I'm a coffee snob. Okay, don't turn up your nose at me. I'll bet YOU are a snob about certain things too. The other day my daughter-in-law was mentioning that she is buying Kroger brand stuff. The kids are doing the Dave Ramsey money thing and she found that her food budget did much better when she bought the store brand instead of name brand.
But we all know that there are certain things that are a hill to die on. There are several things that I buy by name brand. Jif Peanut Butter for example. Nothing else will do. I buy Fage Greek Yogurt. Love the stuff. And I like Honeyville Farm almond flour. Everything else can be store brand.
Then we come to coffee. Ahem. Don't give me Folgers or Maxwell House or any other kind of grocery store brand. I want fresh roasted. I buy it from
Echo Espresso in Phoenix. My favorites are World Blend and Java. And it has to be brewed in a Cuisinart coffee maker. And strong! Then I lighten it with heavy cream or half and half and add a touch of sweet. THAT is a perfect cup of coffee. When I've been on my hcg diet, the hardest thing for me was the coffee. The only way I could take it was iced and black with some sweetener. No half and half was allowed. Milk didn't cut it so I drank it cold and that changed the flavor. But boy, the first day off the diet, back came my coffee the way I like it!
What about you? Even in a down economy is there anything you'll pay a little extra to have just because it's your one indulgence? And by the way this might get into a book. Eden, my heroine in Lonestar Angel, is a coffee snob like me. I'm always looking for quirks and just maybe yours is one I can use. :)
Labels: coffee snob, cuisinart coffee maker
COFFEE VINDICATION
I've had it with people saying coffee is bad for you. They do it with no utter proof either. If something contains caffeine, it must be bad for you, right? Wrong. Several new studies have just come out that prove coffee is actually GOOD for you. Yay! I can have my coffee with no sense of guilt. Click
here to see the article on WebMD.
So in honor of this great news, I'm going to tell you how I get the perfect cup of coffee. Number one thing is buy good coffee beans and grind them yourself. HUGE, HUGE difference in the coffee experience. I'm particularly fond of Echo Espresso coffee in Phoenix. I have it shipped here and it's just fabulous. I particularly like their World Blend but all of them are fabulous. I found their coffee through my baby girl, Kara, who lives out there. Happy birthday, Baby Girl!
The grinder I like is a Capresso and I did a lot of research before I bought it. It's quiet and can also grind coffee fine enough for my Rancilio Silvia espresso maker. I put two scoops of beans in for a big mug of coffee. For two mugs, I use three scoops. The next thing is the coffee maker. No, a Bunn is NOT the best coffee maker. You need something that will extract the full flavor of the bean and a Cuisinart CANNOT be beat! It makes the best coffee out there. I've tried them all too. You can find it at Lowe's for around $60. The basic one will do just as good a job as the shinier one and it's even cheaper than the stainless one, I think. I use the natural coffee filters that are brown. The bleach in the white ones isn't good for you OR the taste of your coffee. The final step for me is the creamer. I'm particularly fond of International Flavors Hazelnut but there's a flavor for you. They have tons.
I pour my coffee into a big, thick mug then grab my MacBook to catch up on email while I enjoy the perfect cup of coffee. Ahhh!
What's your morning ritual?
Labels: capresso grinder, coffee, cuisinart coffee maker, echo espresso, international flavors
I'm a coffee snob. Okay, don't turn up your nose at me. I'll bet YOU are a snob about certain things too. The other day my daughter-in-law was mentioning that she is buying Kroger brand stuff. The kids are doing the Dave Ramsey money thing and she found that her food budget did much better when she bought the store brand instead of name brand.
Delicious
