Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

In this corner, we have a desire to be budget conscious and lower expenses where we can. And in this corner, we have an addiction to intense like for a great cup of bold flavor, dark-roasted coffee.

It was confirmed again this week that Matt and I are coffee snobs. This is something that I readily admit as it has been shown again and again over the last few years. There is nothing like waking up to that great aroma of good, fresh coffee awaiting you. Several months ago we discovered organic, fair-trade, locally roasted beans that make a wonderful pot or two cup of strong, rich coffee.

So, that brings us to the frugality mentioned above. We decided that, since our favorite coffee runs about $9 for 12 ounces, we would try a less expensive brand for day to day drinking and reserve the best for occasional consumption. At the grocery last week, Matt selected a great smelling vanilla flavored coffee; it was a brand that we have had before and liked moderately well. Let’s just say that the creamer and sugar (or Splenda in Matt’s case) have been used to mask the flavor of the coffee instead of enhance it. In the beginning we thought we just didn’t brew it strong enough, but after several additional attempts it still didn’t work for us.

The results of this little experiment in frugality can be summed up in Matt’s comment Tuesday evening: “I’ve decided that coffee is not an area where we can cut spending.”