A couple of days ago, I bought a bag of coffee that I’d seen advertised on television (as well as everywhere else). The ads were kind of edgy and I’m always ready to try something new when it comes to things I’m obsessed with like coffee, chocolate, and tea. I won’t name the brand here. I’m pretty much from the school of “If you don’t have anything nice to say…” Plus, I’d never want to be accused of being tacky.
I will say this, I quickly regretted trying the new guy and wished, immediately, that I’d stuck with my tried and true favorites. This new brand was a great mystery. I’ve never in my life tasted coffee that tasted nothing like coffee.
I even told my husband, “This coffee might not be so bad if it actually tasted like coffee.” Sadly, it’s the only coffee I happened to have in the house that day. Several times I told my cat Alexa, bad coffee mucks up your whole day. She said that’s how she felt about dogs.
Instead of focusing on a brand that’s not quite good enough for this coffee connoisseur, I’ll focus on my favorites. Some of my favorites are pictured here in this post. First up: Starbucks coffee. I’ve yet to buy a bag of Starbucks coffee that I didn’t love to the ends of the earth and back. I suppose the one I buy the most often is the Starbucks House Blend Whole Bean Coffee
. It’s just pure, simple, wonderful everyday coffee. That (egads!) tastes like coffee.
In addition to the excellent flavor of all Starbucks coffees, I love that they’re readily available. You can find them in just about any grocery or department store as well as at your local Starbucks. They’re also available on Amazon.
A quick note: If you’ve never bought whole bean coffee, make a point to do so immediately, if not sooner. Buy yourself a great coffee grinder
and see what you’ve been missing.
A few necessities of excellent coffee are:
- Grind your own beans. Trust me.
- Use fresh, clean, filtered water.
- Don’t be stingy with the grounds. You don’t want to be able to read through your coffee.
Another favorite of mine is Starbucks’ new Blonde Veranda Blend Whole Bean Coffee (1lb)
. Oh. My. Word. This coffee is absolute perfection. Yesterday, when I went to my favorite grocery store to buy a new bag of coffee 
beans (and purge my memory of brand x), I looked for this Blonde coffee, whole bean. They only had ground, so I immediately reached for the Starbucks House Blend instead. Once you start grinding your own beans, you’ll never buy ground coffee again.
Unless, of course, it’s all there is!
The Blonde coffee is outrageously good – but, like I said before, every coffee carrying the Starbucks name is great.
If you love really, really outstanding coffee, promise me you’ll try the Blonde Veranda Blend right away. You’ll be blown away.
Another brand of coffee I buy regularly may be a surprise to you (unless, that is, you’ve tried it for yourself). I’m in love with all of the Archer Farms coffees. The only place I’ve seen them is at Target – which isn’t a problem since I’m in Target almost daily. And when I say “almost,” I mean I’m there more than some of their workers. Why they haven’t given two of my daughters (Emily and Brittany who are also regulars) our own parking space is beyond me.
It must be an oversight.
If you, in a cruel twist of fate, don’t live near a Target store, buy it at Target.com by clicking HERE. Archer Farms coffee is one a handful that I put on the same level as Starbucks’ coffee. It more than passes the requirements in the Great Coffee Test:
- Heavenly Aroma
- Heavenly Taste
Archer Farms make a LOT of products which are excellent. You get great value and taste without paying an arm and a leg. When it comes to coffee, Archer Farms stands toe to toe with the big guys.
Another favorite of mine is actually a whole different way of making coffee. It’s the Toddy T2N Cold Brew System
(pictured below) and the coffee is indescribably good. Click through for more information. Take it from this coffee fanatic, this is a fun, exciting, and delicious approach to coffee.
Toddy Product Features
- Designed to brew coffee with 67-percent less acid than coffee made with hot brew methods
- Patented cold brew system uses regular coffee beans to create super smooth hot coffee, but with no electricity required
- The Toddy Cold Brew System also makes tea, served hot or cold
- Set includes brewing container with handle, glass decanter with lid, 2 reusable filters, 1 rubber stopper, set of instructions, and recipe guide
- Get more out of your coffee beans, since the coffee concentrate stays fresh for up to 3 weeks
. I realized there wasn’t enough ink in the house to record all of the recipes I’d want to make in this particular cookbook, so I put my pen away and told Ellie’s lovely face I’d see her on Amazon.
. The beautiful book is pretty much a work of art, itself. As you’d expect, the photography is breathtaking. Best of all, the author, Nicole S. Young, shows you how you can easily create your own breathtaking shots.
