It's Aug. 26th and brisk, chilly day in the city. I need a jacket. Preferably a classy trench.
So I decided to get coffee on the way to work. I stopped at Chock Full o' Nuts Cafe inside Madame Taussaud's Wax Museum. I know..weird..but it's still a bonafide coffee shop. or so I thought. Chock Full o' Nuts supermarket coffee has pretty good reviews and I thought the coffee from the cafe should be good. I was wrong.
Which brings me to one of my pet peeves: bad coffee. Bad, muddy tasting, weak, burnt, cold, disgusting coffee; that cannot be saved by any amount of creamer or sugar. What makes me mad is that in a great food city such as New York (or so it's known to be, I don't exctly agree), anyone can sell coffee. And 99.9 percent of the time it's bad coffee. If I was a lawyer, I'd sue them for bad coffee and shut down these places for passing their stuff off as "coffee".
And then there's the size. My two choices were medium or large. Medium being a whopping 15 ounces. I wouldn't even want 15 oz of coffee, even if it was good coffee. It's just over the top. I don't care if it's a better deal or I'm saving money. Stop supersizing me against my will. Is it any surprise that the a growing number of people in this country are defined as obese?
For those coffee fans out there, I highly recommend making you coffee at home, for so many reasons.
1. It costs pennies, as opposed to nearly $2+ it costs to get a cup of coffee these days.
2. It tastes MUCH better and is much fresher,
A few tips from Cook' Illustrated:
-- Drip coffee makers, the machines most people have in their kitchen, are useless. The water doesn't get hot enough to be at the optimal temperature for a good cup of joe. Opt for a french press and bring the water to a good boil before pouring it over the coffee. Let steep for a full four minutes.
-- Purchase whole beans and grind at home. The best coffee flavor is released by grinding coffee right before using it. When you buy pre-ground coffee, it is vacuum packed, so it still remains fresh when you open it for the first time. But once you open that package, it loses it's flavor over the course of just a few days.
Oh and when you make your fresh cup of coffee, remember to invite me over to share it with you.
Sameera
1 comment:
My husband is also picky about his coffee...he only drinks good American coffee with milk and splenda, so he was pretty skeptical when I pulled out some Guatemalan coffee beans to grind for his morning cup of joe. But the good ol’ jersey boy loved it, and even though I don’t drink coffee, it smelled amazing. I think you're right, making your coffee at home is the way to go.
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