Do you bring coffee with you?

Over this Easter weekend I was out visiting family, judging by the traffic on the freeway this evening I wasn't alone. Something that I really struggle with is whether or not to bring coffee with me, when I visit people. Coffee to me is a really personal thing that in some ways is almost like bring milk, it's just a staple in lots of homes. So I can be uncomfortable bringing coffee because it's like telling someone the milk they drink isn't good enough, but the fact of the matter is that it's not.

In the past I have given coffee as a gift especially during Christmas it seems like something that is fine to give out. Perhaps it's just a little bit of over thinking about offending someone over something like this.

One of the other problems that I have about bringing coffee, is that you do not know if the person has a grinder or not. While I do think that a lot of people are going to at least have a blade grinder. So I think that I have come with a pretty safe way to bring coffee to someone's home without the offending.

First, I am probably not going to bring coffee to someone's house that I have never been before. I would prefer to be able to see that the person at least has a grinder of some sort first, and I want to get a handle on their coffee. Obviously, if I find another coffee heart in the beginning then I might want to bring a coffee next time with me that is a little more interesting than I might otherwise.

Second, you have to bring it as a gift. I think a big problem would be to bring coffee and then take it with you. It's just poor form. Bringing coffee as a hostess gift really makes hard for the person to be offended and they are likely to use it right then and there even if they already have coffee at hand. Otherwise it's pretty hard to tell them to try the coffee you brough with you.

Finally, the impetus of this was having to endure, Starbucks Verona coffee and bitter black Costco blend of coffee. The sad part is the best coffee that I had this weekend was the iced Mc Donald's coffee that I got this evening on the way home, I must say their coffee was probably better than the Starbucks iced coffee that you usually get.