Buying guide · The maths
Is it cheaper to make coffee at home? Melbourne café maths
Short answer: yes, by a lot. A Melbourne café flat white costs $5.50–7 in 2026. The same drink at home costs under a dollar in beans and milk, and about $1.20–1.40 once you spread the cost of a good machine over its life. One weekday café coffee is around $1,400 a year; the home equivalent is around $230. A couple drinking two a day saves more than $3,500 a year – enough to buy a refurbished Jura in the first year and keep the money every year after.
- Café coffee in Melbourne: $5.50–7 for a regular flat white, more for large or alternative milk.
- Home coffee: 40–60 cents in freshly roasted beans, 30–45 cents in milk, a few cents in cleaning tablets and filters. Under a dollar per cup.
- A refurbished Jura making two coffees a day over ten years adds roughly 20–35 cents per cup for the machine.
- The machine pays for itself in 6–18 months for most households, faster for offices.
The cost of a café coffee, per year
Nobody feels $6 at a time. Multiply it out and it is one of the larger discretionary items in a household budget.
| Habit | Cups a year | Café cost at $6 | Home cost at about $1 | Saving per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One coffee, weekdays only | 230 | About $1,400 | About $230 | About $1,150 |
| One coffee, every day | 365 | About $2,200 | About $365 | About $1,800 |
| Couple, one each, every day | 730 | About $4,400 | About $730 | About $3,650 |
| Household of four coffee drinkers | 1,460 | About $8,800 | About $1,460 | About $7,300 |
| Office of ten, one each, weekdays | 2,300 | About $13,800 | About $2,300 | About $11,500 |
What a home coffee actually costs
- Beans: a good automatic or espresso machine uses 8–18g per drink. At $40–50 a kilo for Melbourne-roasted beans, that is 40–60 cents for an automatic’s dose, up to 80 cents for a full 18g double on a semi-automatic. Buying through the Roasters Club takes 15% off that.
- Milk: about 150–180ml in a flat white, 30–45 cents at supermarket prices.
- Consumables: cleaning tablets, milk cleaner and a water filter – a few cents per cup.
- Power: negligible; a few cents a day.
Call it a dollar a cup with milk, 50–60 cents black.
Adding the machine
Spread the machine’s price across the cups it makes and the number is smaller than people expect. A refurbished Jura from our workshop, used for two coffees a day over a ten-year service life, makes over 7,000 cups – the machine adds roughly 20–35 cents to each. Even a new premium machine adds well under a dollar. Machines that are replaced at five years cost more per cup than machines that last ten, which is the hidden argument for buying something serviceable – see is a Jura worth the money?
Payback time
| Household | Saving per year | Machine paid off in |
|---|---|---|
| One weekday coffee | About $1,150 | 12–18 months for a refurbished Jura |
| One every day | About $1,800 | 8–12 months |
| Couple, two a day | About $3,650 | 4–8 months |
| Office of ten | About $11,500 | Two to three months |
Office numbers are why businesses buy outright rather than rent – see office coffee machines in Melbourne.
The honest caveats
- You will still go to cafés. The saving is on the coffees you replace, not on every coffee you have ever bought.
- The saving only exists if you use the machine. A semi-automatic that becomes a chore saves nothing; an automatic gets used because it takes 45 seconds.
- Cheap beans undo the point. The reason to make coffee at home is coffee as good as the café’s – that needs fresh beans, which still cost far less than $6 a cup.
- Pod machines save less: roughly $1–1.80 a cup in pods, and the coffee is thinner. See pod vs bean-to-cup cost.
Is the coffee as good?
With fresh beans and a decent machine, yes for most people. A one-touch Jura makes a consistent flat white that most Melburnians would happily be served; a well-dialled Breville makes a shot that beats plenty of cafés. What you lose is the walk, the counter and the chat – which are worth something, just not $1,400 a year every year.
Turn the café money into a machine that lasts
Refurbished Jura machines with a parts-and-labour warranty, and Melbourne-roasted beans delivered at 15% off. Free shipping on bean orders over $60.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a coffee cost to make at home?
About a dollar for a flat white – 40–60 cents in fresh beans and 30–45 cents in milk – and 50–60 cents for a black coffee. Add 20–35 cents per cup for a refurbished machine spread over its life.
How much do Melburnians spend on coffee a year?
One café coffee every weekday is about $1,400 a year at 2026 prices; one every day is about $2,200. A couple drinking two a day spends about $4,400.
How long does a coffee machine take to pay for itself?
For a refurbished Jura, 12–18 months on one weekday coffee a day, under a year on one every day, and a few months for a couple or an office.
Is a pod machine cheaper than a café?
Yes, but pods cost $1–1.80 a cup against 40–60 cents for beans, so a bean machine saves two to three times as much.
Is home coffee as good as café coffee?
With fresh beans and a good machine, yes for most drinkers. Beans matter more than the machine.