Coffee is an indispensable part of life for many of us. That hot cup of coffee, or cold iced coffee, is part of the daily routine. But what happens when we have extra coffee beans? Don’t worry. There are many useful ways to repurpose those extra coffee beans. They won’t be extra anymore!  Here are ways to reuse old coffee beans to give them new life without brewing them. 

Did you know that you can use coffee beans as part of your efforts to reduce waste and improve the health of your plants? When you compost, you can reduce food waste. Composting requires “brown” components for oxygen, “green” components for nitrogen, as well as air and water.

Coffee grounds are great for composting. They count as “green” components, along with yard trimmings, vegetable scraps, and eggshells. “Browns” include twigs, leaves, and shredded cardboard. 

Plants need nutrients, too, and coffee is a nutrient-rich compound. It has minerals such as phosphorus, iron, and chromium. Sprinkle a small amount of used coffee grinds on the soil in your yard or into pots of houseplants, and see if your plants respond well.

It’s always nice to use natural fertilizers instead of fertilizers with synthetic or possibly toxic ingredients. Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee is pure and clean. Plus, since plants can handle caffeine, it’s okay to use Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee in Regular, Half Caff, Decaf, or Rise and Shine varieties for your plants.

A lot of pest repellent products are teeming with ingredients that may seem even worse than the pests they are supposed to be repelling. That’s not the case with old coffee beans, especially if they are organic such as is the case with Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee. 

It may be hard for a coffee lover to understand, but some creatures are not attracted to the scent of coffee, even a high-quality one such as Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee. Instead, they hate it. You can use coffee beans as a repellent for mosquitoes and other pests, and it’s easy. Just put them on plates or in uncovered bowls, or sprinkle them on the ground in an outdoors area.

A nourishing skin scrub that is natural and doesn’t cost a fortune is valuable, and it is right at your fingertips. You can make a basic scrub with coffee grinds, sugar or salt, and coconut oil and use it on your face or elsewhere on your body. Other possible ingredients include oats and aloe. Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee is a choice that you can be sure will not put your skin into contact with any mold or mycotoxins, or synthetic pesticides or fungicides. 

Baking soda is a traditional product to help neutralize odors, and there are plenty of chemical-based products to neutralize odors and replace them with scents of your choice. What about something in between? Coffee can help reduce smells because it naturally absorbs odors. 

Ideally, you’ll use dried coffee grounds for the task. After brewing coffee, place the coffee grinds in a thin layer on a cookie sheet at a very low temperature, or just place that baking sheet in direct sunlight until the grinds are dry. Then you can package them in an old stocking and place them in the fridge, pantry, bathroom, or closet to make it smell nicer.

Because of its texture, old coffee beans can be used to scrub things around the house, Pots and pans are one example, and you can also shine kitchen items such as utensils and even the kitchen sink. Rinse the coffee beans when you are done with them.

If it’s furniture that needs a little bit of a spruce-up, coffee beans can work there, too. Test it on a small area of furniture first to make sure there won’t be any damage or residue, and then work on a larger area. Old coffee beans are good for furniture with minor scratches to help them look new again. 

You can eat your old coffee beans, too. What about making a hearty marinade for meat, such as pork? Coffee beans can be a natural tenderizer for meat. Just marinate it for at least 2 to 4 hours before cooking it. 

Ingredients aside from coffee can include sugar, salt, and black pepper. Then add your favorite herbs and spices, such as chili powder, paprika, turmeric, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, or red pepper flakes. 

Another dish that you can take up a notch with leftover coffee beans is baked beans. You can prepare your favorite recipe with ingredients such as tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar, bacon, onion, garlic, allspice, and your choice of beans. Then add ground coffee beans before starting to cook everything. The result can be a dish with deeper flavors due to the complexity of the coffee beans.

Coffee can enhance the flavor of chocolate. Whenever you bake, consider how you might take advantage of old coffee beans. Fudgy brownies, chocolate cake, and chocolate sauce can all taste richer with coffee in them. 

Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee can be a good choice for desserts. It is gentle on the stomach and more suited to a low-acid diet than regular coffee. Plus, if you love late-night desserts, you can just use Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee - Decaf so it does not keep you up at night.

It is easy to make chocolate-coated coffee beans. Just dip them into melted dark, milk, or white chocolate and let them cool on wax paper. You have a treat that you can serve to company or give as a gift.

When you have chocolate-coated coffee beans, the taste of the beans really matters because you get a lot of it. Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee has complex and pleasing flavors including chocolate, nut, vanilla, and fruity flavors. It is less bitter, too, due to the lower acid content.

Old coffee beans are far from over the hill when you know how to repurpose them. They can be used around the home, in the garden, and even in the kitchen. When you use Alex’s Low-Acid Organic Coffee, you can be sure that you are using clean and pure coffee beans without any synthetic chemicals.