# Coffee faux pas: is it wrong to mix old and new grounds? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** coffee\ **Created:** [April 21, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-faux-pas-is-it-wrong-to-mix-old-and-new-grounds/401100 "2007-04-21T20:18:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-faux-pas-is-it-wrong-to-mix-old-and-new-grounds/401100/41 "2007-04-24T20:57:38Z")
[QUOTE=A.R. Cane] The responses are interesting to me. This was a common practice during WWII and my parents certainly did it. Coffee was rationed and expensive when available. Surely there are some other older Dopers who remember this? [/QUOTE] I don’t remember it, but the fact that coffee was rationed and expensive surely had a lot to do with the practice; it mostly wasn’t done by choice. Nowadays, coffee is cheap, so we don’t have to make hard choices like that. I’ll make mine fresh each time, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-faux-pas-is-it-wrong-to-mix-old-and-new-grounds/401100/42 "2007-04-25T14:33:31Z")
This is a pretty common ‘tightwad’ tip – I’ve seen it in a lot of books on frugality. I don’t do it myself, except in extremity (I need a second pot and am running out of coffee). Usually, though, I use a fresh filter and fresh coffee for each pot. That said, I do use **gonzomax** ’s grandmother’s method for reusing teabags. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-faux-pas-is-it-wrong-to-mix-old-and-new-grounds/401100/43 "2007-04-29T01:49:36Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] …In the beginning of my IT career I worked on VMS machines and thought it would be great if the coffeepot could somehow be wired to the cluster so one could do a show dev dev$coffee to see how full it was, and know when to go for your next cup. [/QUOTE] You’re aware, I’m sure, that the [very first webcam](http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/coffee/coffee.html) was for just this purpose? ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-faux-pas-is-it-wrong-to-mix-old-and-new-grounds/401100/44 "2007-04-29T02:14:06Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Tonya] Then why not just use half the measure of water and fresh coffee and not re-use anything? [/QUOTE] OK, I’m late coming back, to get my smacks for not treating Coffee as the holy beverage it seems to be to some. I guess I like my like my coffee strong, oily and bitter. 😛 Them once used grounds got some caffeine and coffee goodness left in em. Y’all are wastrels, sez I. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-faux-pas-is-it-wrong-to-mix-old-and-new-grounds/401100/45 "2007-04-29T08:15:44Z")
[QUOTE=ParentalAdvisory] So you would be okay with your favorite fried food being fried with yesterdays oil, mixed with a little bit of todays new oil? Count me in for gross on this subject… [/QUOTE] Actually, that’s the way you’re meant to do it. Foods fried in fresh oil come out pale and underbrowned. New oil needs a bit of old oil mixed into it for proper browning. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-faux-pas-is-it-wrong-to-mix-old-and-new-grounds/401100/46 "2007-04-29T08:17:20Z")
[QUOTE=The Sonoran Lizard King] OK, I’m late coming back, to get my smacks for not treating Coffee as the holy beverage it seems to be to some. I guess I like my like my coffee strong, oily and bitter. 😛 Them once used grounds got some caffeine and coffee goodness left in em. Y’all are wastrels, sez I. [/QUOTE] Once you get a good whiff of fermented coffee, or moldy grounds, you’ll be averse to repeating the experience, sez I. 😉😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-faux-pas-is-it-wrong-to-mix-old-and-new-grounds/401100.md?page=2)