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TRANSCRIPT
Table of Content
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Introduction............................................................................................................4
Chapter 1: The Essentials of Milk Frothing............................................................5
The Tools of the Trade......................................................................................6
How to Froth Milk...............................................................................................6
Pouring the Perfect Cappuccino or Latté...........................................................8
Chapter 2: Delicious Drinks to Make at Home.....................................................10
Vanilla Latté.....................................................................................................10
Caramel Macchiato..........................................................................................11
Dirty Chai.........................................................................................................11
Skinny Dark Chocolate Mocha.........................................................................12
Cinnamon-Topped Cappuccino.......................................................................12
Tea Steamer....................................................................................................13
Cinnamon Steamer..........................................................................................13
Café Au Lait.....................................................................................................13
Americano........................................................................................................14
Traditional Macchiato.......................................................................................14
Chapter 3: Green Uses for Coffee Grounds........................................................15
Composting and Fertilizer................................................................................15
Pincushion Filling.............................................................................................16
Insect Repellant...............................................................................................17
Eliminate Odors...............................................................................................17
Skin and Hair Care..........................................................................................18
Scrubbing Dishes and Surfaces.......................................................................19
Natural Flea Bath.............................................................................................20
Repair Scratched Wood Furniture and Dye Old Clothes.................................21
Contain Fireplace Ashes..................................................................................21
Cooking Aid.....................................................................................................22
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Interior Decoration...........................................................................................22
Conclusion...........................................................................................................23
3
Introduction
Waking up with a cup of coffee is a well-loved ritual for millions of people, all over
the world. In the United States, thanks to corporate and independent coffee
shops popping up all over the place, we’ve grown to love gourmet drinks like
cappuccinos, lattés, and chai. We spend a lot of money on professionally made
drinks, but did you know that you could make these same drinks at home?
Making gourmet drinks at home not only saves you time and money, but it also
gives you an opportunity to do your share for the environment and your health.
There are all kinds of uses for your used coffee grounds that you may not have
ever thought of. In this book, you’ll learn how to make the drinks you love and
how to use your old coffee grounds to make your life better and help out the
environment.
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Chapter 1: The Essentials of Milk Frothing
If you love drinking cappuccinos, lattés, macchiatos, or any other frothy gourmet
coffee shop drink, you’ve probably wondered how you can make them at home.
When you go to the coffee shop, the barista stands behind a large machine,
making a lot of noise with a steam wand, while – at the same time and seemingly
by magic – pulling shots of espresso through that same large machine.
Somehow, out of all of this, you get a delicious drink that you can’t even start to
think of how to replicate at home.
Well, there’s good news. With the help of a smaller at-home version of the same
kind of espresso machine and steam wand, and just a little bit of instruction, you
can make your favorite beverages in your kitchen!
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The Tools of the Trade
What do you need to buy to make frothy, gourmet drinks? Your biggest purchase
will be your espresso machine. Make sure that you get one with a steam wand. If
you don’t, you’ll be making delicious espresso for the coffee base, but you won’t
have any way to make the milk frothy, foamy, and light to add the right texture
and taste to your drink.
Next, you’ll need to purchase a thermometer (a meat thermometer will do for this)
and frothing pitcher or two, depending on how many drinks you want to make at
a time and if you want to rinse out the pitcher in between making them. Milk
frothing pitchers are made of metal and shaped specifically for this purpose, to
avoid shattering or burning you. You still have to be careful, though! Things are
going to get hot when you start frothing. If you’re not careful, you could end up
with burnt fingers and a big mess.
How to Froth Milk
Your frothing pitcher should have a pour spout that reaches down about halfway
into the pitcher. Pour enough milk into the pitcher to reach the bottom of the
spout. Once you start frothing the milk, you’ll quickly see why you should never
pour more milk than this into the pitcher. Once you start to get to know your
portions, you’ll actually be pouring less than this most of the time.
Now, hold the pitcher by the handle in your right hand and place the thermometer
into the pitcher. If your thermometer has a clip, clip it to the side of the pitcher. If
not, just hold it in place, where you can read it, with your right thumb.
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Insert the tip of the frothing wand into
the milk, just below the surface. Hold
the pitcher at a slight angle. This will
give the milk room to circle the pitcher
as it foams up. With your left hand,
turn the steam wand on. If your
machine has a switch, just hit it. If it
has a dial, turn it all the way on.
You’ll notice, now, if the tip of the
wand is too deep in the milk, it will be
really loud. If it’s not in far enough, it
will sputter and spray milk all over the
place. The trick here is, as the milk
gets hotter and frothier, it will expand
and rise. So, as you froth the milk,
you’ll have to slowly lower the pitcher to keep the steam wand at the right level in
the milk.
So how can you tell when it’s done? Hopefully, you’ll never burn your milk. That’s
a smell you don’t want lingering in your kitchen. To keep from doing that, keep an
eye on your thermometer. You don’t want the milk to get hotter than 160 degrees
Fahrenheit, or it will get scorched. Keep in mind that your thermometer will run a
bit slower than the actual rise in temperature. So, when you see the thermometer
reaching 140-150 degrees, go ahead and turn the steam wand off.
You’ll also notice – if you lightly tap the bottom of the pitcher with your left palm –
that it starts to get too hot to touch right about the time that the milk has hit the
right temperature. The steam wand will change pitches, too. It will sound like an
airplane about to take off. If you get good enough at spotting these changes, you
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won’t even need a thermometer anymore. You’ll be frothing milk like a
professional.
You’ll want to take note of one thing, though, when you’re frothing milk for
foamier or less foamy drinks. If you’re making a latté or another drink without
much foam, you don’t have to lower the pitcher as aggressively while steaming
the milk. With cappuccinos, you want to get a lot of foam, so you’ll want to make
sure that you keep the wand just barely in the milk. You’ll get the hang of this as
you practice.
Pouring the Perfect Cappuccino or Latté
There are two ways to go about pouring cappuccinos and lattés. If you are a
traditionalist, you won’t use a spoon, and you’ll froth just enough milk, at just the
right level of foam, to fill your cup. Most of us aren’t professionals or
traditionalists, though. So here’s how to cheat and pour exactly as much foam as
you want, every time.
Grab a medium-sized serving spoon out of your silverware drawer. A tablespoon
or large soupspoon will work, too. Hold the pitcher by its handle in your right
hand. Hold the spoon in your left. Place the spoon, concave side up, over the
spout of the pitcher. This will hold back the majority of the foam.
If you want your drink to be “wet” (with more milk than foam), hold back more
foam and pour in the underlying milk. You can top it off with a little bit of foam at
the end. If you want a “dry” cappuccino, you can forego pouring the milk and just
spoon out all of that delicious, frothy milk foam onto your espresso. As with your
frothing technique, you’ll find the right pouring and spooning techniques for your
tastes.
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Now you know how to froth milk for cappuccinos, lattés, macchiatos, and all of
your favorite gourmet drinks, but don’t stop here. There are some really great
drink recipes waiting for you in chapter 2!
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Chapter 2: Delicious Drinks to Make at Home
Now that you have the equipment and the skills, the sky’s the limit for your
morning wakeup routine. You can experiment with all kinds of drinks, whether
you want a good, strong cup of hearty coffee or something sweet to start your
day. Try these classic recipes and see which one’s your favorite. Before you
know it, you’ll be making up your own recipes for your very own signature drinks.
Vanilla Latté
For this, you’ll need a shot or two (or three, if it’s one
of those mornings) of espresso, milk, and vanilla
syrup. Whole milk is the easiest to steam into a
creamy froth, but skim, soy, and almond milk work
just as well. Choose whichever you like best. You can
find your favorite flavor syrups in the coffee aisle at
the grocery store, or you can order them online.
Take your favorite mug and pour an ounce of vanilla
syrup into the bottom. You can measure it by using a
1-ounce shot glass or a measuring cup. Once you’ve done this, froth your milk
and pull your espresso shot. Pour your espresso on top of the syrup, and then
pour in the milk, and voila!
If the drink is too sweet or not sweet enough, just use less or more syrup. You
can make hazelnut, Irish cream, caramel, or any other kind of flavored latté you
like the same way!
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Caramel Macchiato
Everyone’s familiar with this super popular
drink, and now you can make it at home!
You’ll just need espresso, milk, caramel
syrup, caramel sauce (the kind you pour on
an ice cream sundae), and whipped cream.
Pour an ounce of caramel sauce into your
frothing pitcher with your milk and steam the
flavor and milk together. Pour the frothed milk
into your favorite mug, leaving some room.
Pull as many shots of espresso as you want,
then pour those into your mug. Stir gently,
and then top it off with whipped cream and
caramel sauce. Delicious!
Dirty Chai
Chai with a shot of espresso is called a dirty chai. It might sound a bit odd, but it’s
actually a really tasty way to add a little kick to your morning. You can make this
drink at home one of two ways; either with a liquid or a powder chai mix.
If you use a liquid chai concentrate, mix it in equal parts with your milk and steam
them together. Pull a shot of espresso, and pour it into your mug first. Then pour
the milk and chai mix over the espresso, and you’ll have a dirty chai.
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If you’re using a powder chai mix, scoop as much powder as the instructions on
the package recommend into the frothing pitcher with your milk. The powder will
mix into the milk as you froth it. Be sure to keep the steam wand far enough into
the milk, or you’ll get a face full of powder.
Skinny Dark Chocolate Mocha
For a lower calorie sweet start to your day, you’ll need espresso, skim milk, and
dark chocolate syrup. Dark chocolate isn’t as sweet as milk chocolate, because it
has less sugar.
Squirt as much dark chocolate as you like (usually about an ounce) into the milk
in your frothing pitcher and steam them together. This will mix up the chocolate
into the milk nicely. Then all you have to do is pull your espresso shot into your
mug and pour your dark chocolate milk over it. If you want to add a little bit of
sinful sweetness, top it off with whipped cream.
Cinnamon-Topped Cappuccino
For this simple and delicious drink, you’ll just need milk, espresso, and powdered
cinnamon. Froth your milk so that it’s nice and foamy for a cappuccino. If you
want it to be drier, you can hold back the milk and just scoop out the foam. If you
want it wetter, with more milk and less foam, you can froth it more like a latté.
Pour your frothed milk over your espresso, and then sprinkle cinnamon on top.
This drink is so pretty, you’ll want to take a picture and post it on Instagram.
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Tea Steamer
If you want a milder start to your day, choose your favorite tea. Fill your mug
halfway with hot water and steep your favorite kind of tea bag in it for about 3-5
minutes. Froth a half-cup of milk and pour it over your tea. Stir it up and add a
little bit of sugar or honey if you want to sweeten your tea steamer.
Cinnamon Steamer
This is a great day-off drink. If you don’t need any caffeine, and you’d just like to
wake up with a hot drink or wind down after a long day at the office, add an
ounce of cinnamon syrup to your milk before you froth it. Froth it to the
consistency you like, either foamier or more liquid, and pour it into your favorite
mug. That’s it! Enjoy!
If cinnamon isn’t your cup of tea, you can also make steamers in all kinds of
flavors. A peppermint steamer makes a great holiday alternative to hot cocoa.
Café Au Lait
If you don’t want all the caffeine that you get
from espresso, but you do want a bit of a boost,
this is a great coffee drink. It’s also great if you
aren’t a big fan of overly sweet drinks, but you
can sweeten it or add flavor, too, depending on
your taste.
Brew some regular drip coffee and fill your mug
halfway. Steam a half-cup of milk and pour it
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over your coffee. Spoon out a little bit of extra foam, if you want a little bit more
texture. If you don’t take sugar in your coffee, then you’re ready to go.
If you like your coffee a little bit sweeter, we recommend adding sugar or flavored
syrup to the coffee before you add the milk. As you pour the steamed milk in, it
will mix everything together.
Americano
This is the perfect drink for the hardcore coffee drinker. The Americano was
invented in Italy for American tourists who wanted something closer to the drip
coffee they were used to at home.
You won’t need to steam any milk for this. All you have to do is pull a shot of
espresso for every four ounces of drink that you want to make. If you have a 12-
ounce coffee cup, 3 shots of espresso will be perfect. Add hot water to your
espresso shots, and you’ll have your Americano.
Traditional Macchiato
In Italy, the macchiato is a very different drink from what you’ve seen here in the
United States. It’s not a sweet drink, and it’s not a large drink. The word
“macchiato” just means, “to mark” in Italian. A traditional macchiato is a shot of
espresso that’s been “marked” with milk foam.
If you don’t have time to sip on a cup of coffee, but you need a boost of caffeine,
this could be the drink for you. Adding a little bit of steamed milk to the espresso
makes it go down a little bit easier. You can even add a little bit of sugar for a
sweet shot that will wake you up and help you get ready for your day.
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Chapter 3: Green Uses for Coffee Grounds
You drink coffee almost every morning. It keeps you fueled, and you love the
ritual that comes with making it and sipping on it as you wake up and prepare for
your day.
Does it ever bother you, though, that you add a little bit every day to your trash
heap? Think of all of the coffee you make at home in a year. Now, think about
that much coffee filling up trash bags, sitting in a dump somewhere. You can do
a lot to help your environment just by doing a little bit with your coffee grounds.
Here are some great recommendations for getting a little bit greener with your
coffee grounds. You might be surprised by how useful your grounds can be.
Composting and Fertilizer
Instead of throwing your coffee
grounds and filters away, put them
aside in their own bucket. If you have
a garden, your used coffee could be
hugely beneficial. If you mix lye into
your grounds, you can dump them
(and the filters, too) into your compost
bin. The earth worms that help compost all of that waste will happily eat up the
bacteria in the coffee, and the grit of the grounds actually helps their digestive
systems, creating better compost.
If you don’t have a compost bin, you can still use your coffee grounds for your
garden. Just add a small amount of coffee to your choice of fertilizer or directly to
the topsoil. You’ll notice darker, richer soil and more lush plants in no time!
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If you don’t have a garden of your own, ask around. Does one of your friends
have a green thumb? Is there a local nursery that might appreciate some free
composting and fertilizer material?
Pincushion Filling
Are you crafty, or do you have a friend who’s crafty and appreciates a good,
green life hack? This one takes a little bit more preparation than composting or
fertilizing, but it still doesn’t take much work. You can make pincushions by using
old scraps of cloth and coffee grounds.
You’ll need to dry your coffee grounds first. Fortunately, this is pretty easy. Just
spread them out on a cookie sheet. You can leave them on the counter in the
morning, and they’ll be dry and ready to collect by the evening. If you’re not so
patient or you have pets that might get into them while you’re away, you can pop
them in the oven at 250-300 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
Once your grounds are dry, collect them in a canister. Use scraps of cloth from
old clothes or old craft projects for the skin of the pincushion. Wrap between 2
and 4 layers of cloth tightly around the grounds. This will keep them from spilling
out if the fabric has a loose weave.
You can get fancy and look up a pattern for sewing a pincushion online, or you
can keep it simple and tie the ends of the fabric together tightly with a rubber
band or a piece of twine.
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Insect Repellant
Did you know that ants, mosquitoes, slugs, and maggots can’t stand the smell of
coffee? Not only does the scent repel them, but they also react poorly to the
acidity of the grounds. That means, when you use coffee in your garden’s
fertilizer, you’ll be less likely to be plagued by parasites and insects, but that’s not
the only way to use coffee grounds as an insect repellant.
If you have an ant problem in your house, you can use your old coffee grounds to
keep them out. Instead of hiring an exterminator, just save your grounds. It helps
to locate the ants’ (and/or other insects’) entry point into your home and start
there.
Spread your old coffee grounds in the dirt near the foundation of your home
where the ants are coming in. Of course, if you only put coffee grounds in that
one area, they’ll just go around it, so keep saving your coffee. Spread your
grounds at the entry points and then keep spreading, working your way all the
way around your house.
If you’re having trouble with anthills in your yard, you can pour coffee grounds on
top of them to encourage grass to grow and ants to leave. You can also spread
coffee grounds in the dirt around your patio to repel mosquitoes as you sit
outside and enjoy an evening with your friends or family. If only you’d known, for
all these years, that you were throwing away a free insect repellant.
Eliminate Odors
Refrigerators hold onto smells like it’s nobody’s business! You would think, after
cleaning it out and scrubbing it clean, your fridge would smell like nothing more
than a little bit of Lysol, but, of course, you’d be wrong. How can you get rid of
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the smell of leftovers and spoiled food? The answer is as simple as saving your
coffee grounds.
Dry your grounds on a cookie sheet, the same way that we recommended for
making pincushions. Then collect them into a small cup. You can leave this cup
in the back of your refrigerator, uncovered, and it will soak up all of those smells.
If you’re afraid of knocking it over and making a mess, just secure a piece of
loose-weave cloth over its top with a rubber band.
Before you know it, your refrigerator will smell like inviting coffee, not repellant
mildew and bacteria. You can also freshen your bathroom by hiding a cup of
coffee grounds behind the toilet. The scent won’t be overpowering the way some
potpourri and air fresheners can be, and it’s totally green!
Rooms and refrigerators aren’t the only things that can be deodorized with a little
bit of coffee, though. After playing with the dog, washing dishes, working on the
car, or handling smelly foods like salmon or garlic, your hands will hold onto
some pretty unpleasant smells. You can rub them raw with harsh soaps, but
they’ll still smell a little bit off.
Keep a cup of dried coffee grounds near your bathroom or kitchen sink. Rub
some grounds between your hands, and then rinse them off with warm water.
The smell will be gone, and your hands won’t be dry and cracked from over
washing.
Skin and Hair Care
Skin care products can be incredibly expensive, and you never know exactly
what you’re applying to your face. Look at all of those chemical ingredients. Is
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that stuff really good for your
skin? Instead of spending
that money on sketchy
chemicals, you can make a
really inexpensive, effective,
and green facial scrub.
This mixture is also
purportedly good for
tightening skin and reducing the appearance of cellulite. So, you might want to go
ahead and scrub your arms and legs with it, too. It’s so inexpensive to make this
formula that you won’t ever have to be stingy with it.
Combine dried coffee grounds, olive oil, and a few drops of your favorite
essential oil into a bottle, and keep it in your bathroom. Scrub this on your face
and then rinse it off with warm water. It will exfoliate away dead, dull skin cells,
and it will leave your face feeling smooth and hydrated. The trace amounts of
caffeine left in the coffee grounds will also stimulate your skin, giving it a super
fresh feeling.
You can also use your coffee for shinier, healthier hair. If you have leftover coffee
in your pot when you get home from work, pour it into a squeeze bottle and take
it with you to the shower. Wash your hair and dry it. Then apply that old coffee
directly to your hair and leave it in for about 5 minutes. After that, just rinse the
coffee out of your hair with warm water.
Scrubbing Dishes and Surfaces
Coffee grounds are abrasive and mildly acidic. That makes them perfect for
scrubbing down surfaces that get caked up with grease and overcooked food.
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You can scrub down your countertops, stove, and even your pots and pans with
coffee grounds. If the stains and caked-on grease are still giving you trouble, just
mix in a little bit of dish soap with the grounds.
Pour a cup or two of coffee grounds into your soapy dishwater, and you can
scrub away at your pots and pans for an easier time getting them clean. This
eliminates the need to buy a bunch of steel wool or Brillo pads that you’ll have to
replace after just a few washings.
And here’s another trick! If your garbage disposal is getting a little bit old, you can
actually sharpen its blades with your old coffee grounds. Run cool water into the
sink, turn the disposal on, and pour a cup of coffee grounds in. The blades will
get sharpened, and you won’t have to run your disposal as long to take care of
the food remnants you put in it.
Natural Flea Bath
If your cat or dog has ever gotten fleas, you know how much of a hassle it can be
to get rid of them. They pose a health risk to your pet, your family, and yourself,
and they’re a big annoyance, too. Fortunately, fleas, like so many insects, are
repelled by the smell and acidity of coffee grounds.
Rub damp coffee grounds into your pet’s fur, and you won’t have to worry about
fleas latching onto it when it goes outside. Why spend money on flea repellants
that might be toxic to your pet? Why put up with wet dog smell after a bath? Use
coffee grounds on your pet, and you’ll get rid of an unpleasant smell and a lot of
unpleasant fleas.
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Repair Scratched Wood Furniture and Dye Old Clothes
If you think that a scratch on your hardwood floor or wood furniture means that
you’re going to have to strip and refinish the whole thing, you’re absolutely
wrong. You can use leftover coffee, or run another batch of water through your
coffee maker with your old coffee grounds, to make a natural and
environmentally friendly stain.
Use a Q-tip or cotton ball to swab your coffee stain onto the scratches on your
furniture or floor. If the wood’s been treated with a lighter stain, you’ll just need to
do this process once. If it’s treated with a darker stain, you may need to repeat it
a few times or brew your coffee a little bit stronger to get the right shade.
If you have some old white shirts that are stained or just looking a bit yellow,
throw some coffee grounds in with the wash next time. “Wash” these shirts on
high heat with coffee grounds instead of detergent, and they’ll come out a rich,
warm brown color. You can do this with slacks, scarves, and sweaters, too.
Darker colors will look even darker and richer, and lighter colors will come away
with an earthy tone to them.
If you want to get really creative, you might soak your used coffee grounds in
water and create paint with them. You and your kids can make coffee-based
crafts. You can even dye paper with coffee to give it an aged look.
Contain Fireplace Ashes
Your fireplace is a real boon when it’s cold out. As the flames start to gutter,
though, ashes tend to blow around. Pouring water on them only helps until they
dry, and it doesn’t create the best smell, either. Instead, sprinkle damp coffee
grounds over the ashes of your fire. These will contain the ashes and keep them
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from blowing everywhere. You’ll spend a lot less time sweeping up after your fire,
and the room will smell delightful, too.
Cooking Aid
Your used coffee grounds make great cooking aids in a couple of ways. First of
all, keep a cup of them on the counter to help you discern different tastes while
you’re cooking. Coffee has a neutralizing smell. If you’re trying to determine if
you’ve put enough spice into the stew, step away and take a whiff of those coffee
grounds before you taste it again.
That’s not the only way to use coffee when you’re cooking, though. Coffee
grounds can add a hint of flavor to a number of different dishes. Add a few
grounds to your chili while you’re cooking it, and your family will wonder what that
secret ingredient is, the one that made your famous chili even better. Chocolate
dishes taste better with some coffee grounds, too. Experiment with cooking with
coffee grounds. You might be surprised at some of the amazing concoctions you
come up with.
Interior Decoration
In addition to all of the other ways to reuse your coffee grounds, you can dry
them out and use them as vase fillers. If you have silk or metal flowers or plants
around, make their “soil” out of dried coffee grounds. If you have a pen jar that
keeps falling over because it’s top-heavy with all those pens, you can fill it
halfway with coffee grounds. The pens will stick up out of it. It will smell nice, and
it’ll look great, too.
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Conclusion
If you think you can’t afford to buy an espresso machine to make gourmet drinks
at home, think about how much money you’ve spent on drinks at coffee shops in
the last year or even in the last month. Then think about all the uses for the
coffee grounds you use at home.
The uses of coffee and coffee grounds are really limitless. You can use them for
your home, your skin, your hair, your garden, and your pets. Not only will you
save money on drinks you’d be buying at a coffee shop, but you won’t be wasting
grounds or disposable coffee cups anymore. You’ll even be able to save money
when you make your own exfoliants and crafts, instead of buying pre-made
products. So wake up and enjoy a cup of delicious coffee!
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