Sacrafices and Recommendations for those on a budget.

Like hundreds of thousands of other Californians, I am in the unemployment club. I did not choose to be in this non-prestigious organization, but am a member nontheless. When you are living on the checks of unemployment, you must force yourself to make sacrifices. I have sacraficed a lot, one of which is the quality of the coffee I now drink. This is something I neither enjoy, nor do recommend it to those who have the means to buy better joe.

Being a self proclaimed coffee snob, I used to spend up to $12.00 per pound on good coffee. It had to whole bean, usually dark roasted, and delicious. I lived in the Pacific Northwest for over 9 years, I know good coffee. I had the drip coffee pot, the espresso machine, the French Press, and the stove top espresso maker. I had it good. I would go through at least 2 pots of coffee per day, easily.

Then last July, I found myself laid off. Over half my department was gone along with me. Now I was on unemployment. If any of you are on unemployment at this time, you know how difficult it is to find a job nowadays. To this day, sadly I am still on unemployment. To ensure the happiness of my family I cut down on the coffee and the quality.

So, here is a brief summary of some low priced coffees that I have found. These are my opinions, so if you want to be brave, go and try some for yourself.

1.       Maxwell House: I have never enjoyed this brand of coffee. It is severely light roasted and has a flavor I would compare to pond water. It seems no matter how you make it, or how strong you try to make it, the flavor never improves. If you find yourself with a pot of this, add LOTS of sugar and LOTS of cream.

2.       Folgers: Another extremely light roasted coffee. This is not as bad as Maxwell House, but it’s not a whole lot better either. The taste is probably close to aquarium water. If I had a choice of this one or the prior, I would go with Folgers. Once again, add LOTS of sugar and LOTS of cream.

3.       Albertson’s store brand: I have no idea what possessed me to try this coffee. Perhaps it was a huge can for six dollars. This coffee brought me back to my days in the Navy onboard the submarines. It was absolutely horrible. If you wish to get similar tastes, go drink some gasoline. There was nothing at all I could find to make this coffee more drinkable. I recommend NEVER buying a store brand coffee.

4.       Nescafe instant coffee: Believe it or not, this is not half bad. The secret is to get the amount of the freeze dried stuff just right and use extremely hot water. If you are in the mood for just a fast cup and do not have a single serve coffee maker, go for it.

5.       Yuban Dark Roast: By far the best cheaper coffee I have found. This is what I currently drink on most days. The flavor is not too bad and the aroma is actually halfway decent.