When I first heard about the Keurig coffee maker, I was thrilled. As a working mom, every morning is a paradox: I need coffee to function, but I don’t have time to make it. The idea of a machine that could make piping-hot coffee at the push of a button seemed like an answered prayer.
At first, the machine seemed to deliver as promised. They work just as quickly as everyone says, producing any coffee you want within seconds of pushing the button. But over time, I began to get disillusioned with the coffee it made.
A Lukewarm Reception
“Why does this cup taste so bland?!” I asked my husband one morning. Actually, I was probably snapping at him at the time, but in fairness, I hadn’t had any coffee yet.
He shrugged. “They’re probably trying to trick you into using two K-Cups to make one cup of coffee.”
A few days later, while I was trying to explain to our daughter that she couldn’t wear her Halloween costume to school because it was April, I took a sip of coffee and almost spit it into the sink right then and there.
It tasted stale. I checked the box and, although the coffee wasn’t expired as far as I could tell, it tasted like it had been sitting in a closet for years. Later, I found out that it wasn’t far from the truth: the K-Cups you buy at the store often sit on shelves for a long time before they make it to your house, going from warehouse to stockroom to shelf over a span of months. During that time, the oils that give coffee its delicious flavor evaporate, leaving you with a cup of what kinda tastes like wet socks.
I tried switching brands, but every box I got at the store had the same problem. No matter what I did, the coffee came out weak, bland, and kind of gross, and I began to think that the only solution was to go back to a drip coffee maker or a French press, neither of which I had time for on a busy weekday morning.
A Bitter Realization
The straw that broke the camel’s back, though, was when I was paying bills one day and realized, to my horror, just how much I was spending on K-Cups every month. They’d gotten more expensive so gradually I hadn’t noticed, and it had turned from a necessary morning boost into a luxury I couldn’t afford.
That was it. I unplugged the Keurig and put it in the closet, with a half-baked idea that I might put it on Craigslist sometime to sell.
A week later, I was battling serious caffeine withdrawal. I don’t know if any of you have ever tried to give up coffee before, but I don’t recommend it. My head was killing me, and I felt like I was always tired. But more than that, I missed my morning ritual of a hot cup of coffee.
Coffee With Friends
At my Tuesday spin class, my friend Stacy noticed and asked me if I was coming down with something. I explained to her that I wasn’t sick, but that I’d had to stop drinking coffee because it had gotten too expensive.
“Have you tried Angelino’s?” she asked.
I frowned. “My store doesn’t have that brand.” I knew for sure; I’d tried every brand on the shelf to find a cup of coffee that didn’t taste like dirty water.
“They’re an online brand,” she said, leaning in. “They’re all I drink now. And they’re not expensive – they are as low as $0.39 per cup!”
$5.95 for fourteen cups?! That would only buy one cup at the coffee shop.
“That sounds good,” I admitted, “But how does it taste? The K-Cups I’ve been buying at the store just don’t taste very good.”
“That’s what makes Angelino’s special,” she said, “They have their own roastery, and the coffee ships straight to you from them. That means it always tastes fresh! Because, well… it is fresh!”
“Some of the brands I tried are really weak,” I said.
“That’s because some brands don’t put enough coffee in each K-Cup,” Stacy said. “Then they over-roast the coffee to try and make it taste stronger so that you won’t notice.”
“Yuck,” I said.
“Yeah,” Stacy agreed, “But Angelino’s doesn’t do that. You get exactly what it says on the package, and it tastes great. No tricks.”
“It sounds too good to be true,” I said.
“I’ll tell you what,” she said, “I’ve got a couple K-Cups in my purse. I take them to work with me because I don’t like the brand they use at the office. Give them a try!”
A Freshly-Ground Start
I may have been speeding when I returned home with my two precious K-Cups in hand. I plugged the Keurig back in, and with a push of a button, the cup began to fill up.
I could tell from just the smell that this was different. As soon as it hit my nostrils that this wasn’t over-roasted, and that I was in for a treat. The first sip confirmed it – this was the best cup of coffee I’d had in ages.
Within minutes, I’d given the Keurig back its place of honor on our kitchen counter, and moments later, I was online, picking out my own sample boxes so that I could try as many different flavors as I could.
Thanks to Angelino’s, I got my morning coffee back, at a price that didn’t break the family budget. You can try it, too, by clicking here for over 24 different coffees for as low as $0.39 per cup!
