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The Keurig Effect

We have one at home and it is perfect for us. We each have a cup first thing in the morning. Most days my wife has her second cup at work ...


Wait? ...What"!!! Your wife has a second cup at work? Don't you think your wife is trying to tell you something, Doctor? Like maybe it's time to switch to Yuban?
 
Can we all agree that vast progress has been made from the horrors of the past: percolated coffee made with robusta beans thinly roasted and ground months earlier, and.. instant?

The memory makes me shiver.
 
For awhile I used a coffee mug that had a built in French press: I just poured hot water into the mug, added fresh ground coffee, stirred, waited, then put the lid on and pushed down the press. I then drank directly from the mug with the grounds held down at the bottom, as with any other French press.

It worked pretty well and there was no waste plastic or extra brew to throw out. I kind of forget why I stopped using it...
 
For awhile I used a coffee mug that had a built in French press: I just poured hot water into the mug, added fresh ground coffee, stirred, waited, then put the lid on and pushed down the press. I then drank directly from the mug with the grounds held down at the bottom, as with any other French press.

It worked pretty well and there was no waste plastic or extra brew to throw out. I kind of forget why I stopped using it...

Caffeine causes memory loss? :(
 
I sincerely hope that everyone uses a proper burr grinder to grind their coffee. At least THAT we can all agree on?

I did look into getting one. But the price to performance was an issue. Turns out, in blind tests, nobody can tell the difference. So I probably won't upgrade to a burr until my chopper breaks. Maybe not even then. But the taste test between a standard drip and my Breville was instantly noticeable.
 
Wait? ...What"!!! Your wife has a second cup at work? Don't you think your wife is trying to tell you something, Doctor? Like maybe it's time to switch to Yuban?

Nah, she has a keurig at work, too. They have a BYOP policy.
 
It will be interesting to see now if Goodyear tires gets a Keurig effect.

Who knows, but how often does one buy tires? I know my sedan will need new tires come November, when the inspection is due, but I'm not sure I want to do. Not sure I'll even care enough in two months. Availability will likely be the major factor. Not getting away from that for less than a grand. And the difference between the Goodyear and Pirelli is like 20 bucks. And the Pirellis are good for an additional 5K miles.
 
Good grief what a bunch of weaklings. With just some mental fortitude and perseverance you can teach yourself to love instant coffee. Just drop a spoon in something with hot water and ... done.
EHocking, you can use less water and more spoons and DONE!
 
Good grief what a bunch of weaklings. With just some mental fortitude and perseverance you can teach yourself to love instant coffee. Just drop a spoon in something with hot water and ... done.
EHocking, you can use less water and more spoons and DONE!
I visited South Africa once and though my experience was short and anecdotal, I would consider the possibility that South Africans have not entirely grasped what good coffee tastes like. Mind you many other things about South Africa are fine and good and worthy but for reasons I can't quite fathom many Africans, including South Africans, seem not to relish what we over here consider good coffee.
 
We apparently don’t like the flavour of good coffee.
I’ve never been to a Starbucks. I have to try it.
I googled ‘Starbucks bear me’, the closest appears to be 583.5 and the second 777.2 kilometers away. Oh well.
I think Starbucks came to SA around 2018 and opened 12 locations. A year later there were plans to add something like 200 more over the next 2 years. We now have a total of 18 with not one in my province or the previous province I lived in.
 
We apparently don’t like the flavour of good coffee.
I’ve never been to a Starbucks. I have to try it.
I googled ‘Starbucks bear me’, the closest appears to be 583.5 and the second 777.2 kilometers away. Oh well.
I think Starbucks came to SA around 2018 and opened 12 locations. A year later there were plans to add something like 200 more over the next 2 years. We now have a total of 18 with not one in my province or the previous province I lived in.
Starbucks is a useful experience, because it will not make you all that sorry to go back to instant. :boxedin:

We Vermonters are a little spoiled, I think. Little fair-trade coffee roasters pop up much as little craft breweries do. Even the gas stations have Green Mountain (mediocre premium, not bad if you brew it right, weak if you don't), and no place worth going into has the glass carafes boiling away on a burner. They've all gone to thermos jugs, so the coffee is actually potable.
 
Starbucks is a useful experience, because it will not make you all that sorry to go back to instant. :boxedin:

We Vermonters are a little spoiled, I think. Little fair-trade coffee roasters pop up much as little craft breweries do. Even the gas stations have Green Mountain (mediocre premium, not bad if you brew it right, weak if you don't), and no place worth going into has the glass carafes boiling away on a burner. They've all gone to thermos jugs, so the coffee is actually potable.

Not really a fan of Starbucks either. Their signature flavor seems to be "burnt". If you like acrid flavors then by all means go for it.

I make better coffee with store brand beans and a cheapy drip machine.
 
'Bucks does have those notes of having survived The Chair. That's it's charm. Drinking any other coffee tastes like dishwater after that.

One of my kids goes to college in Boston, MA. It was almost a deal-breaker that the only nearby coffee was this brown-tinted water called Dunkin.
 
Not being a connoisseur, or having any real taste to speak of, I register two main flavors of coffee: More acidic and less acidic. More acidic seems to be the signature of every boutique and locally-owned coffee shop ever. Something something flavor profiles bla bla bla. Me? I can't stand it. Not only does it taste weird but the acid is literally aggravating to my belly.

Starbucks swings the other way. So I drink Starbucks. There's five coffee shops within walking distance of my place. Seven or eight, counting the places that serve food and also coffee from one or another local roaster. ALL of them go for highly acidic roasts except Starbucks. So when I'm in the market for street coffee, Starbucks gets my business. #SorryNotSorry.
 
Not being a connoisseur, or having any real taste to speak of, I register two main flavors of coffee: More acidic and less acidic. More acidic seems to be the signature of every boutique and locally-owned coffee shop ever. Something something flavor profiles bla bla bla. Me? I can't stand it. Not only does it taste weird but the acid is literally aggravating to my belly.

Starbucks swings the other way. So I drink Starbucks. There's five coffee shops within walking distance of my place. Seven or eight, counting the places that serve food and also coffee from one or another local roaster. ALL of them go for highly acidic roasts except Starbucks. So when I'm in the market for street coffee, Starbucks gets my business. #SorryNotSorry.
Not where I come from.

If you're from the South, it's likely that all coffee is burnt and lousy, and most probably boiled as well, and there Starbucks is probably better. But that's local.
 
Since we are wandering from the OP topic, here is my sorry-not-sorry take on coffee: I like my keurig just fine. Our grocery has a couple of “dark roast” varieties that result in decent coffee. The level of thought, preparation, and effort is rock bottom. So, on balance it works. I’ve done French press, drip, aero press, etc. all make good coffee, maybe even better, but not enough of a difference to make up for the added effort every day.

When we are camping (RVing?) we often can use keurig but I opt for a percolator. I like that it is a bit more involved and that it gives me something to focus on rather than my emails first thing in the morning. It’s a ritual and the taste is very nostalgic for me. Community coffee, paper filter in the basket, perc for about 6 minutes, fill the trailer with the smells of morning. If the weather is anywhere close to decent I’ll be out side breathing in the steam from my coffee and feeling like the whole world is just right.
 

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