffeine is in your cup?
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

I once read that caffeine is “mildly habit forming”. This can be easily verified by trying to go a day without coffee…

Being a penny pincher, it is natural for me to consider whether I am paying too much for my daily caffeine. I drink a couple 20 oz cups of coffee that I brew at home after grinding my own beans. I would say this is similar to the quality and caffeine content of coffee shop coffee. Millions of people drink coffee, tea, soda, and even energy drinks every day. How much caffeine are we getting, and how much are we paying for it?

I checked prices of some popular caffeinated items, and gathered information on caffeine contentment to get a handle on this. It turns out that I am getting more caffeine than I thought:

Table of caffeine content for popular beverages and cost per serving
Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

A good cup of coffee has A LOT of caffeine!

As you can see from the table above, Coffee Shop Coffee has 415 mg of caffeine per 20 oz cup. That's 5 times more than a Red Bull! And I drink 2 coffees every morning. No wonder I'm so productive...

I once tried drinking chocolate milk in the morning, but that didn't last. The table may reveal the reason: chocolate milk has almost no caffeine.

Now, let's look at cost more closely. How much would it cost, and how much would you need to consume, to get the amount of caffeine in 1 cup of coffee shop coffee?

Table of cost to obtain the amount of caffeine in one cup of coffee from popular foods and beverages
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

OK, now you can see why I couldn't drink enough chocolate milk to be happy in the morning! It would take 208 12oz bottles of chocolate milk to equal the caffeine in a cup of strong coffee. Cost: $290. Eating chocolate bars is also an expensive way to get caffeine. Coffee is hard to beat in value, only hot tea and Vivarin caffeine pills are more cost effective.

If you're trying to cut down on coffee, hot tea looks like a good alternative from a cost perspective. Tea also has health benefits, although I tend to drink green or decaf tea since I get plenty of caffeine already.

I'll put the data in a graphical format so you can see how the options for caffeine stack up:

Caffeine content: longer bars = more caffeine
Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Cost to obtain the amount of caffeine in one cup of coffee shop coffee from foods and beverages
Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Coffee Drinking Tips:

• A good cup of coffee is a good value in terms of cost for the caffeine content 
• Easy does it, you might be getting more caffeine than you "need".  Consider substituting a cup of tea or other coffee alternative for that 2nd cup of coffee
• Those expensive energy drinks may not have as much kick as you thought...

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

Best Value Thermal Coffee Maker

Thermal Coffee Maker Features

My high end Mr. Coffee thermal coffee maker kicked the bucket and it was time to find a replacement coffee maker. After some thought, here are my top features for a new coffee maker:

1. Thermal Carafe. Coffee tastes bad when it sits on a burner too long. For me, any time on the burner is too long. Coffee makers with a thermal carafe do not heat the coffee on a burner. It is hot when it comes out and stays hot in an insulated carafe.
2. Simple. The Mr. Coffee had a timer feature to automatically start brewing that I only used a couple times. It also had sensors to cause it to stop brewing if all the lids, etc. were not closed tight, possibly a safety feature. All of these extra features cost money and make failure more likely. I really don't even need a clock on the coffee maker.
3. Good value. Of course, price is always important. Good coffee is important too. I was looking for a good value, a machine that would make good coffee, last a while, and not cost too much.

Thermal Coffee Maker Options

There are some good choices for stainless steel thermal coffee makers under $100. My favorites are:

Mr. Coffee 10-cup thermal coffee maker

Price: about $65

There are a couple Mr. Coffee thermal models available. My previous Mr. Coffee thermal coffee maker that I purchased about 5 years ago cost about $150. Now there are a couple choices for under $100. The X95 is the cheaper model and features more plastic than stainless steel. The X91 is a fancier model and features more stainless steel.

Although there are a couple choices with thermal carafe from Mr. Coffee in the under $100 price range, I was ready to try something different.

Frigidaire Professional 10-cup thermal coffee maker

Price: about $100

Filter type: cone filter

The Frigidaire Professional, also known as Electrolux, is a very sharp looking product. This product looks and feels expensive and would look great in any kitchen. It has lots of stainless steel surfaces, and the parts feel heavy and strong. I found the one in the picture for sale at Target, but have not seen it on amazon yet.

One problem with this coffee maker is that it may make the rest of your appliances look inadequate since it is very sharp looking! I was interested primarily in great coffee rather than the appearance of the coffee maker- you do pay about $40 extra for the fancy appearance compared with other models of thermal coffee makers. I decided to go with the simplest coffee maker with a thermal carafe.

Melitta 10-cup thermal coffee maker

Price: about $65

One great thing about this coffee maker is its simplicity. This unit has a power on/off button, the only one you really need. It also has a brew strength button and 3 buttons for programming the clock as well. It has black plastic and stainless steel surfaces. The plastic feels a bit flimsy, but overall a very good coffee maker.

Filter type: Uses #4 cone filter.

The Melitta thermal coffee maker is my choice for best value coffee maker. It has all of the features I need and makes great coffee. I decided to buy this model and give it a try.

Melitta 10 cup thermal coffee maker with cone filter basket- simple!
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

The Militta uses cone filters. This is my first experience using cone filters. Initially I was worried that they would be difficult to find in local stores, but this has not been a problem.

The coffee maker was easy to use and makes great coffee. The cone filter basket is easily removable for cleaning. The top of the coffee maker has a couple lids that open to provide access to the filter basket and water reservoir from the top (see picture).

I like the digital LCD clock with blue backlight and the red accent on the thermal carafe. At $54.99, it is not the cheapest coffee maker you can get, but is one of the cheaper ones with a steel thermal carafe. The Melitta thermal coffee maker is a good value for the money and makes great coffee with its cone filter. It has everything you need to make great coffee.

Melitta coffee maker- easy access to filter basket and water reservoir
Image Source: Dr. Penny Pincher

Coffee Making Tips:

• Brew coffee at home every day instead of buying coffee at a coffee shop and save a couple dollars per day. This can add up to over $500 per year!
• Use a coffee maker with a thermal carafe for the freshest tasting coffee at home
• Black coffee has almost zero calories and can be part of your diet plan.
• Switch to decaf coffee or coffee alternatives in the afternoon to avoid loosing sleep.

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