The Anabaptist perception on "botique" coffee?

[steve-in-kville]

I do not remember a time when people as a whole got so picky about the coffee they drink. Driving out of their way to a small coffee shop, paying $5 for a coffee poured by some teen behind the counter who's name I cannot pronounce, or isn't spelled like it should be pronounced (sorry, got dramatic there) and then driving to work where there is coffee available at no cost.

If certain of my coworker does not have their overpriced custom cup of coffee and are forced to drink the Folgers out of the coffee maker at work (like the rest of us mere mortals) their day is in ruins from the start. Just keep a distance.

We buy house branded ground coffee and K-cup for at home. At work we use either Folgers or a knock-off brand we sell. It is fine. Some months back, one of the lunchrooms got a K-cup machine and someone has been buying some uppity-up brand of k-cups. Granted, they are a step above the Folgers, but I would not buy them for myself.

So where do you see yourself on the coffee snob scale? Vote and discuss. If you do not drink coffee, and prefer tea or some other hot beverage, feel free to comment.

[Soloist]

Coffee has to have chicory or it’s just not as good.

[Grace]

Coffee is coffee. But it does need a sweetener and some cream or Coffee Mate added. Just my opinion, but I think that paying $5 for a coffee poured by some teen behind the counter, is a waste of money. But I guess if it is helping the teen acquire a good work ethic, to relate to customers, etc. the money isn't completely wasted.

[barnhart]

I know what I prefer and I know how to buy/prepare to get the results I am looking for. But I will happily drink other coffee as well. Some of my favorites are the little corner stores where it is usually $1.00 but quite good. When traveling I will look for Caribou Coffee when we stop but I don't like Starbucks.

[steve-in-kville]

But I guess if it is helping the teen acquire a good work ethic, to relate to customers, etc. the money isn't completely wasted.

This is true.

I would be halfway between 2 and 3. So 2.5 I guess.

I did recently acquire a small bag of Dunkun' Donuts blend. I may try that the next time we make a pot.

[Ken]

Most coffee shops like Starbucks and its many clones sell coffee-flavored milk or coffee-flavored ice these days and not actual coffee. In fact, some don't even have drip coffee and you have to order an "Americano" if you want that. I save myself and my family a large amount of money by roasting my own "boutique coffee" at home and making it myself.

1. I buy green (unroasted) whole beans bulk from a mail-order distributer named Sweet Marias (https://www.sweetmarias.com/) There are other similar outlets but I like these guys because they are very into buying from local farmers around the world and they provide very extensive farm notes and photos of the farms they are buying from. Having worked and traveled extensively in Central America I always like to know exactly where I'm buying coffee from. I usually buy about 20-25 lbs. at a time which lasts several months. Green coffee lasts many months without going stale while roasted coffee only stays fresh for a few weeks. Cost is about $7/lb. which is 2-4 times cheaper than buying high-end roasted coffee at the local grocery store or coffee shop. Since we go through at least a lb. per week I figure I save about $10/wk. on coffee by roasting my own which comes to around $500 per year. You can easily double that savings if you are buying expensive coffee drinks at a local coffee shop. This is for a family of 3-5 depending on how many of the girls are at home in a given week.

2. There are a huge number of ways of roasting coffee at home. I've done everything from using a wooden spoon and cast iron skillet to various home roasting machines. I currently use a Behmor drum roaster which I like better than other methods because it is higher capacity so I don't have to roast as often. You can use can use everything from an old fashioned stovetop popcorn popper to a heat gun and stainless steel bowl. And there are various home roasting machines at various price points. Sweet Marias has a good selection and extensive forums and tutorials on home roasting.

3. How you brew the coffee is also crucial. Coffee beans contain both aromatic and bitter oils. To make the best flavored coffee you want to extract out as much aromatic oils as possible without getting as much bitter oils. The aromatic oils generally extract out first so the technique is to use very hot water and go relatively fast. If you brew slow and at less than piping hot temperatures you can get more bitter oils and your coffee will be more bitter. Most inexpensive coffeemakers do not get the water hot enough and don't brew fast enough so they make bad tasting coffee. I use a Bonaviata coffee maker that I've had for 10 years to brew pots of drip coffee. We also have a Keurig and I use my own coffee in refillable pods to make single cups. There are a bazillion ways to brew coffee. Pick one that uses the hottest water and goes relatively fast for best flavored coffee.

4. My coffee rides to work with me on my bike in a Zojirushi stainless travel mug which, after much trial, I have found to be the best travel mug for keeping coffee hot all day and not spilling in my backpack. I leave for work by 7 am and it is still piping hot by late afternoon.

*NOTE: Starbucks makes bad roasted coffee because they persistently over-roast their coffee. I have read that they actually do this to maintain more consistency from batch to batch because if you roast something like Guatemalan coffee to a lighter roast the nuances of different farms and regions will come out. But if you roast it to a char it all tastes the same...burnt. A corporate decision to go for consistent uniformity at the expense of quality and flavor. They have just "trained" all their customers to drink burnt coffee.

*NOTE 2: I have also found that Costco Kirkland Signature roasted whole bean coffee in the 2.5 lb bags is best and lowest price whole bean coffee available. It is usually 3-times cheaper than the fancy label stuff you can buy at grocery stores and coffee shops and the same quality or better.

[MaxPC]

I find this need for boutique coffees and teas quite interesting. Perhaps it is an expression of different palates and the ability to taste differences. I have noticed an entire industry promoting specialised foodstuffs, even encouraging various food and drink “snobbery” as a part of their advert campaigns.

Growing up without disposable income, we were simply grateful for a sturdy cuppa tea.

[QuietlyListening]

I know what I like and don't like and actually some of the more expensive ones we don't care for. Kind of middle of the road on price and snobbiness. But we learned to like coffee from my sister in law and we prefer it white and sweet or as I like to call it- hot coffee ice cream. . Tho my husbands is a bit whiter.

[Ken]

I find this need for boutique coffees and teas quite interesting. Perhaps it is an expression of different palates and the ability to taste differences. I have noticed an entire industry promoting specialised foodstuffs, even encouraging various food and drink “snobbery” as a part of their advert campaigns.

Growing up without disposable income, we were simply grateful for a sturdy cuppa tea.

I think it is human nature. The marketing of high-end food products (coffee, tea, chocolate, wines, meats, etc.) might be targeted towards people with higher incomes. But trying to find the "best" of something is not.

You do NOT, for example, want to start an argument about the "best" cornbread with a group of elderly southern Black women if you know what is good for you (or about BBQ amongst the men). And that is not a wealthy snobbish demographic. My Menno grandfather was fairly obsessed with apple varieties and experimented with a lot of different ones on his depression-era farm in Oregon. They were far from wealthy. And my elderly Menno aunts will go on endlessly about best apple pie recipes or which kind of pea variety is best. They are not affluent. When we lived in Alaska, the specific variety of salmon and stream it was caught in was important to people who loved their salmon. And people were obsessive about their secret spots where they found the best wild blueberries and mushrooms.

[JayP]

There are fundamental issues in play here.

On the one hand, from my economics trained perspective, the world of commerce is full of offering products and allowing consumers to make choices. That includes selling products based on function and basic value, hence the cup of basic coffee.
Then you can sell a premium product, be it actual premiums or perceived premium, at higher prices.
Can that work? Sure, or fail. Hence the economics term “the market kills.”

The Christian perspective is one of stewardship choices. And when are you allowed, or should I say, allowing yourself a treat.
Ground beef fills your dietary need sufficiently as prime rib. If I can afford it, is it unchristian to spend money on prime rib or must I always eat the cheapest option and give the balance to the poor?

It is a serious subject and there are many points of view. As a serious Catholic by view differs from when I was an Anabaptist. I do embrace a system of feasts and fasts, allowing a time of feast (both spiritually and actually in eating something particularly nice), and recognizing value in that pattern.

But it is hard. We are called to sacrifice but how much? Must we like Boxer the horse in animal house sacrifice so much that in the end he is carted off to the knackers? We can justify the second pair of shoes, but at one point (third pair, eighth pair, etc.) does it become greed.

I do not pretend to have answers, but do think it is good to think about

That said, the original question is a good one. But be careful you do not condemn your neighbor over spending on deluxe coffee if you buy that extra gun, or fishing rod, etc. one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.