Columbian beans can be great or terrible depending on the source, but I’m glad you have a source that’s good.

We live less than a mile from a coffee shop, and on a recent Friday morning when my husband had accidentally spilled his entire to-go mug all over the kitchen, we decided to make a “quick” run over to the coffee shop instead of brewing a second pot in our small coffee pot (we have two – one we use every morning to make enough for both of us, and a second small pot I use to make decaf or a cup at a time in the afternoon).

Big mistake. It took over 10 minutes for us to drive over there, him to wait in line, and then to get back onto the path we take to get him to work (the coffee shop is slightly out of our way). We could have brewed that second pot at home in less than 5 minutes.

At work I’ll either put a $1 in the K-Cup machine or drink some instant coffee I keep in my desk and pay $0.25 for the cream and sugar.

I’ll make coffee at home using the coffee maker sometimes, always switching the type of coffee from high end beans to the already ground cheaper varieties. Or instant flavoured vanilla or hazelnut coffee (I’m sure some people hate that stuff, but its still pretty cheap and easy)!

Maybe once or twice per week I’ll go out for a latte. If I’m going to buy my coffee out I’d rather spend the extra money and buy something I would make at home.

I DO want to buy a small espresso maker that goes on the stove and a frother eventually!

- If you’re used to a certain type of coffee, you may think that another type tastes “bad” even it’s better quality. In Canada, people drink a lot of the Tim Hortons chain of coffee, which is a bit bitter and over-roasted, but consistent from store to store. Many take a ‘double-double’. Comparatively, Starbucks does make a better-quality coffee; but people are used to bitter and over-roasted coffee with two sugars and two creams in it. This goes two ways – if you’re used to something, do you want to bother making “better” coffee if you won’t like it? Maybe not. But if you as a consumer want a good-quality product, don’t complain it tastes “bad” when your palate just isn’t used to it.

- If you add a ton of milk and/or sugar and/or cream to your coffee, you don’t have to be as picky about the quality. Things like reheating coffee you might not notice. But the less you take in your coffee, the more you want to care about quality. Purists may not add anything. I tend to just add cream, so I notice if the acidity is off more than those who add a lot of sugar. But if I took it black, I’d have to be more picky.

- The best coffee is usually blends, not single-origin, because almost all coffee isn’t perfectly balanced for flavour unless it’s blended. If you can get your hands on a La Minita or REAL Jamaica blue mountain, single-origin is good; but otherwise it’s not usually worth it. Save your money and get a quality blend.

- Though this is fairly standard knowledge by now, always buy arabica, and be aware if you buy decaf that it should be arabica too. Robusta beans have more caffeine, so they’re often used to make decaf because more caffeine can be extracted and sold from them – which is why “decaf” is often so terrible!

- Darker roasts taste stronger but have LESS caffeine because the longer they’re roasted, the more caffeine is destroyed.

- Coffee should not be stored in the freezer. It goes stale faster because of the added humidity, the constant air motion around the bag and the temperature changes; and it easily picks up flavours from food around it. Even if you’re saving it for company keep it in the cupboard. If you won’t drink coffee often, store your own beans and grind them fresh – but if that’s not something you’re too into, don’t worry about it. Just store ground coffee in the cupboard in an opaque container.

- Don’t ever buy coffee from the clear bins in the store – the light and exposure to air will make the coffee go stale fast.

- Percolators are a terrible way to brew coffee because you heat the water to boiling and then repeatedly pour it over the grounds. The constant heat plus overextraction makes a bad cup of coffee no matter what. Use a drip machine and a filter or a French press with not-quite-boiling water if you want brewed coffee. Italian espresso (moka) or Turkish coffee (made in a “briki”/”ibrik”) are the only two types where boiling the water is part of the process.

- It absolutely ruins your coffee to save and reheat it. Although I take a travel mug like everybody else, coffee is really best within the first few minutes you make it. But don’t destroy a good coffee by sticking it in the fridge and then reheating it; the acids will be really sour and it will taste stale. If you can’t tell, fine, but don’t get yourself used to it. (I have family that saves/reheats, and the difference between the fresh pot and the reheated is unimaginably huge). But again, if you take all sorts of stuff in your coffee, you may not notice. If you have an old-school coffee maker that keeps it on the burner,that time + heat + evaporation… is really a lot of factors for making it awful.

I mean this to be helpful and constructive; and a bit of a primer on how it works.

#22 AnnJo mentioend :”idling while waiting in line at the gas pump, coffee shop or other drive-thru versus turning off and restarting your engine.”

I figured once that it costs around 2 cents in gasoline per minute to idle a V6 car engine. That was based off a test by the Society of Mechanical Engineers who found that a V6 car ate about 0.5 gallons in 90 minutes. Depending on how efficient your car is and how much gas costs at the time it may vary from 1-4 cents.

Some hybrid cars its free. They can turn themselves off automatically when idling.

I had also found an article from Edmunds who’d figured that for idling longer than 1 minute it makes sense to turn off the engine. But that page seems to be gone now.

I don’t know if you’re saving anything, but you’re obviously getting more quality than you will at a coffee shop.

I used to work in an office that was just a short walk to a coffee shop that I loved. The prices were similar to Starbucks, but the coffee was far superior. The owners and employees were fun to talk to, and they put those cute little shapes in the foam. But I never went there in the morning. I went in the afternoon when I was having rough day and needed a break. I paid extra for a very relaxing and refreshing experience and a good cup of coffee. That was definitely worth it, but not every day.

I’m with you. It’s nice not being picky. 5 days a week I get free coffee & drink it at my desk. I can usually get my coffee and get back to my desk before my computer finishes booting up making it far more convenient than other option. The coffee is not great, but at my office they also buy flavored non-dairy creamers so that helps.

But on weekends, I love making my own coffee. I buy a huge bag at Costco and grind the beans fresh before I use them. It’s my favorite weekend luxury.