Coffee Lovers

Started by Strings4Him, November 25, 2011, 06:58:50 AM

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Quote from: Silence Dogood on January 24, 2025, 08:24:24 AMI am way late to the Costco party but am loving shopping there.  I will say that I've noticed a very real culture and vibe to the place, at least where I live.  Everyone in there is in a damn big hurry, and all seem to be wearing a game-face.   It's like a race or some kind of competitive event to shop there.  My wife and me like to stroll and treat a shopping trip like a date.  We feel like we are in the way a lot there. 

Contrast that with the local super mega Walmart where everyone looks like they are at a funeral.  Talk about a dismal place. 

And contrast all this with our local Whole Foods, where most folks act like they are staring in their own documentary.  Funny stuff all!
My local Costco used to be like that and I HATED it. But, since the pandemic, it's pretty much the only place I'll go to get groceries because the atmosphere is really chill now. If someone swings their cart out in front of you or is blocking the aisle, they quickly apologize. That never used to happen. I don't think I save any money vs getting stuff on sale at the Kroger owned grocery stores, but I like that I can take care of everything from shoes to motor oil, to food. My wife orders half the groceries from Walmart (I can't shop there w/o getting an anxiety trigger) and they deliver them. The things that need to be hand selected (veg, fruit, meat) I get at Costco.

 At Whole Foods, I hate having to decide what other purchases I'm going to sacrifice just to get a few oranges. Costco has really gotten good about giving a lot of clean/organic options, which is why I no longer use Whole Foods. And, the shoppers at the local Paradise Valley/Scottsdale Whole Foods are insufferable. Some of them probably are in their own doc as the parking lot looks like a Mercedes dealership. This is down the road from where Stevie Nicks, Ron Howard, and Mike Tyson have homes. Those of us who aren't wealthy are at the Costco. Sometimes in our pajamas. 

Quote from: B0WIE on January 25, 2025, 02:25:05 AMMy local Costco used to be like that and I HATED it. But, since the pandemic, it's pretty much the only place I'll go to get groceries because the atmosphere is really chill now. If someone swings their cart out in front of you or is blocking the aisle, they quickly apologize. That never used to happen. I don't think I save any money vs getting stuff on sale at the Kroger owned grocery stores, but I like that I can take care of everything from shoes to motor oil, to shoes, to food. My wife orders half the groceries from Walmart (I can't shop there w/o getting an anxiety trigger) and they deliver them. The things that need to be hand selected (veg, fruit, meat) I get at Costco.

 At Whole Foods, I hate having to decide what other purchases I'm going to sacrifice just to get a few oranges. Costco has really gotten good about giving a lot of clean/organic options, which is why I no longer use Whole Foods. And, the shoppers at the local Paradise Valley/Scottsdale Whole Foods are insufferable. Some of them probably are in their own doc as the parking lot looks like a Mercedes dealership. This is down the road from where Stevie Nicks, Ron Howard, and Mike Tyson have homes. Those of us who aren't wealthy are at the Costco. Sometimes in our pajamas. 
Great post, and a fun peek into the grocery store culture where you live.  Last time we were in Costco I asked the check-out lady if it's always like a roller derby in there.  She said yes, but there is apparently a two-hour or so window daily where it dies down, and then it goes nuts again. 

Our Costco is in a town called Southlake which is smack in the middle of Dallas/Fort Worth.  Southlake and the little towns surrounding it are the Beverly Hills of DFW.  Lots of rich folks and a sea of multi-million-dollar homes that seem to go on endlessly.  But still I can't help but laugh because Costco is fundamentally a big-box discount store and many folks act like they are in Brooks Bros. 

I have put the pen to many items in Costco and it saves us a lot of money vs buying at WM, et al.   The annual membership fee will keep most folks out of Costco.  Lucky for me my company gets me a discount or I'd not have one either. 

The Whole Foods closest to me is in Arlington, just across the street from the original Guitar Center in our area (I bought my first acoustic guitar there in 1993).  There will be some normal, everyday folk in there shopping for groceries, but there is always a large crowd of types that lean into various extremes: there are the barely-clothed workout girls buying avocados and wheat grass juice, the tatted-out activist types furiously reading labels, and the obviously well-to-do business types buying gourmet dog food and getting their nightly dinner off the olive bar.  What you won't see in there are very many children as families can't really afford to shop there.  I go in there a few times a year for specialty items (they've got a killer ice cream section). 

One time years ago I was in there with my wife and there was some Mennonite-type lady behind us, denim dress to the floor, hair down past the waist.  She had a troop of little girls that were identical clones of her in various ages standing quietly behind her.  In the time it took to get our groceries checked out, she lectured us on childhood vaccines, the poison in foods, and was ready to get into all sorts of theories on this or that -- all without us even asking. 
 :wave

The Walmart mega-store closest to me is a stone's throw away from the DFW airport.  It must've been some time last year when I was in there and saw a fellow about 6'5", dressed in shabby bed clothes, and smoking a joint while he shopped.  No one said a word to him. 

Quote from: Silence Dogood on January 25, 2025, 10:24:17 AMI have put the pen to many items in Costco and it saves us a lot of money vs buying at WM, et al.   The annual membership fee will keep most folks out of Costco.  Lucky for me my company gets me a discount or I'd not have one either. 


Costco's price on gasoline alone pays for my annual membership fee, which is typically $.015-$.020/gal lower than other stations around town. And then the year end rebate pays an additional 5% on gasoline purchased at Costco. At today's price that's almost an additional $.15/gal cash back for the year's gasoline.
I'll have to try the Lavazza coffee there. I've been drinking the Kirkland Columbian for years now.

Yeah Costco was amazing! Much better selection of coffee than Sam's. But alas, I know live in rural OK and must drive 35 miles to get to the closest Sam's. I can relate to the Whole Foods comments as we would occasionally visit when we lived near the fancy smancy area in OKC...we humans are truly a mess!  :wacko:
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Quote from: Queequeg on January 25, 2025, 12:58:29 PMI'll have to try the Lavazza coffee there. I've been drinking the Kirkland Columbian for years now.
Lavazza is very flavorful. A type of pleasant bitterness that's really nice with a meal. None of the burnt flavor I detect in many dark roasts (particularly Starbucks). They have an espresso but the standard type that they carry at Costco is sort of an espresso-flavor but you can drink a mug full without having to be hospitalized. 

I've noticed the Lavazza at Costco.  The only trouble with buying coffee there is that if you don't like it, you're stuck with a bucket of the stuff. 

I agree about SBUX dark coffees having a burnt taste.  I've got a plain old cup of coffee there on plenty of occasions that was simply undrinkable.  Their espresso is wonderful, but I don't understand how they ever got a business like that off the ground serving regular black coffee that tastes like paint. 

Quote from: Silence Dogood on January 29, 2025, 09:53:34 AMI've noticed the Lavazza at Costco.  The only trouble with buying coffee there is that if you don't like it, you're stuck with a bucket of the stuff. 

I agree about SBUX dark coffees having a burnt taste.  I've got a plain old cup of coffee there on plenty of occasions that was simply undrinkable.  Their espresso is wonderful, but I don't understand how they ever got a business like that off the ground serving regular black coffee that tastes like paint.
Possibly opinions vary.  :roll

Quote from: Silence Dogood on January 29, 2025, 09:53:34 AMI agree about SBUX dark coffees having a burnt taste.  I've got a plain old cup of coffee there on plenty of occasions that was simply undrinkable.  Their espresso is wonderful, but I don't understand how they ever got a business like that off the ground serving regular black coffee that tastes like paint. 
I feel it's food addiction. Sugar and fat are very powerful. I can't imagine anyone ever went into Starbucks for the first time and admired their black coffee. But, a "coffee" with lots of fat and sugar is kind of hard to mess up. People aren't actually buying the coffee, they're buying the addictive part; a drink that has been loaded with cream and sugar.

 That's just my rant as someone who worked in the nutrition field for a few years and has done a lot of research on food science and how companies get people addicted.

 

90% of the time, when the wife and I do stop at Sbux, I get black coffee. She is 100%. The lighter roasts are average and yeah, not a fan of the dark roasts either. It's more of a convenience thing. I will say that back in the late 90's/early 2000's we bought a bag of New Guinea peaberry that was one of the best coffees I've ever tasted!
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I rarely go into Starbucks, but when  go I get a "small medium roast coffee, black". They can keep all their flavorings and sugar and stuff. Give me a cowboy coffee any day.
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Quote from: B0WIE on January 29, 2025, 11:49:36 AMI feel it's food addiction. Sugar and fat are very powerful. I can't imagine anyone ever went into Starbucks for the first time and admired their black coffee. But, a "coffee" with lots of fat and sugar is kind of hard to mess up. People aren't actually buying the coffee, they're buying the addictive part; a drink that has been loaded with cream and sugar.

 That's just my rant as someone who worked in the nutrition field for a few years and has done a lot of research on food science and how companies get people addicted.

 
Nine out of ten times I see people at coffee shops ordering those frozen sugary drinks and not black coffee.   

I only drink black coffee. No cream; no sugar for me. And I seldom visit Starbucks except in the airport.
I'm no coffee connoisseur (or anything else, I suppose) so I don't obsess over it like some folks.
I never order their premium drinks.
None of that "nitro infused half-caffe non-dairy mocha macchiato lite" for me.
Oh no.
Quote from: Silence Dogood on January 29, 2025, 03:51:10 PMNine out of ten times I see people at coffee shops ordering those frozen sugary drinks and not black coffee.   
Hate it when I get in line behind one of those. Relax. My clothes will go out of style before I get to place my order.

You know you're in good company when you see posts like the ones above.
"...black coffee"
"...black coffee"
"...black coffee"
"...black coffee"

I've ordered coffee exactly 2x at Starbucks and, both times, the barista asked me to repeat that, and then had to search for a while on the keypad to find where black coffee was. I don't think they get a lot of straight black coffee orders.

I won't pretend to be someone who ONLY drinks black coffee though. Sometimes, later in the day, the wife will make me one with cocoa powder and milk. Nice and easy on the stomach.

Best part of ordering clack coffee at Starbucks: it gets served in 20 seconds.
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Quote from: StringPicker6  on January 29, 2025, 05:40:38 PMBest part of ordering clack coffee at Starbucks: it gets served in 20 seconds.
That's right. :thumb
See ya latte  :wave

I've been drinking Ruta Maya, a local Austin roaster. We get it at our Costco.

https://rutamayacoffee.com/
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I actually have the Starbucks app on my phone but very rarely use it.  But a lot of my friends know I like coffee and have given me Starbucks gift cards.  I have a small stack of them in a drawer.  So yesterday the app notified me I could get any drink for $3. My wife and I went to  the bank in the morning, afterwardsI asked if she would like a white chocolate frappacino. When I went to order it on the app I happened to look at the ingredients.  A venti has 480 calories, 58 grams of sugar and 20 grams of fat! A heart attack in a cup.... We decided to forget it. BTW, the regular price is $6.45!

I'm enjoying my usual strong black French roast coffee from San Francisco Bay courtesy of Costco this morning.



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I just returned from Costco. (I shouldn't go on weekends, I know.)
Anyway, while I was there I looked for Lavazza but much to my chagrin- no joy.
Not to be found.  :crying:

Quote from: 247hoopsfan on February 01, 2025, 11:05:35 AMI actually have the Starbucks app on my phone but very rarely use it.  But a lot of my friends know I like coffee and have given me Starbucks gift cards.  I have a small stack of them in a drawer.  So yesterday the app notified me I could get any drink for $3. My wife and I went to  the bank in the morning, afterwardsI asked if she would like a white chocolate frappacino. When I went to order it on the app I happened to look at the ingredients.  A venti has 480 calories, 58 grams of sugar and 20 grams of fat! A heart attack in a cup.... We decided to forget it. BTW, the regular price is $6.45!
See my rant about this sort of thing earlier in the thread. It's literally much healthier to drink a can of Coke!  :yak:


Quote from: fantex on January 31, 2025, 07:24:05 AMI've been drinking Ruta Maya, a local Austin roaster. We get it at our Costco.

https://rutamayacoffee.com/
How is that stuff? It's very expensive and the 5lb bag commitment doesn't make it any easier, but I have been intrigued and considering it for a while now.


Quote from: Queequeg on February 01, 2025, 12:03:36 PMI just returned from Costco. (I shouldn't go on weekends, I know.)
Anyway, while I was there I looked for Lavazza but much to my chagrin- no joy.
Not to be found.  :crying:
I took a look, just in case, and it turns out it went back on-sale this week; https://www.costco.com/lavazza-caff-espresso-100-premium-arabica-coffee-whole-bean-22-lbs.product.100381544.html
I don't know if delivery is only for certain areas though. I'll be picking some up tomorrow. Currently drinking Costco's 100% Columbian (with the jaguar on the bag) which is decent coffee. Though not particularly exciting.

Quote from: B0WIE on February 01, 2025, 12:17:35 PMI took a look, just in case, and it turns out it went back on-sale this week; https://www.costco.com/lavazza-caff-espresso-100-premium-arabica-coffee-whole-bean-22-lbs.product.100381544.html
I don't know if delivery is only for certain areas though. I'll be picking some up tomorrow. Currently drinking Costco's 100% Columbian (with the jaguar on the bag) which is decent coffee. Though not particularly exciting.
Thanks for the link, BOWIE.  :thumb
Order placed.
$4.00 off.
Sold by the kilo so you know it's Columbian.  :humour:

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