Bigger Bag Please

About a year ago, I needed to cut down some expenses to help pay for a pricey car repair bill. One step I took was successfully converting from an 'eat-out' lunch guy, to a 'bring lunch from home' guy. I saved a ton of money that way, and continued to bring lunch from home after the repair was paid off.

Although I don't have a car repair bill staring me in the face today, it feels good to make a change and see the direct impact on the 'ol bank account. With that in mind, I recently looked at how much I spend on coffee and decided to do some research on ways to cut that down. I live a few hundred yards from an outstanding coffee joint that roasts their own beans - and they do an outstanding job. Most coffees I buy there are about $15 for a 12 oz. bag - which is the going rate for a bag of good coffee beans. I go through 4 or 5 bags a month, and at 15 bucks a pop that adds up quickly.

The first decision I made was to move from the very popular 12 oz. bags to a 2 lb. bag. I keep coffee inside a dark cupboard in ball jars - so keeping a larger amount of coffee fresh is not an issue. However, finding great coffee *I like* in a 2 lb. bag proved to be more of a challenge.
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SIDE NOTE: If you're thinking you don't have ball jars or cabinet space and you'll just keep your big bag in the freezer, please search for my blog on why this is a bad-for-your-coffee idea, and do not store your coffee in the freezer
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Costco has a variety of coffees in 2 lb. bags, but most of them tend to be very dark roast coffees. Lots of people love dark roast coffees, and I certainly appreciate it from time to time. However, generally I prefer lighter roasts. Dark coffee flavor offers predominantly roasty flavors, which overpowers the unique flavors of specific origins - and I love those flavors. So Costco wasn't the solution for me.

I then moved my focus to Amazon. Since Amazon bought Whole Foods, they now have more to offer than ever in the way of coffee. I decided to give a bag of one of their house labeled "Amazon Fresh" coffees a try. I chose the, "Just Bright" light roast blend, which the label tells me is roasted in Seattle. Overall - it's excellent. I don't taste any kind of specific flavor note that makes it stand out, it's more of a mainstream blend - but it makes a delicious cup of coffee. I will definitely order it again. I paid $15.49 on Prime, so there was no shipping charge, and that's getting 32 oz. for roughly what I pay for 12 oz. down the street.

Pleased with the success of my new coffee source, I decided to keep trudging the road to happy coffee destiny, and try out a single origin coffee. Amazon also carries coffees from Fresh Roasted Coffee, LLC. - which is an operation out of Pennsylvania. I ordered a 2 lb. bag of Ethiopian Sidamo, which was $21.95 on Prime. Ethiopian coffees are among my favorites, and naturally have fruit-like flavor notes. I have found this flavor profile is typically more pronounced in Yirgacheffe varieties than in Sidamo. This Sidamo is no different - it has great natural origin flavors in a nice, even light roast. I'm very pleased with it, and will order again. That said, another of my favorites is Tanzanian Peaberry, and I see that Amazon carries that variety from the same roaster. I have a feeling that's next.

I still intend to support my local roasters, and can't imagine traveling without hunting for a good bag of beans to bring home. However, I have successfully cut my regular daily coffee expenses in half...and that feels pretty damn good.