I admit the convenience of single serve coffee machines is great…you get great tasting coffee quickly and with little effort. That convenience really comes at a price though, as this article in the NY Times explains. Maybe we’re just all getting used to pay a lot for coffee from our local barista, but when you stop and do the math, k-cups just don’t make sense. As the NY Times found, the K-cups contained around 5-8 grams of coffee each, or to put it another way, you can easily be spending more than $50 per pound for this coffee!

So, what’s the answer? If you’re hooked on the K-cup idea, just buy a reusable coffee filter and get your beans from your grocery store or local roaster. You’ll begin saving money on the first pound of coffee you buy, even when factoring in the cost of the filter!

Another nice option is the Aeropress…similar to a french press, but a bit easier cleanup in my opinion.