Making coffee at home: Home economist on ways to save money

Home economist, Jodie Kachkar, talks about ways people can save money with steps to make their daily coffee at home.

Iced beverages can be a nice treat on your way to work, especially in the summertime, but add up in your bank account. With some ideas to save money at the coffee shop, home economist Jodie Kashkar joined CTV Morning Live’s Kent Morrison.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Jodie Kachkar: Teachers are fueled by coffee right about now, so I make my own at home because it kills me to drink the $7 to $10 drinks at coffee shops..

Kent Morrison: How much do you think it costs you to make one at home?

Jodie: Probably somewhere between 50 cents and $2. You can save a lot of money on fancy coffee.

Kent: People might be a little scared because they don’t know how to do that. Can you show us how?

Jodie: Not hard at all. Cold brew is big right now and that’s probably the easiest and cheapest to make. Basically, cold brew is coarse ground coffee and cold water, then you let it sit on your counter overnight, then you strain it. It’s not as easy as just hitting a button, but all you do is mix those two things together, and then you strain it. So you need a couple of fine mesh strainers and you’re set.

Kent: How long would such a thing last in the fridge?

Jodie: I make it in smaller amounts because my bottles are the size that they are, but I would say probably five to seven days.

Kent: Why are there unsweetened and sweetened cold brews?

Jodie: I have a chai concentrate that I have sweetened slightly and a regular iced coffee. I ran the regular iced coffee through my coffee maker, and then I cooled it and I sweetened it. I sweetened the chai concentrate and iced coffee because they started off hot and they tend to get a little bit bitter. I’m trying to balance that. If you would normally put milk or cream in your coffee, this is the step you would put it in to help balance those flavours a bit.

Kent: Any other advice with the chai for people wanting to make their own?

Jodie: I make it slightly stronger myself. Typically, it’s one tea bag per cup of water. I end up doing five tea bags per four cups of water and I brew it for an extended period, somewhere between 30 minutes to one hour. Then I sweeten it, then chill it. It’s totally doable, not a lot of work and you don’t have to babysit it. It’s a great way to save money.

Kent: Can you tell me what a rhubarb shrub is and why you brought it?

Jodie: A rhubarb shrub is an old fashioned way to manage excess fruit. A shrub is equal parts vinegar, sugar and fruit. You let it sit and steep, and the vinegar becomes a bit more softer and it becomes like a syrup that you can add to water or soda water or an alcoholic beverage. I don’t actually like plain water, so this is a way for me to stay hydrated in the summertime.

Recipes

Cold Brew Coffee

This works best if you have a scale and a coffee grinder. Makes approximately 4 cups of cold brew.

1. Set your coffee grinder to a coarse setting.
2. Weigh out 1 ounce of coffee per cup of water.
3. Combine coffee and cold water and allow it to sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
4. Strain carefully through a fine mesh strainer and store the cold brew in the fridge

I simply sweeten this slightly and then store in the fridge for iced coffee.

Iced Chai

Brew 5 tea bags in 4 cups of water. Sweeten slightly to taste.

Rhubarb shrub

Adapted from Serious Eats.

• 1 cup of rhubarb (chopped in 1/4 inch slices)
• 1 cup of white wine vinegar
• 1 cup white sugar

1. Combine the rhubarb, white wine vinegar, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring as the rhubarb begins to break down.
2. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook until the rhubarb is completely broken down into strands, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and pour into a colander or fine mesh strainer lined with a layer of cheesecloth. Allow the mixture to strain until it stops dripping, about 30 minutes. You can stir the mixture gently once or twice to help it strain, but do not press it through the cheesecloth. Discard the solids.
4. Pour the resulting syrup into a jar and let cool to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator.
5. Add about 3 tablespoons to 8 ounces of water (or club soda) and enjoy.