So you’ve decided to save money and make your coffee at home, but you’re a bit overwhelmed by the choices on your grocery store’s coffee aisle. Should you use illy coupons or go for the beans stored in those big plastic bins? Is the “gourmet” stuff worth the price tag, or is Folgers really the best part of waking up?
Thank gosh for Consumer Reports, the magazine that tests and ranks products so you don’t have to waste your time and money drinking a bunch of duds. Recently, the respected consumer-watchdog organization ranked 37 grocery-store brands, from gourmet blends to decaf brews. The coffee-tasting experts who executed the tests set out to find “smoothness and complexity with no off flavors,” with interesting results.
The tough critics at Consumer Reports didn’t award any of the more than three dozen varieties they tasted with the magazine’s highest rankings of “Excellent” and “Very Good.” They say that, if you’re looking for a standout like you’d find at the swankiest downtown coffee shops, you aren’t likely to find it.
That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a tasty cup of coffee to be found on the grocery aisle – there just isn’t anything there to knock your socks off. The highest marks went to Starbucks House Blend and Green Mountain Signature Nantucket Blend Medium Roast, which tasters said offered the best blend of taste and price. The rest of the rankings were as follows: Dunkin’ Donuts Dark Roast; Allegro light roast by Whole Foods; Archer Farms (Target breakfast blend); Kickapoo Organic Driftless Morning; Peet’s House blend; Sam’s Choice house blend medium roast (also found at Walmart stores); Eight O’Clock original; Melitta classic medium roast; Seattle’s Best breakfast blend (owned by Starbucks); New England eyeopener blend; Dunkin’ Donuts original blend medium; and Folgers house blend medium. Next time you don’t know whether to use illy coupons or to branch out, remember these findings – you can also check out www.ConsumerReports.org for more info.
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