i cheated on starbucks and it sucked

If you've been reading this blog a while, you probably know that I heart coffee.  A lot.  I drink two cups in the morning and two cups in the afternoon.  Before you get all excited and think I'm buzzing around, just short of going into orbit, know that it is decaf coffee.  I successfully decaffeinated myself a couple months ago (it was a several month process).  Believe it or not (I know you do) this has done wonders for my anxiety level.  Imagine.

For the past couple of years, I've been drinking mostly Starbucks coffee.  Why?  Because it tastes good and it's strong.  I prefer dark roasts, but throw a medium roast at me and I'm good with that too.  I drink coffee black.  I always have.  I suppose it's because my parents drank it black and I learned from them.  I can't stand cream and sugar in it. It's like dessert or something.  The exception, of course, being Bailey's irish cream.  I also will throw back a latte (love seasonal lattes at Starbucks) from time to time as a "treat".  

But back to the point of this post.  At home I make Starbucks.  I get it ground at their coffee shop.  It makes me happy.  But something happened recently that I regret.

An aside, before I tell you what happened...  Coffee is expensive.  (For that matter, groceries are expensive.  Has your grocery bill gone up a lot in the past couple of months?  Mine has.)  Especially if you act like a snobby coffee princess like me and go get Starbucks by the pound at their coffee shop.  I pay anywhere from $12-15/pound.  Which, if you compare me to someone who goes and buys already-made-Starbucks-deliciousness, is cheap.   A pound lasts me about 2 weeks.  So yeah, $30/month in coffee is not unusual.  

The other day I was in the regular old grocery store.  I walked down the drink aisle, which includes coffee.  I usually don't pay much attention, but that day I saw a big sale sign next to containers of a well-known coffee brand.  It was $9 for the whole handle tub.  Wow.   That would probably last me a month.  What the heck, I thought.  I'll choke it down in the name of economy and saving money.  It can't be that bad.  Can it?

It can be that bad.  Or worse.  The morning following my economical shopping trip, I opened my fabulous (not) new coffee container and just smelled the grounds.  I smelled regret.  The not-even-brewed-coffee smelled sucky.  

Maybe it will improve if I brew it.  Strong.  

It didn't.  It was horrible.  When you drink coffee black, obviously, you really taste the actual coffee.  I can assure you there is no comparison between my usual brew and what I am currently forcing myself to drink.  

Yes, I am going to use the entire tub of nasty java, all in the name of not being wasteful.  I suppose I could offer it to someone else that likes it but I won't.  I'll remind myself of my mistake every morning for the next couple of weeks.

And  then I'll head to the nearest Starbucks to buy the good stuff.

Have a great day.  Peace out.