A necessary evil
My husband IS a coffee drinker though, and not an ordinary one - he likes Mocha's, which is coffee, plus drinking chocolate. He actually has two different varieties of chocolate powder in his Mocha's. First is, Milo, made from barley, so is more a chocolate malt powder - its cheaper per gram though, because we can buy in bulk. His second powder however, is Cadbury's drinking chocolate, derived from cocoa powder, and decidedly more expensive per gram.
I was filling up the glass jars, near the coffee station recently (from the main tub above) and I thought to myself - there HAS to be a cheaper way. There just has to be! So I looked at the list of ingredients and realised, I could make it cheaper.
New mix
You may be grossed out by this, so please turn away if you are allergic to sugar (fake sugar, at that) as these were the list of ingredients I came up with. It fills that little 400g tub I normally buy from $5 to$7 (or $3 on special, if I'm lucky).
Ingredients:
*2 cups of icing sugar mixture to 1 cup cocoa powder*
Whiz around in a food processor then store.
Crazy right? But now affordable and no worse than the name-brand variety. David tasted it and said it was just as good! When I buy Cadbury's on sale, its 75 cents per 100g. Using normal prices for the other two ingredients, it works out to around 36 cents per 100g. That's saving more than half price. Why normal prices compared to sale prices? Well, I buy a no-name brand for the other two ingredients listed, which never goes on sale, because its the lowest price all the time.
Best thing is though, I don't have to wait for his name-brand drinking chocolate, to go on sale any more. I can always stock those other ingredients in the pantry. Plus I'm re-purposing the old tub to hold my new premix, making it easier to see what it was.
Coffee station with teaspoons a permanent feature
~ because I can save opening drawers
I like to decanter all my coffee brewhaha (Muh-ha-ha) into small repurposed Moccona coffee jars, which take up considerably less room on the kitchen bench, than most specialty storage jars would. And its obvious why. Yes, all those containers are for one cup of Mocha. He likes two teaspoons of coffee too, so we buy decafe to reduce the amount of caffeine he has per cup (smallest container on the end).
The way I look at it though, he has very few vices and I'm proud he'd rather a nice cuppa than a coldie (beer) after work. But I've managed to save just that little bit extra in our food budget too.
PS: if you don't have a food processor, or don't want to use the electricity, grab a plain old sieve and bowl instead, mix with a spoon, then store in your favourite jar.
I don't usually do drinking chocolate because of the cost but I just might try this! Love that he has his own little coffee line up of jars. You're a thoughtful woman.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll like it if you try it. You don't have to do the full recipe if its just a test. The formula is basically a 2:1 ratio. Enjoy though, especially as the nights get colder.
DeleteWell done! I'm old enough to remember when there were no supermarkets and our local shopping strip had a single grocery store where Mum would buy the staples...flour, sugar, tea, biscuits (and probably cocoa powder), individually weighed into brown paper bags by the kindly old white-haired grocer. Mum probably made a chocolate drink the same way you're doing. I think there will be more of this sort of thing in the future, when scarce energy makes producing all these fancy (& expensive) foods impossible.
ReplyDeleteI bet that saved a lot of wastage in packaging, doing things that way! I've seen period tv shows in the past, which showed what you described. It looked like a very sociable way to shop for staples.
DeleteI agree that the more the economy slows, the more people will have to forego conveniences and just afford the basics. Though, given we don't really specialise in growing coffee in Australia, "coffee" may well become an expensive luxury in the future Thankfully, I'm only a tea drinker now. ;)
I don't remember ever having coffee in my childhood. We had a bottle of something called chicory...a dark liquid...in the cupboard. I think it was a coffee substitute. I never tasted it.
DeleteI remember Chicory in the cupboard too! Though I think mum used it for baking, not drinking. Ground chicory root makes a substitute coffee - though you probably have to roast it just like the beans.
DeleteGreat idea! I don't have any other vices (except swearing) so I keep my coffee expensive I confess. I love espresso so I bought the machine and buy a localy roasted fair trade organic (it doens't have flecks of gold-I promise;) brand that I grind in the co-op. Some of the beans are roasted to have flavors like chocolate and now that I am not adding maple syrup to the coffee I can taste the sublte flavors. But I would drink your recipe if I could-even with that sugar!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a coffee drinker, I could certainly appreciate the best coffee. I had some Barista training when I was working in hospitality, and we learned the best way to make coffee without burning the beans or scolding the milk. I was rarely pleased with the coffees I bought occasionally when out, because they always processed the coffee too long making it bitter, and almost always scolded the milk.
DeleteThere is certainly an art to making great tasting coffee. You're fortunate to have a local supplier of beans. :)
That was a brilliant idea. Our chocolate mixes always have ingredients we don't want in them, like preservatives and hydrogenated fats. I love your idea - better every which-away!
ReplyDeleteI like to keep things simple, where I can. I'm sure icing mixture sugar isn't the best possible ingredient, but wouldn't contain as many fats as drinking chocolate does. Sorry for the late reply. :)
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