For the price of a cup of coffee . . .

How many times in a week do you make the trip to your local Starbuck's or Caribou? What are you buying when you pony up for that $2.00+ cup of House Brew or Rain Forest Blend? I have been as guilty as the next person, but it seems that what most people are buying is the white paper cup with the recognizable green symbol and the status that comes with it. Because if a good cup of coffee is what people are looking for(and I think Starbuck's makes a good cup of coffee), there are a number of less expensive options.

This week McDonald's beat Starbuck's in a blind taste test. This was not just a test of the normal Joe off the street. Apparently, Consumer Report had trained coffee testers taste coffee from a few fast food chains and Starbuck's. McDonald's won.

In 2004 Consumer Report rated Eight O'Clock coffee as a CR Best Buy. Since reading this article a few years ago, Eight O'Clock coffee has been our coffee of choice. I especially like the Columbian roast, but lately we have been doing the decaf. Which, according to this article, " Eight O'Clock 100% Colombian decaffeinated tastes better than most regular brews." The Cub in White Bear Lake has been out of Eight O'Clock decaf for about three weeks though. The one thing that I disagreed with about this article was that they rated Caribou's Columbian coffee as the best. I meet some guys at Caribou once a week; it is some of the worst coffee I drink.

I'm not saying you shouldn't walk down to the Starbuck's in the village from time to time for a treat. What I am saying is next time you buy a bag of beans, make it Eight O'Clock coffee. You'll love it and then you can throw the remainder of what you would have spent in the offering plate when it comes around on Sunday.

POST UPDATE:
I was just home for lunch and Amanda, unprompted, said, "I got a cup of coffee from Caribou at the mall. I wanted to be the cool mom at the play area with her coffee. It was so bad though that I had to throw it out."