5 ways to reuse coffee grounds and leftover coffee

We put our coffee ground waste to good use; making rich healthy soil for our plants. The gardens around our roastery are thriving thanks to our abundance of used coffee grounds and Richard's gardening prowess. Here are a few interesting and useful ways that you can use coffee grounds around the house!

Ground coffee

Body Scrub. Homemade body scrubs can be an amazing way to use your leftover coffee grounds - and when packed into a pretty jar makes a great gift. As we use certified organic coffee, no harsh, toxic chemicals come in contact with your skin. Play around and find a recipe that works for you. Personally, I use equal parts coffee grounds and brown sugar mixed with enough coconut oil to make a paste. The coconut oil keeps the skin smooth and hydrated. When gently massaged into the skin, the abrasive coffee grounds and sugar exfoliate the skin and help boost blood circulation.

Garden fertiliser. At the end of any training session or at the end of the day in the office, we have a knock tube full of coffee to clean out. Rather than emptying them into the bin where they end up as waste in a landfill, we give them to the garden; return plant matter to the ground! There are so many ways you can choose to nourish your garden. Not only can you add it directly to your plants or to your compost bin, adding water to the grounds and letting them steep (just like tea) overnight turns them into a liquid fertiliser. Coffee is high in calcium, potassium and a range of minerals beneficial to your garden and it also serves as a deterrent to bugs and garden pests.

Deodoriser. Whether you are placing a bowl of coffee grounds in the fridge, in your car or in a cup in the corner of a room, your coffee grounds can be used to absorb odours. Placing some near your bin is a great idea to reduce the garbage smell. This is why you shouldn’t store fresh coffee in your fridge, as it absorbs the surrounding smells.

Dyes and Stainer. Coffee can be used as a natural way of dying and staining. If you have small scratches in your furniture, coffee grounds soaked in water can be used as a natural stain to darken those areas.

Cooking! Coffee adds a beautiful richness and depth of flavour when added to cooking. If you have leftover fresh coffee grounds that didn’t make it into your morning cup use them to make espresso chocolate brownies or mocha cake. Using your favourite recipe, replace some, or all of the liquid with leftover coffee. You can add up to 2 teaspoons of finely ground (we recommend Montville Coffee Certified Organic Beans) to any rich, gooey, chocolate sweet to add a delicate espresso flavour.

Espresso shot