How to Make Coffee Scrub Tallow Soap (Cold-Process)

If you’re a coffee lover (or you just like the smell of coffee), why not take your obsession to the next level — with homemade coffee soap? Coffee scrub tallow soap is the perfect way to combine the exfoliating power of coffee with the skin-loving benefits of tallow.

Tallow, which is rendered beef fat, might not sound glamorous, but it’s been used for centuries in skincare and soap making. This soap smells amazing, and the coffee grounds act as a natural exfoliant, leaving your skin soft and smooth without drying it out.

Combined with coffee’s exfoliating properties, you’ve got a soap that cleans, nourishes, and wakes you up all at once! Using brewed coffee and grounds, these homemade soap bars will give you that pep in your step without the caffeine. 

Check out our How to Render Tallow Tutorial or our How to Make Tallow Soap Tutorial first for the basics of soap making, then try your hand at our 3-Sugar Tallow Soap.

You may also like our how-tos on making Tallow Laundry Soap, Tallow Shampoo Bars, or Tallow Balms.

Benefits of Tallow in Homemade Soap

Tallow is a great addition to homemade soaps as the fatty acid profiles of rendered animal fat is similar to our own skin barrier. If you don’t have enough fatty acids, then your skin can become dry or irritated.

Tallow is packed with nutrients that penetrate deeply into the skin to prevent drying out, and may help calm redness and irritation. Tallow also produces long-lasting and harder bars compared to purely plant-based soaps.

Some of the benefits of animal fats like tallow include increased hydration, gentleness, and barrier strengthening. The lipids and fatty acids in tallow are considered bio-compatible with human skin, so it’s a great addition to any homemade skincare. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Making Coffee Scrub Tallow Soap

Prep for Soap-Making

Infuse Tallow: I like to weigh and infuse my pre-rendered tallow with sliced vanilla bean pods and coffee grounds in a small crockpot on the warm setting for 1-2 days before I make my soap.

Prepare Your Work Space: Wear gloves and goggles, and work in a well-ventilated area. You can also lay down some parchment paper or paper towels to protect your work surface. Keep vinegar nearby — it helps neutralize lye if any spills occur. Make 2 cups of coffee and allow to cool to room temperature.

Making Soap

Melt Fats and Oils Together: When I am ready to make soap I will measure and add my olive oil and coconut oil to the crockpot of infusing tallow and allow all fats to come to the same temperature. This is usually somewhere between 130-165 degrees.

Make the Lye Solution: Put on protective gear before starting this step and make sure you are in a well-ventilated area or outside. Weigh 11.5oz of cold coffee in a heat-resistant bowl and lye crystals in another bowl.

Slowly add sodium hydroxide (lye) to the coffee (never the other way around!). Stir until fully dissolved and allow the lye solution to cool to around 100 degrees. This will take about 15-20 minutes. Your lye mixture will be brown instead of clear because of the coffee.

Cool Oils: Strain oils into another soap-safe bowl, making sure to reserve some of the oiled coffee grounds to add back in shortly, and let the oils cool to around 100 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Combine Lye Solution & Oils: Slowly pour the coffee-lye solution into the oils while stirring with a spatula. Using an immersion blender, keep it submerged, and pulse for about 15 seconds. Then use a spatula to stir the mixture, switching between pulsing and stirring until you’ve reached a light trace (a pudding-like consistency). 

Mix Grounds and Oil into Soap Batter: Add essential oil and 1-2 Tablespoons of grounds to the container of soap batter. Using an immersion blender, pulse a few times, or use a spatula to stir until a medium trace is reached. Pour into your soap mold. The batter may thicken quickly! 

Texture the Top

After all of the batter is in the soap mold, use a spoon or spatula to texture the top of the soap as desired. I like to pre-make coffee bean soap embeds to add on top (see section below), but you can just sprinkle vanilla bean and coffee powder, and it’ll be just as great. 

Insulate, Cut, & Cure

Put soap molds on a cookie sheet for easier transporting. Gently cover the soap with plastic wrap (to help prevent soda ash). Allow it to fully saponify for 24-48 hours before unmolding. Cut into bars of desired size and cure for 4-6 weeks for best hardness and lather. 

​Instructions for Coffee Bean Soap Embeds

Prepare Your Work Space: Wear gloves and goggles, and work in a well-ventilated area.

Melt Fats and Oils Together: Heat pre-rendered tallow, olive oil, and coconut oil in a small crockpot (or in the microwave) on the warm setting to around 130-165 degrees.

Make the Lye Solution: Put on protective gear before starting this step and make sure you are in a well-ventilated area or outside. Weigh water in a heat-resistant bowl and lye crystals in another bowl.

Slowly add sodium hydroxide (lye) to the water (never the other way around!). Stir until fully dissolved and allow the lye solution to cool to around 100 degrees. This will not take much time because there isn’t a lot.

Cool Oils: Place oils into a soap-safe bowl, add cocoa powder and mix well. Let the oils cool to around 100 degrees, if needed, for a couple of minutes.

Combine Lye Solution & Oils: Slowly pour the lye solution into the oils while stirring with a spatula. You can use an immersion blender and pulse, or just stir well with a spatula until you’ve reached a light trace (a pudding-like consistency). Don’t go past a medium trace, or it may become too thick to pour into the molds.

Mold and Cure: Put coffee bean soap molds on a cookie sheet for easier transporting. Gently pour soap batter into molds and then cover with plastic wrap. Allow them to saponify for 24 hours before unmolding to add to your loaf. 

How to Use Coffee Scrub Tallow Soap

Just like any other bar soap! Lather the soap between your hands and apply it to damp skin. Massage gently to let the coffee grounds exfoliate. Rinse well and follow up with a light moisturizer if needed. Store your soap in a soap dish to extend its life.

This coffee scrub tallow soap recipe combines the exfoliating power of coffee grounds with the moisturizing benefits of tallow for soft, clean skin. Wake up your skin while the tallow provides a protective, nourishing barrier. Plus, the scent of coffee makes every shower feel like a mini café visit.

Give this DIY recipe a try — your skin (and your senses) will thank you!