Can You Reuse Coffee Grounds Over Again?
As an avid coffee lover, I am brewing lots of coffee daily. Some may think that I am addicted to caffeine, and I won’t try to prove them wrong. I have to admit that when I have a desire for quality coffee, its quite strong, and I have to satisfy it. The only way is by brewing fresh grounds of coffee and enjoy a few quick sips.
It’s evident that coffee grounds after brewing becomes waste and someone could ask the following question: can you reuse coffee grounds over and again?
On the other hand, when I have my favorite Rooibos tea, I put the bag of tea into hot water for less than a minute, and the tea bag still maintains aromas and flavors. Not to mention that sometimes, I reuse the same tea bag for a second cup.
And again your question is fully justified: can you reuse grounds of coffee, similarly with my Rooibos favorite teabags for another cup?
Can You Consumer Coffee Prepared With Reused Grounds of Coffee? And Can You Reuse Them For Drip Coffee?
My answer is yes, you can!
But, actually, are you sure that you want to do this?
Perhaps you’re not so sure, and you shouldn’t.
But let me explain why I am saying here that you shouldn’t reuse your grounds for another cup of coffee. The ingredients of coffee, and besides caffeine, are ethylphenol, acids, quinic acid, dicaffeoylquinic acid, oils, acetylmethylcarbinol, trigonelline, niacin, flavor compounds, and many more coffee chemicals. These chemicals are the ingredients of our favorite beverage and provide the aroma and taste we all love.
Let’s see now what happens during the brewing process. Brewing, in short, is the process of oxidization of the coffee. In other words, at the moment that your coffee grounds are blended with water, they’ll start releasing, all the previous ingredients into the water. Elements such as oils, acids, aromatic compounds, etc.
So, I believe it’s pretty clear now that coffee ingredients are mostly extracted from the grounds to the water, after the brewing to create the delicious cup.
Therefore, if you reuse your coffee grounds, you’ll create a beverage with less aroma, flavor, that could taste a little bitter, and with lighter color and intensity.
You should also consider your health. If you’re about to reuse your coffee grounds, think twice. Note that coffee is getting very wet by the brewing, and if left outside, then bacteria could be produced with ease.
If still, you’re planning to reuse your coffee grounds, then do it immediately. Something like brewing after brewing. If you left them somewhere for about an hour, and you brew them, then you’re about to drink a bacteria beverage instead of a coffee drink.
How About Reusing Coffee Grounds For Cold Brewing?
When you’re preparing a cold brew coffee, usually you let the coffee steep for more time, and thus the taste would be very stronger.
You may blend your cold brew coffee with ice, or milk to dilute it, and by doing this, you may not notice the difference in flavor.
On the other hand, you’re making a considerable discount on the quality of your favorite beverage, and I wouldn’t suggest you reuse your coffee grounds for another cup. I realize that you may wish to save a few bucks, but it would be better to go for a less expensive coffee brand, and always brew fresh. It’s a better way to save a few cents!
Repeat: Can You Reuse Coffee Grounds?
The complete answer is that you shouldn’t use coffee grounds to make coffee again. But, used coffee grounds may have other applications. There are many different ways to use them. With these ways, you’re protecting the environment, and your home as well. Actually, you’d be amazed by the benefits of coffee, and even after the brewing process.
How To Reuse Grounds Of Coffee?
Don’t’ forget that coffee is a plant, whereas plants and herbs usually contain lots of nutrients, that maintain their benefits, even after going through hot water. Ok, I’ve mentioned that the taste is horrible (in my opinion), but this doesn’t mean that you can’t have other benefits.
Wash Your Body
If you share the same passion with me about coffee, then you wouldn’t mind if you smell like it, correct?
Don’t get me wrong here, but yes, you can reuse your coffee grounds to wash your face, body, or hands. How could you do that? Well, it’s simple: just mix the coffee grounds with your favorite soap and apply to your body.
The tip here is that you should wash off not with hot water, but with cool temperature water.
I do this, not all the time, but it’s also an excellent method to get rid of the dead cells for your skin. Try it!
Cleaning
Since you can apply it on your body, it would be more than safe to reuse coffee grounds for cleaning.
You know that the coffee grounds texture is gritty, and coffee also has a strong sense. Both of them help unclog and deodorize the sink of your kitchen. How to do it? Boil a cup of used coffee grounds in a bowl of water, and then pour the whole hot mix down the drain.
You can clean the pipes as many times as you need, it’s confirmed that this cleaning method won’t damage anything.
The grounds of coffee are abrasive and would help in cleaning pots, or pans that have been caked heavily. Another idea to apply on to your counter and to clean a stubborn spot that you don’t want to see anymore. Just moisten some used coffee grounds and rub with your kitchen sponge. The abrasive compounds, along with the strong sense of coffee, will help to get rid of spots in a way you didn’t expect.
Before you sprinkle on to your kitchen counter, just try it to a smaller surface to make sure that counter color doesn’t go wrong, or to prevent any other reaction.
Removing a Smell
I love the aroma of coffee. Even the aroma of used grounds of coffee. The thing that perhaps you didn’t know is that this excellent aroma is beneficial in absorbing other odors from your kitchen. We all have faced lousy smell from the trash container, or food mixing in the refrigerator, or any different horrible smell. It’s another fantastic idea of using coffee grounds to get rid of these smells.
First thing you should do is to dry out the used coffee grounds. Then you can put them in a piece of cloth that has porous to let the scent of coffee to be extracted. Tie up the cloth and place it to your fridge, or hang it to your trash can, or simply put it where you wish to absorb the bad smell.
Say goodbye to shoes bad smell. Take some dry used coffee grounds and sprinkle within your shoes, and leave it over the night. In the morning simply shake them, and the bad smell is gone.
Similarly, you can take out the bad smell from your hands. We all know that chopping garlic, or onion, leaves a horrible smell to our hands. Now, you can absorb this bad smell by reusing coffee grounds. Wash up your hands with some cool water, and then scrub them with some used coffee grounds. You’ll love the effect that used grounds will have on your hands. Your hands will have a fresh and clear smell within seconds. Try it out!
Fertilizing
A great way to reuse your coffee grounds is by placing them back into the ground (LoL). Coffee is full of nutrients that your flowers will love. So, it would be an excellent idea if you reuse them as a fertilizer for your interior house plants, or in your garden.
You could place some used grounds into the soil, or even blend them with water, and spray your plants.
In case you’re into farming worms (vermiculture), then worms don’t mind used grounds of coffee – they adore them!
Now, if you’re composting, then you can reuse coffee grounds by adding them to compost. It’ll help the food components break down into the compost faster. Just throw the used grounds into the compost bin and let the coffee magic to work! To increase effectiveness, toss some grounds every time you place something in the container. With this way, you’ll have an equal distribution of coffee grounds, so the food will break down much sooner.
Reuse Coffee Grounds After You Dry Them
Almost all of the ways you can reuse your coffee grounds, depend on the fact that you have to dry the grounds before you use them. If you don’t, then bacteria will grow, and you’ll have the opposite result.
To dry coffee grounds fast, let’s go back to the basics of science – water evaporates quicker if it’s much exposed to air. Implement the same law here – the water in the used grounds will dry faster if more surface of grounds is exposed to the atmosphere. How to do that? Simply spread out the coffee grounds in a dish and let them out, they’ll dry pretty soon.
Conclusion: Can You Reuse Coffee Grounds Again?
I know that you hit this post by expecting to get a definite answer to this question. You thought that I would say, yes you can reuse coffee grounds to prepare another cup of coffee, and probably save some bucks here.
I hope you’re happy with the additional ideas that you could apply in your daily life. If you do, then you’ll save some money, and you’ll protect somehow the environment. For sure, you can’t say that these weren’t creative ideas on how to reuse your coffee grounds.
READ ALSO
Best portable electric grinders
3 best reusable K-Cup filters for Keurig
The best commercial coffee maker
