I recently got a gift of a huge amount (like, ten cans) of really old bad coffee. It doesn’t even smell like coffee. I’ve tried a few cups filled with soymilk, and it’s still not worth drinking even for the caffeine value.
It’s a lot of stuff. I’d like to think of something to do with it. I’ve got a picnic coming up, so a cooking project would be nice. Some sort of coffee pastry? Or maybe I could use it to make caffeinated soap.
Any ideas?
Compost or mulch. You might want to brew it first but I have no idea for what yu could use the bad brewed coffee.
Well, it’s slightly acidic. Got any too-alkaline soil you need to fix?
The thing is, if it doesn’t taste good for drinking, I don’t think it’ll taste good for eating. Toss it into your compost pile or something.
BTW, who gives anyone ten cans of bad coffee?
Did you forget someone’s birthday last year?
I was going to ask to OP if they had any tropical plants, because brewed coffee grounds are a good way to revive them if they soil is too alkaline. (Thank you Mr. Whitney, you were an excellent Science teacher.) Compost and such is also a good idea.
I use cheap coffee as part of my marinade for steaks. And for the base for crock potting a roast.
You get some wierd things when family members work in the shipping industry.
Yeah, the whole “if it sucks to drink, it probably sucks to eat” thing occurred to me, too. It’s not that it tastes bad, it just doesn’t taste like much. But maybe it could be cut with some quality coffee or something, or used to make something a hint richer (I don’t eat meat, so sadly the roast ideas won’t work). Also, no plants here.
I know a phillistine who I could give the coffee to who wouldn’t care that it sucks. Maybe I’ll just do that.
Aren’t bowls of wet coffeegrounds used as a deodorant in the fridge?
Coffee grounds mold fairly quickly, I wouldn’t do this.
Indeed. Hubby brought home 50 miniature rose bushes that were “damaged”, and the carrier said dump them. We distributed them around the neighborhood. This was 4 years ago and they come back and bloom every summer.
I have a recipe for a chocolate cake that uses brewed coffee in the topping, but you’d have to bake a gazillion of them.
Like Zabali said – a friend with a green thumb puts coffee grounds on all of her house plants and in her compost heap.
Make some homemade kahlua.
Not necessarily. I always use up my substandard or stale coffee in baking.
Good drinking and good eating are totally different when it comes to coffee. What makes a good cup of coffee (the oil) is so volatile that it doesn’t survive baking anyway – as with chocolate, it’s the bitter alkaloids that impart the flavour you’re after to desserts, and they’re going to be offset with loads of sugar, anyway.
Make “dinosaur fossils”. You will make little kids very happy. Nothing like getting to take a hammer to something!
Dinosaur Eggs
·2 1/2 cups flour
·2 1/2 cups used coffee grounds
·1 1/2 cup salt
·1 cup sand
·water
·Small Plastic Dinosaurs
·Hammer
Make Dough. Mix flour, coffee grounds, salt and sand. Gradually stir in
only enough water until mixture holds together. Do not over wet! Dough that
is too wet takes longer to dry! Mold handfuls of dough around small
plastic dinosaurs (or other small plastic toys). Allow up to a week to
air dry! Plan your party fun accordingly, make these well ahead of
time. Use for party favors, as kids party game (hide and seek with the
eggs) then let children smash open with a hammer or rock. They’ll love them!
Your coffee might be too old for this trick…
I lived in Germany where coffee is jet fuel…I mean, REALLY strong. I got to like it that way, so when I moved back to the USA, it was hard to get the real stuff. Then a German who had lived here for years told me his trick.
Take regular, American, crap Yuban or Folger’s or whatever…scoop what you need and then put it into an electric coffee grinder and zap it for about two or three seconds. This grinds the coffee finer, and gives it a fresh aroma. The finer grind makes for a much stronger coffee and the aroma brings out the flavor.
BTW, most Germans don’t use electric coffee makers…you bring the water to a boil in a tea kettle, turn off the kettle and wait until it stops boiling, then you pour the water over a filter with coffee. They claim most (not all) electric coffee makers don’t get the water hot enough to really brew the coffee. Try making it this way, and I think you will indeed notice the difference.
Good plan. but I use a French press, which should have the same “hot” effect but can’t handle finer grounds.
Looks like “give to clueless friend” is the winning option…
If you’re looking to darken your hair, you can brew up a batch of triple-strong coffee and pour it through. Deep condition afterwards or you’ll never be able to get a comb through. And make sure you do it on a day when you don’t have to leave the house, because you’ll smell like a stale Starbucks. Repeat weekly.
I’m really liking that dinosaur egg idea.
Really? I used to use a French press (kept breaking the damned things) but never had a problem with finer grounds. I just pressed slower.