Everyone wants to do their part to reduce, reuse, and recycle and be more environmentally friendly. Luckily, there is a way to reuse your old coffee beans or coffee grounds from your favorite brew.
Coffee grounds and beans can be used again in many ways, such as to make art, garden soil that is good for plants, and a way to get rid of smelly spots in your home. Here are 13 creative ways to reuse coffee beans to make you think twice about throwing yours away.
It happens to all coffee lovers – you buy a fresh bag of beans meticulously store them in an airtight container but don’t finish them before they lose their freshness. Before tossing those stale beans in the trash, stop! There are actually many clever ways to reuse old coffee beans instead of throwing them out.
Read on for 13 great ideas to repurpose those old beans and reduce waste
Perk Up Your Garden
Used coffee grounds make excellent fertilizer for plants and can revitalize your garden. The grounds are rich in nitrogen, potassium, and other minerals that are nutrients for plants Work them into the soil around plants or use dried grounds as mulch around the base of plants. The nutrients get absorbed into the soil as the grounds break down. Sprinkling dry grounds also deters garden pests like slugs and ants.
Make DIY Exfoliating Scrubs
Mix used coffee grounds with a bit of olive oil or coconut oil to make an invigorating skin or lip scrub. The coarse texture of the grounds makes for an excellent exfoliant to remove dead skin. The caffeine in the coffee also helps improve blood circulation when applied topically. Add a few drops of essential oils for extra scent.
Deodorize the Fridge
That stinky fridge quickly gets a wake-up call when you place a small dish of used coffee grounds inside. The grounds will absorb strong food odors. Replace them weekly for continuously deodorizing power. Grounds can also deodorize other smelly spots like garbage cans, pet areas, and shoes.
Craft with Natural Dye
The tannins in coffee beans create a natural brown dye when brewed into a strong concentrate. Use it to dye fabric, paper, Easter eggs, and more for an earthy tone. For paper crafts, simply brush on the coffee concentrate using a paintbrush. You can vary the shade from light tan to dark brown.
Make DIY Coffee Face Scrub
While used grounds work great for body scrubs, don’t use them on your face! The rough texture can cause microtears in delicate facial skin. For a face scrub, grind up unused coffee beans into a fine powder. Mix with coconut oil or aloe vera gel to gently exfoliate and fight puffiness. The caffeine constricts blood vessels to decrease swelling.
Create Coffee-Infused Desserts
Cakes, cookies, ice cream – they all get a mocha flavor boost when you add in some old coffee beans or grounds. Because sugar and other ingredients impart the sweetness, you don’t need super fresh coffee for baking. Complementary flavors like chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, and nutmeg pair especially well with coffee’s bitterness.
Make Cold Brew Coffee Ice Cubes
Don’t water down your iced coffee – use coffee ice cubes instead! Brew some concentrate using stale grounds, then freeze it in an ice cube tray. Add the frozen cubes to cold milk or your iced latte as they melt to add coffee flavor without diluting the drink. They also help keep the beverage chilled.
Freshen Up Your Breath
Coffee beans can be used to make DIY breath fresheners. Roast unused beans until they are dry and brittle, then put them in a pepper grinder. Grind onto your toothbrush instead of toothpaste for a minty coffee scrub. You can also pack small jars with dried coffee beans and carry them in your purse or pocket for fresh breath on the go.
Craft Upcycled Jewelry
Gluing coffee beans onto earring wires, necklaces, and bracelets makes for quick DIY jewelry with an earthy look. You can use beans whole or crack them into pieces first. For necklaces and bracelets, string the beans together with other natural beads. Clear-dry beans work best for longevity.
Make Homemade Soap
The scent of coffee is a hit for handmade soaps. Ground and dried beans mixed into soap batter scent the bars. For exfoliating soap, leave some beans whole to create a scrubby effect. You can also make soap using old coffee as the liquid instead of water for natural color and odor removal.
Fertilize Houseplants
Just like in the garden, used coffee grounds can fertilize indoor potted plants. The nutrients give them a healthy boost, while the grounds help retain moisture in the soil to prevent plants from drying out as quickly. Sprinkle dried grounds on top of the soil or mix some into the potting mix.
Clean Greasy cookware
Baked on grease doesn’t stand a chance against used coffee grounds. Their abrasive texture helps scrub pots and pans. Dampen a scouring pad or sponge with some grounds, then rub onto cookware to remove stubborn residue. Rinse thoroughly after scrubbing. The grounds also deodorize in the process.
Make DIY Body Massage Scrubs
Pamper yourself with a relaxing massage using coffee ground body scrub. The exfoliating texture sloughs off dead skin for softness. Massaging the scrub into sore muscles improves circulation. The grounds also curb cellulite when massaged onto affected areas. Mix with coconut or olive oil before applying.
As you can see, stale coffee beans have tons of helpful uses around the home, garden, and for self-care. Before throwing out that old bag of beans, get creative with these clever ideas to reduce waste. Your plants, skin, and recipes will thank you.
13 Clever Ways to Use Old Coffee Beans
Here’s a video with 8 reasons why you shouldn’t throw away your coffee grounds before we talk about how to use old coffee beans:
Coffee contains several key elements—nitrogen, calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and chromium—that are beneficial for plant growth. (Source)
Coffee grounds are a great fertilizer for plants because they take nutrients from the soil. This will help your plants stay healthy and full of nutrients.
If coffee is great as fertilizer, its also great as compost! Worms love coffee grounds and attracting more of them is great for soil. Heres the science to prove it: a study found that compost made with coffee grounds and kitchen waste was richer in nutrients compared to compost made with waste only (Source).
When life gives you old coffee beans, make dessert. It’s easy to make chocolate-covered espresso beans, tiramisu, coffee cake, coffee ice cream, and other desserts that taste like coffee with old coffee beans. Old coffee beans will work just fine for desserts because they don’t need to be the freshest. When baking, coffee is often added to chocolate baked goods because it makes the chocolate taste better.
Just like the desserts, coffee ice cubes dont need the freshest coffee to serve its purpose. You can make these ahead of time and then add them to your cold brew or iced coffee to keep them from diluting.
Coffee is a great alternative to chemicals that get rid of smells because it has nitrogen in it, which helps take smells out of the air. Putting coffee grounds in your trash can, fridge, shoes, or anywhere else that smells bad will get rid of the smell.
Did you know that coffee can be used to keep bugs away? The caffeine and other chemicals in coffee keep bugs away. It might even help deter fleas away from your pets. If you want to keep bugs away from your plants, patio, or deck, you can sprinkle coffee grounds around them.
You can use coffee beans in many ways in your art. You can glue the beans to wood or paper, smash them and use the pieces, brew them to make watercolor “paint,” color paper, and more. The great thing about coffee is that it stains, so the possibilities are endless.
As with desserts, cooking is also a good way to use old coffee. It doesn’t matter how fresh the coffee is… as long as there is a coffee taste. Some popular coffee dishes include coffee braised meat, carrots in a coffee glaze, and coffee rubbed meat.
Yes, coffee can also make meat tender. Coffee has natural acids and enzymes that make it work well at this, without being as loud or tiring as a meat hammer. It can also work as a flavor enhancer or marinade, so you get a bang for your buck. You can tenderize meat with coffee as a dry rub or brewed.
Like a scrub for your skin, coffee grounds can be used to “exfoliate” spots on dirty dishes that a sponge can’t reach. Its harsh enough to get food that sticks but gentle enough that it wont ruin your kitchenware). Its a unique way to clean dishes thats environmentally friendly. Using a sponge, you can add your coffee grounds to it and scrub away.
Coffee beans make a great display piece. Cafes and coffee shops usually have coffee beans displayed and its a nice decoration. You also can put coffee beans in a clear jar and display on a shelf or table.
For instance, our Santa Felisa Gesha coffees come in pretty tins that can be used again and again. These tins can be used for storage or as decorations.
When you really want to stain your clothes with coffee! You can use coffee to make a pretty brown dye that you can use to color cloth. It can make a very light brown color or a strong brown color, depending on how concentrated your dye is.
Its common knowledge that coffee grounds can be used to exfoliate skin. But you shouldn’t put it on your face because the coffee grounds are rough and could scratch your skin. The skin on your body, however, is tough enough to handle it. When you mix old coffee grounds with sugar and water, you get a unique way to scrub your skin.
Why Coffee Beans That Are Decades Old Could Be Used In Your Brew
FAQ
What can I do with outdated coffee beans?
Are old coffee beans good for plants?
Can you use 10 year old coffee beans?
What to do with old coffee beans?
Old coffee beans can make some amazing-looking decor in your home. Put some on the bottom of glasses, and then place a candle on top for a beautiful look. You can also create artwork and crafts to decorate your home with or give to your fellow coffee lover friends.
What is the best way to eat beans?
The best way to eat beans is to first cook them in a large pot of water, about 4 cups of water to every 1 cup of beans. Adding lemon grass or other herbs to the water can improve the flavor. Once beans are cooked the best thing to do is combine them with cooked rice, this is because beans are low in methionine and rice is low in lysine, so combining them makes a more complete protein.
When should you use old coffee beans?
If you want to prepare coffee, you should always use beans within 2 to 4 weeks after their roast date. Coffee brewed with old beans will not necessarily cause you any health problems, but it will not taste or smell as good as coffee made from fresh beans.
What can you do with coffee beans?
Coffee beans make a great display piece. Cafes and coffee shops usually have coffee beans displayed and it’s a nice decoration. You also can put coffee beans in a clear jar and display on a shelf or table. For example, our Santa Felisa Gesha coffees come in beautiful reusable tins that make great decor and can easily be repurposed for storage.