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Consumer Reports finds some of the best coffees cost the least
Here’s a sneak peek at a story scheduled to run in Friday’s (2-13-09) Dayton Daily News.
Sometimes a cuppa joe isn’t just a cuppa joe.
In its March 2009 issue, Consumer Reports magazine (www.consumerreports.org) assembled a group of coffee experts and asked them to taste-test several coffees made from ground 100 percent Colombian beans and sold in coffee shops and grocery stores nationwide. The results were surprising. Consider:
— Some of the best coffees cost the least money. The magazine’s top-rated caffeinated brew was Eight O’Clock Coffee, which the magazine said cost less than half the price of some of the more expensive brands in the taste-test. At $6.28 per pound, the Eight O’Clock 100 percent Colombian coffee was designated a “Best Buy” by the magazine for having the “best combination of taste and price.”
— Folgers Gourmet Selections Lively Colombian Decaf Medium Roast was among the top-rated decaffeinated coffees despite its low 11-cents-a-cup price tag, and was rated higher than Starbucks house blend medium decaf that costs more than twice as much. Dunkin’ Donuts decaf, at 19 cents a cup, was awarded the top rating among decaffeinated coffees, and the 14-cent-a-cup Millstone decaf medium roast joined Folgers among the top-rated decafs.
— If there was a loser in the ratings, it was Starbucks, which the magazine said “didn’t even place among the top regular coffees and trailed among decafs” despite a 25-cent-per cup price tag (a penny more for decaf). But not all of the humble brews fared well. Long-standing coffees Chock full o’Nuts and Maxwell House contained “off notes (and) little complexity,” the magazine said.
The results came as a bit of a surprise to Henry Dean, vice president of operations for Dayton-based Boston Stoker, which operates 10 coffee shops in the Miami Valley, including three in Dorothy Lane Market grocery stores and two at the Dayton International Airport. Boston Stoker had no coffees in the magazine’s taste test.
Dean said he feels Starbucks offers a higher quality of coffee than Eight O’Clock or Millstone, but he’s not surprised at the high rating for Dunkin’ Donut’s decaf.
“Everybody is upgrading their coffees, including McDonald’s,” Dean said.
Still, he’d love to see a rematch that would include Boston Stoker, which Dean said “provides the highest quality beans and serves it as fresh as possible.”
“I would love it,” Dean said of a taste test against the other national and regional brands. “I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
Consumer Reports offered advice for coffee drinkers to make a brew that truly is good to the last drop: choose a good coffeemaker, and consider grinding your own. “Even the best pre-ground coffee can’t beat the best fresh-ground when it comes to taste,” the magazine said.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Food trends & eating habits
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By nullpots
February 12, 2009 9:45 PM | Link to this
Starbucks coffee never was that great, just an ego trip for paying that much for coffee. Did not want to admit you were that dumb for doing so. Boston Stoker is much better!
By sparkey
February 12, 2009 7:58 PM | Link to this
Yeah, but when you’re in a hurry, nothing beats instant coffee, microwaved in a styrofoam cup.