Coffee re-use

GameGrrl

If you make a pot of coffee using grinded beans and a filter, can you re-use the coffee/filter to make additional pots of coffee? Or should you re-grind the beans and use a new filter every time?

Bowen

Yes, you should probably change the filter though and add in some new beans or else the taste gets a little disgusting.

Also, don't save it for more than a day.

KalTorak

Assuming you're using paper filters, you should use new ones every time. You might be able to squeeze something like coffee out of old grounds, but it'll be pretty weak and bitter tasting. They do make very fine mesh coffee filters that you can wash out and reuse, YMMV but some people like them.

Six

You should regrind and use a new filter, but there's nothing wrong with reusing from the day before. It will just make for weaker coffee.

I wouldn't use it after more than a day, though. It will start to mold eventually.

Solandra

Fresh is best - used coffee grounds are good for mulching and feeding rose bushes, not much else. That said, you *can* - it just tastes awful, and it's never as strong as that first pot.

Theungry

You should use fresh grounds and filters for each pot. If you re-use the same grounds you will end up with very bitter coffee-colored hot water. Coffee and tea both become bitter if you over steep them. Meaning, run hot water through them past the point where they add yummy flavor.

The Crowing One

Just give it a shot. If you can deal with the taste, you're a more hardcore coffee drinker than I am.

Doxa

You probably won't know a difference if you're of the types that fill their coffee with cream and sugar to the point its barely coffee

If you drink coffee black and can tell the difference in beans then you will be able to tell the difference

Pheezer

Don't re-use either. You can however use the used grinds as fertilizer - they're great for plants that like nitrogen (tomatoes and roses really appreciate them).

Figgy

When I served at a breakfast restaurant, some of the servers would re-brew like this instead of just throwing in another batch of grinds.

I never heard of them getting complaints.. but I think the coffee there was so terrible you wouldn't notice anyway.

Szechuanosaurus

Yeah, we had a guy used to try doing this in the office. You could always tell because it would just taste like brown water. If you want to actually enjoy what you are drinking, don't do it.

Kivutar

In addition to tasting terrible, a pot made with reused grounds will also have a significantly lower caffeine content, since much of it will leach out in the first brewing.