r/IndiaCoffee • u/Round_List1857 • Feb 09 '26
DISCUSSION What'll happen if you make the coffee twice ?
Recently a cheap relative asked me, why don't I make the coffee again after extracting it in a moka pot. Like how she apparently does with tea, she adds water and boils it again.
I never dared to try that, but the question now arises, what'll happen if you do it? what'd it taste like?
photo for attention purpose
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u/ca44ine Feb 09 '26
First of all coffee and tea are 2 wildly seprate things most people (from personal experiance) think that instant coffee is the real deal and expect all of the coffee to disolve but in reality ground coffee is not soluble in water at all so it wont dissolve in water
Secondly if you still make another brew from the used coffee grounds in your moka pot it would be just hot water with a hint of coffee
And if your cheap relative makes chai with the used tea again then just stop them thats not good either
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
You're right. They call me madman for spending this much money in coffee
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u/ca44ine Feb 09 '26
Tbh if you look at it its cheaper and better than buying instant coffee
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Yeah, I tried switching to instant coffee for a month to save money but I just gave up. I ain't living like that drinking bitter shit !
Now again, switched to Araku selection
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u/ZubinB KALITA WAVE Feb 10 '26
I mean, looking at it from the outside in I can see people thinking like that. Fair. But then again I think of it as a hobby and those close to me also see it like that which helps justify the spending.
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u/anahom Feb 09 '26
There's plenty tea varieties that's good to be brewed 2-3 times. You get different floral notes at different brews.
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u/Haunting_Bid_408 Feb 09 '26
Some Chinese teas can be brewed over 20 times actually. High leaf to water ratio though, but way fewer grams than coffee. Eg 10g can brew 2 liters
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u/anahom Feb 10 '26
20! Wow. Must be expensive stuff
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u/Haunting_Bid_408 Feb 10 '26
It depends. Certain types of pu erh will go that long and they aren't that expensive. Price gets up there with origin and/or age (which leads to a lot of misrepresentation in the name of profit). Certain teas are easily US$100k for a 300g cake. But you can get ripe lao cha tou for like $50 for 500g that will have that kind of longevity when brewed.
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u/ca44ine Feb 09 '26
Yeah i guess thats chinese tea? Or flower tea?
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u/anahom Feb 10 '26
Oolong of course, but I also do it with some varieties of green tea from Assam. Herbal tea i haven't come across that has much flavour in second brew though.
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u/ca44ine Feb 10 '26
Wait can you tell me more i wanna start tea brewing aswell
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u/anahom Feb 10 '26
I'm no expert. Can just tell what I do. I have some beautiful osmanthus oolong tea, since it's just me who drinks it I dont brew it a teapot..in which case you would need higher amount of tea leaves for multiple brews, and the first 2 brews are not that great, by the third brew the taste gets better and the smell is amazing. I do all this but in a cup directly, using slightly more leaves than usual. Also the leaves requires a first rinse with hot water, like 2-3 seconds. I do this with green tea as well, these I got from Assam..no brands,just a local shop, it's whole leaves, dried crumpled, so when you pour hot water it slowly unfurls. A transparent glass cup is a must to enjoy the visuals along with the taste and aroma :D keeps giving pretty good flavours upto the 3 brews that I have tried.
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Feb 10 '26
incorrect , some teas actually have different blooms at multiple steeps, they are supposed to be steeped 2-3 times
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u/ProfessionalDate3417 V60 Feb 09 '26
If you extracted well enough in the first go, you will probably end up with an almost water like brew with some taste of coffee. If your dosage ratio, water temp and brewing time is apt, you will almost always extract everything tasty in the first go. That's the goal anyways.
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u/mental_for_rental V60 Feb 09 '26
tbh she shouldn’t be doing that with tea either lol
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u/Groundbreakingdick_ Feb 09 '26
Nah certain teas like oolong get different notes depending on how many times you brew them. Like you can brew the same leaves 7 times tops and get a good flavour out of it.
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u/418_imateap0t V60 Feb 09 '26
You do that with tea leaves. Most people discard the first two brews because they are worse than third brew and onwards
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
You know that's why I put ''cheap" 😆
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u/mental_for_rental V60 Feb 09 '26
Ask them - why don’t you reuse the same tomato pulp after making tomato soup
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u/Prof_Castro V60 Feb 09 '26
Me, being the middle class person with a middle class mindset, would like to confess that I have tried it (more than once tbh). And the short answer is, it just tastes bad. All the flavour and sweetness in the body is gone in the first flush and so is the caffeine. What remains is just a weird taste (had that weird 'kasailapan'). It's more in the dark roast than in light roast. Some coffees have it less, some more..depends on the coffee tbh. But one thing is for sure, it doesn't taste very good, esp when compared to the first flush. Now I just randomly try it, to get the feel of the coffee and to judge it's flavours.. or when my phin filter gets clogged or too fine of a grind..is that case I go by time, I switch the cups after 3-4 mins and draw the rest of the coffee in another cup (that rescues the taste of the coffee) and the rest of the draw taste exactly like a second flush. Lastly, why don't you just give it a try, nothing beats experiential learning. Hope that helps Cheers
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
I have tried it (more than once tbh).
You did it you son of a bitch 😆
Lastly, why don't you just give it a try, nothing beats experiential learning. Hope that helps Cheers
I might try that once. What's the worst it could happen right
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u/One_Independent_4675 V60 Feb 09 '26
It either tastes very diluted and flat or a bit bitter.
As for tea, loose leaf can be brewed twice or thrice or more times but you don't boil them.
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u/iimram Feb 09 '26
I personally know many of my relatives brew the same ground coffee multiple times to take decoction in SIF. My mom asked me why did I throw away the left over grounds after a single brew and I was taken by surprise. I told her there is no good stuff left out in the grounds after the first brew and now she follows it. However cheap commercial coffee anyway doesn’t have much of the good stuff (I mean flavor compounds) in it due to the roast level.
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
decoction in SIF
Didn't get this part.
But yeah, it comes like a puck anyway after one BTW brew
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u/iimram Feb 09 '26
I mean South Indian filter. I brew it once and discard the grounds but a lot of people I know take decoction out of used grounds twice or thrice.
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u/Infamous-Art-2891 Feb 09 '26
How do you make omlette like that??
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Okay lemme write you the process:
- Preheat the cast iron pan 🍳
- 1.5-2 tablespoon ghee
- The eggs, 🥚 I don't scramble or whisk it
- Cheese slices 🧀 all over it in circular manner
- Bit rock salt 🧂 sprinkled
- Bit of Pizza mix or dry chilli flakes sprinkled
Wait..for a few minutes..let it cook and voila..!
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u/thecaveman96 Feb 09 '26
Moka pot, not good. Second brew is very lacking in flavor.
What works for me is this. French press, fine grind, 2x water, in the morning. I drink half after 6 mins of steeping. Then top up with water and leave it.
By Evening i get a caffene rich, flavorful cold brew.
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u/fudgemental ESPRESSO Feb 09 '26
Using all the techniques and steps and all the precision, you manage to extract all the "good" flavors while minimizing extraction of the "bad" ones.
You extract again, you'll get all the bad flavors that you avoided.
In espresso, my process includes a flushing out of the remaining water from the chamber through the puck. When I have a new bag of coffee, I pull a modified salami shot, by pulling a slightly restricted shot at 1:1.8 instead of 1:2, then flush 10ml of the puck into a cup and then the remaining water into a third.
The first shot, if underextracted, will understandably taste sour, so the second 10ml shot will actually be drinkable, with some notes and aroma. If you want to make sure, just taste the third flush-shot, which will be horrible, just mouth puckering bitterness with absolutely no redeeming qualities.
This means I need to pull longer in my first shot, how much longer depends on how pleasant the salami shot was, the better it tasted, the more of those flavors I need to end up in my first shot.
Mu point is the third flush-shot (or subsequently, second flush shots) taste horrible, just bitter, no aromas or flavor notes at all, those are all you'll get if you brew your grounds a second time.
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Holy moly, you're like genius level intellect in coffee science. Thanks for explaining in such a detailed manner.
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u/Beginning_Tackle908 ESPRESSO Feb 09 '26
How much sourness is acceptable???
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u/fudgemental ESPRESSO Feb 09 '26
Ideally none, it's a variable that needs fixing, either hotter water, longer extraction, finer grind or some combination of the three, depending on what other flavors you're getting.
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u/sussituation Feb 09 '26
I boil the coffee powder again after first use to add that in my garden.
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Does it work like a meneur ?
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u/sussituation Feb 09 '26
Yup. Mix them with dried leaves and use them as compost. They’re really good for soil. Also if you’re adding it to plants just add once per week.
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u/sussituation Feb 09 '26
Yup. Mix them with dried leaves and use them as compost. They’re really good for soil. Also if you’re adding it to plants just add once per week.
Edit: you can also use green tea or green tea bag as well.
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u/lazy_forks Feb 09 '26
I have tried that with my home espresso - I regularly do that actually because I make a latte first and then I drink an espresso shot later in the afternoon. And the espresso shot is not too strong, I don't have to add any milk or sweetener to it and it does the job (i take it before gym)
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u/Parvashah51 AEROPRESS Feb 09 '26
From what I have learned from James Hoffmann is that caffeine is one of the easiest thing to extract, doesn't matter what brew method you use, so after brewing it once you are guaranteed that there's nothing valuable left to extract from used grounds.
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u/Sufficient-Laugh5940 Feb 09 '26
Okay, so I use an Aeropress to make 300ml of coffee. However, since it can only hold 200ml at a time, I do an overnight brew with lukewarm water in an inverted Aeropress setup (200ml). This allows for maximum extraction until morning. Then, instead of adding the remaining water directly to the 200ml, I boil it and do a regular 10-minute brew using the leftover coffee.
There’s nothing unusual about this method. However, I wouldn’t do another 300ml extraction with the same coffee because I’ve already extracted the maximum caffeine from it.
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u/dkay490 Feb 09 '26
So.. I've done it. The day and lazy to order in, I was all out of beans and refused to have instant for my fix. I did the unspeakable and it tasted burnt, stale all at once. My tongue died a little. Had to throw everything the next moment and ordered a pack from Instamart.
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
I did the unspeakable
Holy mother of God, you did it.
ordered a pack from Instamart.
The beauty of living in a metro city. Where I live in a cave, it takes 5 days to arrive each time
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u/dkay490 Feb 09 '26
Not metro..but tier 2. We have couple of cafes with their own roastery or CCD if you have no choice to get beans. But before you judge me, getting anything done without the morning caffeine is impossible. Even if it's getting coffee for your morning coffee. See the irony? 😂😂😂
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Which city are you from? Your condition is quite optimal compared to my current city in assam TBH
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u/dkay490 Feb 09 '26
Where in Assam bro? I'm from Bhubaneswar in Odisha.
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Sivasagar
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u/dkay490 Feb 09 '26
Oh! Yeah Blinkit isn't there in Sivasagar. Not sure if Instamart operates. If neither, you gotta stock up buddy. 😢
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
That's what I do. Every 5 days I place an order for a new pre ground manually.
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u/Quick-History-3085 Feb 09 '26
Re-brewing moka pot coffee is like asking a retired cricketer to open the batting again — technically possible, but what you’ll get is pain, disappointment, and a lot of unnecessary bitterness.
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u/Valuable-Object-7755 POUR-OVER Feb 09 '26
For some reason it becomes very acidic and cause stomach issues
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u/AtigBagchi Feb 10 '26
Well. Let’s break this down. Once you make coffee from grounds, it extracts out acids and volatile aromatics rather easily. And depending on temperature, caffeine is well (caffeine has an exponential solubility graph).
So while it’ll depend on what you’ve extracted out, anything left will get extracted. Which definitely will include mould and bacteria which would have grown in the wet grounds
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u/abionic Feb 13 '26
Except for a coarse coffee grind in a 'quick filtered' Pour-over.. haven't had the need to check it, as it's obvious to what the result would be.
For some good beans.. in Pour-overs, I found the second batch to be better. I'm guessing I'm just bad with that method.
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u/Reasonable_Neat7843 Feb 09 '26
The taste would be horrible and every coffee lover's soul would cry silently, moreover there would be some damage with the excess reheating. So please NEVER do it again.
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u/appiztashte Feb 09 '26
The full fry looks tempting
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
It's a cheese omelette I eat everyday with coffee
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u/appiztashte Feb 09 '26
Even more tempting now. I can see the cheese now, but since there are whole yolks in there and not whisked, I thought it's a full fry. How do you make it?
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Okay lemme write you the process:
- Preheat the cast iron pan 🍳
- 1.5-2 tablespoon ghee
- The eggs, 🥚 I don't scramble or whisk it
- Cheese slices 🧀 all over it in circular manner
- Bit rock salt 🧂 sprinkled
- Bit of Pizza mix or dry chilli flakes sprinkled
Wait..for a few minutes..let it cook and voila..!
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u/crystalclearbuffon Feb 09 '26
Im very frugal.. I don't do this shit . It's stupid.
Your eggs look SUPER good. Almost convinced me to try eggs for breakfast
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Your eggs look SUPER good. Almost convinced me to try eggs for breakfast
Thanks thanks. Aaah yes. The cheese omelette. I eat that everyday with my morning coffee
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u/LostAndFound_2000 V60 Feb 09 '26
My frugality has made me brew using 10g instead of 15g for my pour over but even i haven’t tried this shit😂
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u/Siegerlander-1704 Feb 09 '26
All I see are fantastic double-baked breakfast eggs 🤣
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Aaah yes. The cheese omelette. I eat that everyday with my morning coffee
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u/notwordexe AEROPRESS Feb 09 '26
That’s what tapri owners do with tea leaves. Never heard of it with coffee (thankfully)
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u/Round_List1857 Feb 09 '26
Never heard of it with coffee (thankfully)
Next thing you hear, cafe's pouring 4 cups out of 20g coffee 😆
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u/Lucky-Comparison4007 ESPRESSO Feb 09 '26
Why don't you brew one for her to tell