Coffee By Product

[keiramarcos]

There is this couple that shops in the same Target I shop in. They bicker and fuss their way though the store once or twice a week and I've seen them often enough that we wave at each other or speak briefly as needed.

Over the summer, Target rearranged their produce department a little and put up signs for their "Certified Organic" products. I buy organic when I can and even visit an organic food store which is down the street from the Target I visit most. Right, well The Couple found the organization of the produce section almost as vexing as I did but for different reasons. The Wife and I are picking out apples, one at a time like a sane person does, when The Husband trots over and puts a bag of potatoes in the cart.

The Wife huffs at him (rather dramatically in retrospect) and says, "No, Honey, get the organic ones."

And he says, "There is no difference and these are cheaper."

And she says, "There is a difference. They don't even taste the same. Get the organic ones."

AND he turns to me and asks, "Can you tell the difference between organic food and non-organic food?"

And I said, "Well, yes. You can't?"

And he frowned (at me the fucker) and shrugs. "No."

And I shrugged at him and said, "Well, maybe your palate just isn't sophisticated enough to tell the difference."

This earned The Wife and Myself a very moody glare but he went back to find organic potatoes.

I told you this story to tell you about my trip to Target tonight.

The Husband and The Wife were in the coffee aisle fussing about the price of k-cups and coffee. I arrived just in time to see the wife toss a brick of FOLGERS into their cart. (I cringe in horror just thinking about it)

He plucks it right up out of the cart and puts it back on the shelf and says, "I'd rather have no coffee than drink that crap."

And she spots me and says, "It's all the same, right. He's just being difficult."

Now, this is when it crosses my mind that The Wife thought I agreed with her last time because of some female solidarity thing. That couldn't be further from the truth.

And I say, "No, coffee is not all the same. It taste different based on how and where it is grown. How it is dried, roasted, and ground--all of it plays into the taste as well. Folgers, well that's just coffee by product as far as I'm concerned."

He grinned and plucked four boxes of k-cups off the shelf and put them in their cart and asks,"Now who has the unsophisticated palate?"

Something tells me she won't be sharing coupons with me again. (oh, sad face)

Comments

[djaddict.livejournal.com]

TeeHee!
Coffee is sacred. Folgers is crap.

My mother, on the other hand, thinks Yuban is the best coffee there is.

*Shudders*

But even that is better than decaf. rotfl

[anthea519.livejournal.com]

This is something which has vexed me for too long to even think! NO, not all coffee is the same!!! This is something which my parents don't seem to have grasped and still don't, no matter my explanations and rants. I've given up drinking anything at there house...

And YAY!! for the Organic!! I'd like my produce without the chemical cocktails, thank you very much.

[inu-spockya.livejournal.com]

another nice thing about organics -- by definition there are no GMO materials used!!

fuck Monsanto, man. they can keep that crap, I ain't eatin' it!

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

*giggles*
not sure I've got much else clever to say - my palate seems to be restricted to tea ;-D

[chaoscelt.livejournal.com]

My brother will only drink the folger's brick. *shudders* But then again he does long for the coffee on ship... He was in the Navy for 10 years. Prolly why crap coffee tastes good to him!!! Every time I offer him good coffee, he calls it dish water lol

coffee

[neeliemom.livejournal.com]

I thought they didn't make the Folgers brick any more?

Years ago my great Uncle, who worked at the port of Houston, told my mother about the big coffee warehouses there. Different vendors would come in a buy big lots of coffee beans. He told my mother "whatever you do, don't buy Maxwell House, they buy the sweepings" ie the leftovers. Which is why it tastes like crap.

Unfortunately nowadays a lot of people seem to think that coffee has to be strong and bitter enough to etch glass to be considered "good". The Starbucks closest to me makes wretched coffee. Good hot chocolate, but nasty coffee.

I know K-cups and Keurig are the big new thing, but I find them really irritating. When I want coffee, I don't want to have to *make* it each time. I just want a cup of coffee *right now* and don't have the time on a 15 min. break frankly, to mess with it. My manager has taken out the old coffeepots and put in two Keurigs which has annoyed a lot of folks. I gave up. Maybe he's saving money on coffee? The coffee klatch crowd was *vexed*.

I work in a store, btw. Buying coffee and hitting the bathroom completely kills a 15 minute break. Throw in a line for a Keurig into the mix? Forget it. Yes, the breaks are timed down to the minute.

Re: coffee

[keiramarcos]

It might not have been vacuum sealed but it was a bag. A small bag. A bag that size wouldn't have lasted me a week.

Re: coffee

[keiramarcos]

Oh, also, a Keurig is not cheaper so I hope that isn't the reason he switched to them. It actually costs more per cup than a bag of coffee and a regular pot. We have a regular pot at the house for when we have a lot of people... but we don't use it often because neither CP or I appreciate coffee that has been sitting on a burner all day.

[silvershadowkit.livejournal.com]

I might not be much of a coffee girl, but I totally understand where you're coming from. I work at a tea store, and while some of the prices might scare customers away from buying our tea, they don't understand the difference between our tea and tea bags. I once heard a customer state that he could get a box of tea bags from the store for half the price of ours, and my mental response was, "Yeah, you'll pay to get the dust they stuff the bags with, while here you'll actually get TEA LEAVES which have all the health benefits." Some people don't realize when prices are high, it's because of quality. A lot of our stuff can be reused and make multiple cups from a single serving, while with tea bags you have to throw it out after you're done with one cup.

[rivkaesque.livejournal.com]

A-men! I adore good tea, and my father was with me at a recent tea buy. He asked me why I spend so much on 'some tea with fancy names' (Jade oolong, silver needle, and a golden black) when 'Liptons costs two dollars for a box, and you don't have to supply your own tea bags.'

Cringe.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

lolol

[azurehart.livejournal.com]

My Mother drinks instant decaf Folgers. *shudders* Even thoug I'm not a coffee drinker I usually enjoy the smell of coffee but not that crap. I call it a cup of muddy water. Mother is less than amused by that.

[kaleecat]

Folgers. *shudder*

I have had the coffee conversation with a woman I love dearly more than once. She says when you have to make coffee all the time for the store brand doesn't matter because its always fresh--fresh maxwell house. Then she chastises me for spending 6 bucks on a bag of coffee when I have cash flow problems. I'll stop buying other stuff before I even think of buying that crap.

Luckily my parents are coffee snobs. They're hooked on something they found from a Texas roasters. (There's 5 bags in the pantry-- I'll be stealing one before I leave). Baby's coffee in key west has one called sexspresso which makes me smile every time & simply had to be used in a story.

[seadragonlady.livejournal.com]

You shop in much more interesting shops than I do.
Oh wait! I do all my shopping online. Such a lazy bint I am.

[stormwolf-dawn7.livejournal.com]

Well hate to say it but I grew u on Folger's from my grandmother. Course mine was coffee flavored milk LOL when I was a kid. Can't do straight black coffee too strong. Course I love my Keurig but I like the flavored coffees best. I am addicted to Starbuck's white mocha frapps or at least I was up until I got a kidney infection and had to cut down on caffeine like alot. Lately though i am loving the kona coffee drinks from Bahama Bucks they are really good!

Love organic foods, we have a Sprouts here and I enjoy buying my fruits and meat from them. Its always good.

[iadorespike]

Ahahahaha...you tell the best stories. :D And Folgers - ewww. Thanks for sharing, sweetie.

*hugs*

[timespirt.livejournal.com]

Bahahahahahahaha

Yes, there are differences in coffee taste and organic foods vs. regular foods.

[inu-spockya.livejournal.com]

doesn't matter, on the subject of coffee you are SO right!!

there used to be one half-decent canned coffee -- Medaglia d'Oro, circa 1980 or so. Pitch black French roast fairly finely ground -- my mum made the best espressos with it! then some arsehole corporation bought it and their first action was to lighten the roast about 30% and make it twice as coarsely ground. now it's utter crap like the rest.

we don't care how broke we are, real coffee is necessary for life. dark roast, powder-ground (right before brewing) and strong enuff to eat the spoon ye try to stand in it. heh heh heh...

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

She'd have to be pretty shallow not to share coupons after that, in my opinion. Not sure how a palate that can tell the diff with organic can fail to recognize the shades of coffee.

Me, I've been trying to switch to generic diet soda, but no deal. The palate wants what frickin costs the earth what the palate wants.

[keiramarcos]

I don't think she was a coffee drinker at all to be frank. No one who drinks coffee regularly can say with any kind of seriousness that Folgers tastes the same as say KONA.