Price check coffee | Capsule, pad, powder: Whichever is cheaper

Filter, capsule or pad: How do you prefer to prepare your coffee? The answer not only affects taste, but also your wallet.

Be it as a stimulant or a stimulant: very few people will turn down a freshly brewed coffee. Everyone has their own preferences and whether the hot drink should come from a fully automatic machine, a pad machine or a French press.

Stiftung Warentest now shows (issue 12/2023) that the choice of preparation method not only influences the taste of the coffee, but also how expensive a cup is. Who it is suitable for.

Compared to other devices for making coffee, the fully automatic machine is quite expensive to purchase. On average, consumers have to invest 700 euros before they can enjoy their first cup.

Who is the device worthwhile for?

In its calculations, Stiftung Warentest assumes that the device will have a lifespan of eight years. This results in the following result: Anyone who drinks around 3,000 cups of coffee within this time (rounded up to one cup per day) pays around 39 cents per cup. On the other hand, if you drink 20,000 cups, you spend around 19 cents per cup (around six cups a day, rounded).

If you want to celebrate drinking coffee, you usually rely on the classic filter or the French press. But frugal consumers also believe that these methods are the most cost-effective. Is that also true?

Yes. The purchase costs for a French press (press pot) or a ceramic filter are relatively low at an average of 9 euros. And a simple filter coffee machine is also comparatively cheap. According to calculations by Stiftung Warentest, if conventional roasted coffee powder is used for coffee, costs are around 12 cents per cup from the French press and 14 cents from the filter coffee machine – if a complete pot is prepared at a time. Those who drink heavily spend 11 cents per cup.

Capsule machines are usually popular with consumers who only occasionally drink coffee at home – for example, a cup for breakfast on the weekend. The advantage of making coffee is that the coffee powder in the capsules stays fresh and aromatic for a long time. But the machine and the capsules are relatively expensive.

Stiftung Warentest has found that if you consume 20,000 cups of coffee in eight years, each cup costs around 33 cents – including purchase costs. However, the capsule machine is not that financially significant. Rather, it is the capsules that cost up to 31 cents per cup. And the new coffee balls without packaging are not significantly cheaper either.

According to Stiftung Warentest, if you don’t want to do without your capsule machine, you should use refillable capsules. This means that the price per cup is as low as that of a French press or a coffee filter. And coffee pod lovers can also use this trick to reduce the cost of their cup of coffee enormously.

Nevertheless, when it comes to making a cup of coffee at home, the machine and the powder, beans, capsules or pods are the most expensive.