My town has recently been overcome by Starbucks and other quickie, drive-thru coffee chains. Because we have plenty of locally-owned coffee houses in town complete with live music and people who actually remember your regular order, I tend to avoid the prefab coffee shops. Sometimes, I cave.
See, I haven’t had a coffee maker at home since I somehow ruined the last one, a cheap thing that made every pot taste like vinegar, so when I’m not drinking copious caffeine at work I generally drink green tea at home. Some days the green tea just doesn’t cut it and I find myself slinking through the drive-thru in my SUV, wearing giant sunglasses and buying a venti soy latte.
I’m such a hypocrite.
One of the downsides of living in the midwest is the inability to find cheap but healthy food. Health food stores are spare and small, and have unfortunately priced me out of their market. Since I’ve discovered I’m a tad lactose intolerant I’ve switched to drinking and cooking with soy milk only, bought at a big box store that also carries groceries. Chef and Ethan thank me for this choice — it was to the point that having a bowl of cereal for dinner would isolate me from the family for the evening. These quickie coffee shops generally carry soy milk, but I’m betting that due to the number of times that I’ve been told they’ve “just run out” of soy that they don’t carry it in the quantities they do in larger metro areas or on the coastlines.
The best part is that their lack of soy milk means that I get a free coffee coupon for my trouble*.
Ta-da! Free coffee the next time I stop by. All I have to do is bear a night of uncontrollable gas and, hey, I’ve saved a few bucks.
___________________
* -ed colon.
Okay. I realize that this is a weird way to bet on saving money, but I’m broke, people. Easy entertainment.
Hypocrite? Eh, only if you’re espousing on the evils of such a lifestyle.
I wouldn’t be able to pick you out amongst all the other giant sunglasses wearin’, SUV drivin’ fru-fru latte sippin’ gals, anyway. Just tell me you don’t wear your backpack AND a friggin’ purse at the same time, and we’re OK.
Nope. I stick with my army satchel. Military people always ask me where I got it.
It’s hard to break a cafetiere style coffee maker. Worst you can do is melt the handle. And here they cost a few bucks each, so you can get them in multiple sizes for your different coffee purchasing needs. More expensively (15-40), a French press also works. The former makes espresso, the latter very strong coffee.
I like the chains cause they have the comfiest couches.
I’ve discovered that those over the counter lactose pills have saved me … and my girlfriend… and my cats… from the nights of explosive gas.
What wolfa said. They’re called a “moka” at little Italian shops (not that you have those in Indiana, but y’know, if you happen to take a road trip to Little Italy in Chicago or the Hill in St. Louis, you could pick one up pretty cheap). Otherwise, look out for a barely-used espresso maker at some suburban garage sale (those were popular wedding gifts several years ago).
Bunn coffee makers are expensive, but last forever. Meantime, carry a thermos with you to work, and make a pot to take home!
Sometimes you can score nice used French presses as well. Yum. They’re pretty spendy new. I almost cried when the carafe on mine broke. It was a housewarming present post-divorce.
Anyway…the natural foods thing. A reason I will probably never leave the West coast. I cannot even fathom how spoiled I am with choices, because I’ve lived here too long.
Do you have CSAs nearby? Sometimes you can get a better deal buying direct than from stores.
I’ve found that I can’t tolerate most “speciality” shops’ coffee anyway—it’s always roasted to carbon and acidic enough to bother my stomach. Espresso drinks are another matter entirely, but I find it galling to pay over $4 for a coffeeish drink when I can go to Dunkin’ Donuts and get a large Hazelnut or Blueberry coffee for less than $2.
But all things being equal, I prefer to buy flavored beans from Gloria Jeans and make them at home.
Pseudo-Turkish coffee: Take a small, tall pot, put water in it, put pot on stove. When it’s boiling, get it off the fire and add the coffee. Mix it, maybe hover it over the fire until it boils again, forget about it for 5 minutes then pour and enjoy.
Down-to-basics coffee: Put coffee grounds in hollow, waterproof and heatproof object of your choice. Boil water. Pour water over coffee. Mix. Wait for 5 minutes. Sprinkle some cold water over it (it helps the grounds settle). I drink that when I’m away from home, it’s surprisingly good.
Oh, and make sure you don’t drink the sludge on the bottom ;)