How My Moka Pot made a 300% ROI
James Hoffmann: The Ultimate Moka Pot Technique
You’ve probably heard the cliché that “economics isn’t a science but a state of mind,” or something along those lines. As much as I dislike how pretentious that sounds, I’ve come to realize that once economics gets into your head, it changes how you see everything - whether you like it or not.
Over the past three years of studying economics (among other things), it’s definitely changed me. I started seeing opportunity costs in menu prices, sunk costs in unused subscriptions, and diminishing returns in my fourth “quick” break from studying for finals - which turned into writing this blog post.
One of the most recent ways economics has reshaped my life is my coffee routine.
Like many students, I got addicted to caffeine this year. I’d stop by my favorite café almost every day for an iced cortado and a study session. At some point, I tried making coffee at home, but it just wasn’t the same. So I kept paying €3.50 almost daily for a cup of coffee.
Nevertheless, the economist in me couldn’t leave it alone. I started running the numbers. What does this habit actually cost me? Could I replicate the quality at home—without the premium?
My investigation led me to the following:
I used to spend €3.50 every single morning (for easy counting) on an iced cortado from my favorite café. It felt relatively small, probably because of the caffeine addiction, almost like a daily ritual tax for starting my day right and feeling productive. But one afternoon, as I stared at the receipt for the third time that week, I started wondering, what does this habit cost me in a year.
I opened the calculator on my phone and put in the numbers:
€3.50 × 365 days = €1,277.50 a year.
That’s a month with a personal trainer. That’s half an iPhone. That’s... a lot of coffee.
So I decided to get real about my at-home coffee game. I made an initial investment in a classic moka pot for €25, and a bag of high-quality ground coffee for €8, which makes around 12 cups. My total startup cost - €33.
But I knew that if I wanted this to stick, the coffee had to be as good as the iced cortado at August Café[unfortunately, they did not pay me to mention them:(]. After some initial practice and watching this amazing tutorial, my coffee became bold, rich, and -honestly - better than what some cafés in The Hague serve.
I Broke-Even in 9 Days
One bag of coffee lasts me almost two weeks. I calculated I’d need 31 bags a year to match my daily habit - totaling €248 annually. Add the one-time moka pot cost, and my total first-year investment is €273.
Compare that to the €1,277.50 I would spend on café coffee:
€1,277.50 - €273 = €1,004.50 in net savings.
In other words, my €33 investment in homebrewing had a payback period of just 9 days. After that, every cup earns me back €3.22 in avoided spending.
The Daily Iced Cortado ROI
In financial terms, this is a high-yield, low-risk asset. My moka pot delivers a ROI of over 3,000% in its first year. Unlike the stock market, the yield is immediate and it is not dependent on Elon’s tweets and what he had for breakfast. The only volatility is whether I feel like an iced cortado or an iced cortado with a bit of maple syrup.
What to Take from This
By changing my coffee habits, I was able to save the equivalent of a month worth of work as a waiter - without sacrificing the quality of the coffee I drink. Now, I can spend that month in the summer at my cottage, fishing and picking mushrooms - maximizing utility irl.
Yes, I Know It’s a Bit Weird
There are areas in life where economic thinking really can improve your well-being, by helping you spend money and time on things that actually matter to you. Coffee in a plastic cup? Probably not one of them. At least not every day.
But this way of thinking can also become toxic if you let it get to you too much. Not every decision in life needs to be optimized. Or, more precisely, it can be, but the mental cost of constantly seeking the "optimal" choice can outweigh the benefits (Dupuit would be proud).
So here’s my advice (to you, and to myself): Use economic thinking where it serves you, whether it’s coffee, a gym membership, or an apartment lease. But with most things, aim to make your decisions fast and intuitive. If you catch yourself pulling out a calculator to decide what you should watch on Netflix, take a deep breath(and put on HIMYM, obviously). Think about your significance in the universe, reflect on the importance of your life and your decisions - is this decision really worth your time and energy?
I’m writing this as a takeaway for you, one of the 25 readers of this blog (so far it's an exclusive collective) - but even more as an aspiration for myself. Because, frankly, spending 20 minutes debating whether to take the tram or bike to school isn’t just inefficient... It's exhausting.
