Do you buy coffee at SBux or the gas station?

[Thermo1223]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Duffyjr
After coffee is brewed its only good for 15-20 minutes, anything that's been sitting longer isn't worth drinking.




I disagree, IF your coffeemaker has a thermal carafe (no warmer!) The absolute best are the older Krups models with a real glass vacuum carafe- I have one at work and I brew one pot first thing in the morning. Its still hot and fresh at 4 in the afternoon. Its still fairly warm the next morning, If there's ever any left between me and the other coffee lovers that visit it through the day. My newer Krups at home has a steel air-gap carafe, and its only good for about 4 hours after brewing.

Any coffeemaker with a warming element needs to be used for shotgun practice. Any coffeemaker that brews one cup at a time needs to be used for shotgun practice.


Starbucks will dump coffee after 20 mins, so if they are willing to do that it proves a point.

Coffee loses a lot of it's flavor after the first 10 mins especially if it's a Kona or the like.

I would never drink coffee that sits in a pot for 12 hours, the compounds in the coffee start going bitter after 1 hour, quicker with the burner.

 

[Revving2Redline]

I have avoid starbucks and just ordered more tim hortons coffee.If I am stuck drinking coffee not from home,I go Dunkin.

 

[firemachine69]

Originally Posted By: sxg6
Originally Posted By: opus1
First off, OP, thank you for saying that the question applies to brewed coffee. I get tired of people when they jabber on about "$6 coffee at Starbucks" and I have to point out that they're talking about a fru-fru dessert drink at that price and not coffee.


I agree 100%. Starbucks really isn't as expensive as people think, unless you're getting some venti frappuccino or something. I know a lot of people that love dunkin donuts and make fun of starbucks, and the price of a medium cup of coffee at both places is very similar.

I used to get an iced coffee at starbucks every day, but I've switched to my keurig to save money. The way I see it, most people have things they "waste" money on. I don't drink alcohol, I don't use tobacco, so to me getting an iced coffee at starbucks daily wasn't a big deal. I probably sound a little defensive, but it's because starbucks and the people who go there usually get bashed, by people who never go there and just regurgitate hearsay.



Exactly how much does a venti-frappo-thingy cost in your neck of the woods? Last time I stopped in with wife and friend I just about died when my bill was $25ish for three drinks and a cookie. We had two starbucks, but one shut down within three months - it was located in the Target, it actually shut down the very day we heard Target was abandoning the Canadian market. Now our sole remaining 'bucks is in a Chapters and is absolutely useless for commuters / Monday-to-Friday folks.

 

[dlundblad]

Both comments pretty much sum up this argument for me.

Originally Posted By: ebr1190rx
Sbucks people don't have 'time' to brew their own but have time to be on fbook all the time ... lol


So true.. They don't have time to make coffee, but they have time to wait in the line that is backed out onto the street.

I will admit I enjoy going there for their French pressed coffee when her and I are in the area like after a movie etc. They let you pick the blend and you get 2 mugs.. much like a pitcher of beer and it's ~$4. (Not "cheap", but good for SB standards.)

Originally Posted By: Silk
I don't pay for something I can do myself, coffee is pretty easy. I also make my own dinner.


This is another good idea, but going out to eat is fun at times. I must confess though, after getting the Oklahoma Joe grill, I've become quite a steak snob and won't get it at a even a nice restaurant much less the box store "steak houses".

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Starbucks will dump coffee after 20 mins, so if they are willing to do that it proves a point.


Might be a regional/ store to store/ manager specific thing. I bought some black coffee a while back that I am pretty sure came out of a sludged car's sump. It may have been PYB or VWB.. Not sure.

I took one sip and dumped it. I am too polite to go back and ask for another/ refund.

 

[andrewg]

Can't stand Starbucks politics mixed with business. So I do my best to avoid going there and instead, make my coffee at home for the most part.

 

[HotDog15]

I have never felt that Starbucks coffee tastes right. It tastes distinctly different from other coffees. Many have said the same.

 

[Mr Nice]

I drank Starbucks only once in my life. It was 2003 at Charlotte-Douglas, NC airport and I was NOT impressed.

Taster's Choice, Folgers or Maxwell House tasted better for 20 cents a cup.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: andrewg
Can't stand Starbucks politics mixed with business. So I do my best to avoid going there and instead, make my coffee at home for the most part.


Oh yeah. I agree 100% with you on that.

Why would I want some Starbucks employee writing...
'Race Matters' on my coffee cup ?

 

[Vuflanovsky]

I make my own which IMO would almost always be the better "third choice". I think that Starbucks gets a deserved bad rap that they over roast their beans in the majority of their coffees. So I'll buy it if I get a gift card from work or someone else buys it...but generally I think many of the coffees from the import store and both specialty and non-specialty retailers are better for less. Italian Roast Starbucks is closer to liquefied burnt toast than it is coffee in my estimation.

In my experience, gas stations are hit or miss in that some care and some don't. There's a gas station near me where the two three-burner Bunn machines they have there are the manager's babies. Go a mile down the road to another station and I'm sure you'll find a pot that's been empty for three hours fused to the burner...and those two scenarios will reverse over a period of time.

 

[GenSan]

Annually I drive about 40,000 miles between the Upper Midwest and the East Coast for work and leisure. If I buy coffee at a gas station I prefer to buy Starbucks in their can or glass form when I need a pick-me-up. When I buy at a Starbucks location I almost never buy their coffee and instead prefer their iced teas and fraps.

For those who haven't tried buying whole beans from craft roasters, grinding the beans at home, and brewing it oneself by your own preferred method might be missing out on a wonderful experience. The whole beans I purchase from the craft roasters may range from $13 - $20 per bag. The economics of this vs purchasing a cup of coffee elsewhere at $2-$5/cup is greatly cheaper with the former not to mention better tasting.

May I suggest trying a bag of whole beans from some of my favorite craft roasters:
-JBC Coffee Roasters
-Ruby Coffee
-Temple Coffee
-Doma Coffee
-Kickapoo Coffee
-PT Coffee

BTW I prefer "single origin" whole beans and not blends. Give it a try you may love it or hate and you won't be spending more from your pocket in the long run vs buying from a coffee shop.

 

[SLCraig]

I make it at home primarily. Whole bean, grind, manual drip (single cup)

But I do get coffee at Tim Horton's or McDonald's here in the great white north. McCafe coffee is awesome in these parts. I tried it in Ohio last year or so and it was horrible compared to ours, not sure why, but I wouldn't get it there again.

 

[SatinSilver]

Just had some McD's coffee this morning and it was very good. I have it with one cream. I don't eat there although their muffins looks pretty good. They give me the senior price of .89 instead of 1.25. I'm far from being a senior, so I asked them about it and they said since I'm a regular. One time they gave me room temperature coffee so I dumped in the pop machine drain tray and went back up for a refill. I just woke up and so less talk the better.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: Vuflanovsky
I think that Starbucks gets a deserved bad rap that they over roast their beans in the majority of their coffees.

Try their "blond" roast