"cheap coffee" news and stories

In our search for the perfect cheap coffee -- being devoted caffeine freaks, we also cover it here -- Slashfood decided to give Café Caribe a shot. Look at that muy tropical can; who wouldn't?

The brand indulges in similar identity politics to its competitor (and current frontrunner) Café Bustelo. The label is printed in both English and Spanish and proudly proclaims "Café Para El Gusto Latino: NUESTRO CAFE," or "Coffee for the Latin taste. OUR COFFEE." In the Bronx (the New York City borough this writer is proud to call home) Dominicans and Puerto Ricans take a lot of pride in their coffee, so we can see why Café Caribe is taking such a direct marketing approach.

Beyond that, Café Caribe is also among the cheapest coffees in the store. At $2.59, it's a dollar less than Bustelo and about one third of the price of Medaglia D'Oro.

The biggest draw, though, was the can. With bright colors, cartoonish writing and a cute little drawing of a hacienda amid palm trees, it is incredibly cheering. Over the last few weeks we've had a lot of gray days and the explosive yellow can has provided a lingering gleam of sunshine.

As I previously mentioned, I am in the process of trying to determine the best inexpensive, pre-ground, mass-produced coffee on the market. A few weeks ago, when I reviewed Cafe Bustelo, my post generated a fair bit of commentary, from both Bustelo's supporters and its detractors. As ever, the incredibly generous Slashfood community was quick to weigh in with its suggestions for the best bargain-priced coffee on the market. While I might not get to all the brands that my readers proposed, I'm definitely going to give it a try.

I should point out, in the interests of total disclosure, that I am not a true beanhead. To begin with, I take my morning brew with milk and sugar, which counts as a major faux pas among the coffee cognoscenti. Additionally, while my palate is pretty solid, I am not one of those people who sips a cup of coffee, makes a pinched face and notes that "Fernando wasn't wearing his shoes when he mashed these ones." I don't detect notes of sunshine in my morning joe, and I'm not inclined to get effusive about the rich, rounded tones and terroir of this or that organic Hawaiian blend.

Then again, those people don't drink preground drip coffee. Let's face it, the quest for the best cheap coffee is the kind of thing that self-selects for a guy who is willing to put price on a par with flavor. That having been said, I can tell a good cup of coffee from a bad one, and I am willing to drink a lot of bad coffee in my quest for the ultimate morning brew.

In my ever-increasing attempts to save money, I recently decided to cut back on my coffee expenditures. While I get most of my coffee from my local corner store, where it only costs $1.20 a cup, even that price starts to add up, particularly when I am hard-pressed to come up with something to write about and the caffeine monster beckons.

Choosing coffee isn't such an easy thing. I've tried quite a few brands, generally with mixed success. My wife swears by Illy, an Italian coffee that, I must admit, is damn near perfect. Still, at $12 per can, it's pricey and, given that I am a cream-and-sugar guy, its transcendent wonder is somewhat wasted on me.

I recently retried Café Du Monde, a New Orleans chicory-enhanced coffee that I used to love in college. I don't know if my tastes have changed, or if the coffee has gone downhill, but the last can I bought tasted like incinerated cat turds. Seriously, I don't want to be mean, but it was positively unholy. Bru, on the other hand, is a chicory blend with a solid taste and a good price point; unfortunately, it is sometimes hard to come by. If I'm going to get addicted to a brand, I need a consistent supply!

The company that introduced (and hooked) us all on the $4 cup of coffee is starting to feel the burn -- of the economy turning south, and of competitor's cheaper cuppas.

In its annual meeting today, Starbucks' newly-returned founder and CEO Howard Schultz laid out plans for staunching the chains' loss of sales. Among other ideas, the ubiquitous coffee house might introduce loyalty cards...and do away with using flavor-locked bags of pre-ground coffee in its stores.

Seems nobody likes that burned-coffee smell anymore. Instead, stores will once again start using only freshly-ground coffee, and will more carefully tailor its hot food selections to those that don't get in the way of that all-important fresh coffee aroma.

In answer to growing competition from the likes of Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's (both of which serve a fine cup of coffee, in my humble opinion), Starbucks began testing $1 cup of house coffee in its Seattle stores earlier this year.

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