Coffee

There are a few food items that we spend a little more money on because we love them. And one of them is Coffee. Bad coffee is just bad. Coffee is a very personal thing, I've discovered.

We love Trader Joe's Coffee. We like a medium-dark roast. Starbucks at home usually seems really dark. Which by the way--the Kirkland brand at Costco is roasted by Starbucks. I wish it was a coffee we really liked, but we like Trader Joe's better.

Right now, I'm mixing Decaf Columbian and the new Joe's blend from Trader Joe's. It was a great deal (the Joe's blend) at $3.50 a can! I hope it stays that price, but we'll see. It is a really mild, mellow coffee (similar to the slow and mellow by TJ's), but when mixed with the Columbian and because I brew it really strong, I really like it. When I make Decaf, I make it from solely from TJ's Decaf Columbian. I didn't realize until recently that the folks in our small group thought I was making caffeinated every week--they thought it tasted so good.

Dunkin' Donuts Coffee is an interesting one. I like their Decaf, but not their Regular Caffeinated coffee. I was trying to use some up and not waste the beans, so I was adding 1 Tbsp in with 9 Tbsp of TJ's coffee and we still tasted it--and it didn't taste good. I was surprised that 1 Tbsp could throw the taste of the coffee off so much!

We have a Bunn Coffee Maker. I love it. It doesn't have a water filter, so I use the purified water from the sink that my husband installed (the water purifier, not the water). But, that means that I don't have to replace a water filter on the machine. It does brew hot coffee. I learned that you do have to use the Bunn coffee filters because the sides are taller than regular basket filters. You can buy them at Walmart or online in a big box. Interestingly, they aren't any more expensive than regular basket filters.

One thing that is interesting to me about coffee machines is that they all serve a different size cup of coffee. Our old Krups machine made a 4 oz. cup. Our Bunn now makes a 5 oz. cup. I had always assumed that most machines made a 6 oz. cup!

When our Krups died in July (it started leaking after 2 1/2 years of use), I looked at a lot of coffee makers and decided on the Bunn because of the customer service. I called and the lady was so nice on the phone! She sent me a new sprayhead that makes the water go through a little slower and thus makes the coffee stronger--for free. All you have to do is call and ask for it. I was really impressed. And after 3 months we're still really happy with our coffee maker! The one down side is you really aren't supposed to make less than 4 1/2 cups at a time. I do make 4 cups sometimes, but hopefully it won't get me into trouble.