There was this ad jingle, back in my youth. It went "My dog's better than your dog, my dog's better than yours, my dog's better 'cause he eats KenLRation, my dog's better than yours."
If you never saw or heard this commercial, you just have to imagine it. If you have heard it, I'm sorry in advance, because now that song will be stuck in your head ALL day. And maybe the rest of the week. It's been in my head for two days now, and it WON'T go away.
It all started with coffee. Waking up and realizing I didn't have enough freshly roasted coffee beans to last my morning. I only had enough to jump start my engine. Now, I could have just roasted some, but, well, right out of the roaster ... not so good. Better if they sit overnight and breathe a bit. So I inhaled that smidgy of coffee I was able to make, and then dashed off to the store and the coffee shop for a double shot. Ohmigod, I'm here to tell you - c'mon sing along with me now - my coffee's better than their's is, my coffee's better than theirs, my coffee's better 'cause mine is fresh roasted, my coffee's better than theirs!!!
S'truth.
For a long time now I haven't made a big deal about this with my friends and family, because I was afraid they'd think I was turning into one of those [grimace] coffee snobs. You know the kind, the ones who sash-aaaay into Starbucks and rattle off their order at lightning speed, and then look down their noses at you when you can't figure out what the options are. I really don't want to become a [grimace] coffee snob.
But s'truth. Freshly roasted coffee is so-way-much better. Don't take my word for it. Read these articles: Part 1, and Part 2, written by the great Tonx, all about the selecting your beans, and the issue of freshness. (A list of more articles can be found on this blog post.)
The bad thing about roasting your own - you can't settle for stale coffee, you're completely ruined. So, my next endeavor is to research coffee shops in my area that do roast their own. I'm sure there must be a few. Because the next time I run out of freshly roasted, I won't be going to THAT particular coffee shop again, unless it's to jingle them with "My coffee's better than yours is..." Heheh.
Well have you tried Eight O'clock Coffee? Their coffee is better than anything else I've tasted... not to mention they have this great website (www.themysteryofgreatcoffee.com) where you can win a mystery vacation just for knowing what's what with coffee.
Posted by: Pamela | October 02, 2007 at 10:56 AM
Real Coffee Snobs don't drink Charbucks. About the Charbucks rating can you offer a link to the consumer report I would be interested in such a thing.
Posted by: Stephanie | August 27, 2007 at 01:39 PM
I would like to try it sometime as well... BTW, did you see that consumer reports rated Starbucks coffee lower than McDonalds?
Posted by: Kieran | February 02, 2007 at 02:40 PM
We visit our local Costco where they roast their own beans. This is about as close as I am going to get to *real fresh roasted beans* We like a dark roast and they have one which we enjoy.
I really do not have time to start roasting my own, and I know if I did, I would be hooked, and would start singing "my coffee is better than yours....etc." *smile*
Posted by: keewee | January 31, 2007 at 09:58 AM
Oh and I got the Chemex brewer from Maria's, totally worth it!
Posted by: Scott | January 31, 2007 at 07:03 AM
Do it!!!! It's not expensive and in fact since quality unroasted beans are easily half the price of quality roastred beans the roaster is paid for pretty quickly after a fashion.
Posted by: Scott | January 31, 2007 at 07:02 AM
That is really something I want to get into one of these days.
Posted by: aka Nik | January 31, 2007 at 12:01 AM