Coffeehouse Coffee on a Budget

Love that coffeehouse flavor, but hate those outrageous prices? Java junkies, take heart!  Tips and recipes from our readers help you recreate that gourmet-brewed flavor for a fraction of the price.

• FREE Coffeemaker from Gevalia Try one pound of their exceptional coffee for (I love the Hazelnut flavor), and receive a 10 Cup Coffee maker as a free gift.

Dessert Coffee Mixes:
For all the mixes below, combine all ingredients well. Store in tightly covered jar up to 6 months. For each serving, place 2 teaspoons mix in cup. Fill with boiling water. In a decorative jar, can also make a fun gift.

Cafe Frangelico
1 cup powdered instant nondairy creamer
1 cup chocolate-flavored drink mix
3/4 cup instant coffee (decaffeinated or regular)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Store in an airtight container. o use, combine 2 tablespoons of mix with 6 ounces boiling water. Garnish with whipped cream. For a kick, add 1 tablespoon Frangelico.

Cafe Vienna Mix
1/2 c instant coffee
2/3 c sugar
2/3 c nonfat dry milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Stir ingredients together. Process in a blender until powdered. Use 2 teaspoons to one cup of hot water. Makes about 1 1/2 cups mix.

Swiss Mocha
1 cup instant coffee
1 cup sugar
2 cups nonfat dry milk
4 tsp. cocoa powder

Stir ingredients together. Store in airtight container. Use 2 teaspoons per cup of hot water.

Bavarian Mint
1/3 cup instant coffee
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
2 tbsp. Cocoa
5 hard peppermint candies, crushed

Stir ingredients together. Store in airtight container. Use 2 teaspoons per cup of hot water.

Amaretto
3/4 cup non-dairy coffee creamer,
1 tsp. almond extract,
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Stir ingredients together. Store in airtight container. Use 2 teaspoons per cup of hot water.

Mocha
1/4 c. instant coffee
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. sugar

Stir ingredients together. Use 2 teaspoons to one cup of hot water.

Café au Lait
1/4 c. instant coffee
1/2 c. dry milk
1/2 c. sugar

Stir ingredients together. Use 2 teaspoons to one cup of hot water.

Spice
1/4 c. instant coffee
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice

Stir ingredients together. Use 2 teaspoons to one cup of hot water.

Prepared Coffees:

Mexican Mocha
3 cups Milk
12 ounces evaporated milk
1/3 cup chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
6 Cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed

Combine first four ingredients in a 2 qt microwave bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, fold back the edge of wrap to let steam out. Microwave on medium power for 4-8 minutes until steaming, stirring at once. To serve, pour into 5 mugs, adding a cinnamon stick to each mug. Top with 1/4 c whipped topping.  Serves 5.

Iced Coffee
Brew a 10-12 cup pot of coffee your usual way, doubling the amount of coffee that you generally use (decaf or regular).  Add one 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk to the hot coffee.  Refrigerate until cold.  Add pure vanilla, to taste, to the coffee just before serving. Pour over a tall glass of ice.

* For an even better iced coffee, purchase a better brand of whole coffee bean, finely ground and use filtered or bottled water. For additional ideas, cool coffee, add crushed ice and grind in blender.  This makes those tasty "coffeelatte's" that are so pricey at restaurants and convenience stores. Another suggestion is to add cinnamon to the coffee while brewing.  Add to taste, but start with 1 tsp at a time for desired flavor. This coffee is a wonderful dessert or summer treat or wonderful on a cold evening!  -- Frances

Vanilla Cappuccino
1 shot espresso
1 cup milk (heated)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

Reader Tips:

For delicious mocha cappuccino, use one of those huge travel mugs (like the one Bruegger's sells) and use one heaping tablespoon instant coffee, and one packet instant hot cocoa mix.  Add hot water, and a splash of milk.  Delish!  The great thing about this is you can adjust the caffeine, sugar and fat content to your preference by your choice of ingredients (i.e. low-fat or skim milk, sugar free cocoa mix, or decaf instant coffee.)  --Kris

I bought an old perc coffee maker at good will for 75 cents and absolutely love using it.  I use half as much coffee as needed for the regular drip coffee maker and it makes a richer tasting coffee.  Also there is no coffee filter expense. Also I purchase an inexpensive brand of coffee beans and grind my own, but I do reuse the grounds the next day by adding about 1/8 cup of new grounds to the day-old grounds.  Sometimes I use half good coffee beans and half very cheap coffee for an added money saver. -- Lonna

When I want a nice flavored coffee but don't want to pay a lot for it - I buy a small package of flavored beans and grind them with regular coffee.  I store in the freezer.  the flavor is always strong enough to flavor an addition lb. of coffee

I was at Barnie's Coffees at the mall recently.  They charge $11.99/lb for all their coffees.   But they had a whole slew of leftover coffee beans from Christmas, at 75% off!  Interesting flavors... Gingerbread Spice, for instance, smells wonderful.  At $3 a lb., that is a bargain for the coffee-snob!  I quit coffee last year but I have a friend staying with me who drinks two pots a day of it.  She bought 6 or 8 lb. of that discounted stuff.  It fills the house with the most luscious smell!  There is also a brand you can find in the supermarket for under $3 a can and I often see 75¢ off coupons in the Sunday paper.  It's called Don Francisco's, and they have a cinnamon hazelnut, a Kona Hawaiian, vanilla nut, and I forget what else.  Pretty good stuff. -- Rani

Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the coffee grounds before brewing it -- Bridey

I fill my mug halfway with milk, microwave it, then fill the rest of the way with coffee, sweetener and NesQuick.  Tastes great to me every morning! -- Becky

I add a few tablespoons of hot chocolate to my cup of coffee.  It makes the best cup of mocha coffee! 
-- Rebecca Faries, Newark, DE

One thing I've done for years is buy the flavored coffee in bulk on sale and mix it with regular coffee when I get home.  It only takes about 1/4 of the expensive stuff to flavor the other, depending on your sensitivity.  I also put my sweetener in with my coffee grounds in the filter the night before so when I turn it on, my sweetener is thoroughly blended before I even pour the first cup.  To reduce any chlorine taste in city water, use water brought to room temperature & preferably sitting for 24 hours.  I draw filtered water to sit out for the next morning as soon as the pot is empty!  Gotta have that java! -- Sharon

Add vanilla or melted ice cream (one tablespoon per pot) to coffee grounds before brewing -- Kim

Use pure extracts to flavor coffees.  Almond, amaretto, vanilla, etc.  They can be purchased at a grocery store.  Since they are pure, only a few drops per cup are needed.

well, I always use (filtered) tap water and non-bleached coffee filters.  Also, if you shop at BJ's or Sam's, get the good whole bean coffee and grind it there.  also, don't let it get too warm and don't store in the freezer......this is a misconception about keeping it fresh.  I love my coffee (since college days) and am pretty particular..these practices will usually make it taste better, even if its sub-par coffee (and no you don't have to buy Starbucks to have a good home-brewed pot).......hope some of this helped. -- Laura

My husband and I, while on a 'date' at Starbucks Coffee, had an amazing 'frothy' rasberry coffee. After paying $4 each, I figured that on nights when we can't get out, I could try to re-create it at home for a fraction of the cost.  It came out pretty darn good.........

First, I brewed a strong pot of coffee (about 6 cups).  Then, while still in the pot, I added sugar (or you could add artificial sweetener) and U-Bets Rasberry Syrup.  I added milk (but they probaby use cream in Starbucks), and whipped it all up with my trusty hand blender.  It came out frothy and delicious.  You could top it all off with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.  -- Debbie Bacon of Patchogue, New York

My husband and I are coffee addicts, and only the best roast will do for us (we don't even drink Starbucks unless we have to because they burn their beans.)    What we do to afford our habit is roast our own coffee beans at home.  We buy them in bulk online, and even with shipping costs it works out to less than $4.50 a pound.    You can buy a little beginner's roaster that you use on top of a popcorn popper for about $40, but if you go to www.thecoffeeproject.com, you can get a free Freshroast automatic roaster when you spend $150 on beans.    We've gotten 3 of their free roasters since we discovered their site.    The coffee is awesome.   We have even had requests for people who want to buy our roasted beans, but we drink so much that we don't really have time to roast for others.    If you like flavors, you can experiment with adding flavored oils in the roasting process, but since my husband only drinks his pristine, I buy the bottles of flavor that you can get in any coffee store and add shots into my drinks.    I also sometimes brew a small pot of espresso and add shots of that into my coffee when I need an extra kick.   We really do save over half the cost of buying good-quality pre-roasted beans (and quite a bit over supermarket beans as well), and the unroasted beans stay fresh forever so we can buy in bulk. If you have local coffeehouses that roast their own beans, you could buy from them as well, usually at a discount, and that would save the shipping costs too, but it is worth it to us to pay shipping charges not to have to drag our toddler and 4-month-old out to buy large bags of beans. -- Cheryl Tepe

I am a huge lover of Starbucks, but find the prices expensive, so what I do is buy my Starbucks coffee at Costco, and make it at home using a Bodum and good water.  Costco sells Starbucks coffee at half the price per pound. I also follow the Starbucks scientific method of making a good cup of coffee.. Temperature, type of water, freshly grinding only what I need, etc... Everybody always comments on how delicious our coffee is. Hope this helps! -- Danielle Morris