I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve who has to wait until the next day for the big show. Grown up, I don’t usually wait for anything I want, but tonight, I picked up a fresh pound of coffee and if I crack it now, it will be an all-nighter for me.

I’ve tried Peet’s Coffee before. Based out of California and at it for over 40 years now, they know coffee. Check out the Report Card for more information on Peets. I bought one of their coffee tours for family that simply can’t keep up with the pound of coffee they’re sending every month. So, this month, I had it sent to me instead.

It’s a pound of Guatemalan Antigua coffee. It’s amazing to me how differences in climates in coffee-growing regions produce for the coffee lover a wide range of flavors. Coffee from the province of Antigua in Guatemala is my favorite coffee in the world. San Sebastian is the name of a farm that sells to Peets for consumption across North America. They meet Peets’ standard, so I can’t wait to compare this to the Antigua coffee I normally buy retail from Starbucks.

This is the first time a pound of Peets coffee is delivered to my door so I’m excited for my first cup tomorrow. I picked it up at the post office and probably looked like my lab retriever smelling the box all over. Not because I was so anxious to smell it, but because I wanted to make sure I couldn’t smell anything. If the packaging is airtight, I shouldn’t smell any coffee and that means it’s fresh. The bag is stamped with the Roast Date, or day the green beans imported from Guatemala were roasted to fill my order. I usually buy retail from Starbucks and I have to say you just don’t know when it was roasted although if the coffee wasn’t fresh, I’d know. Until tomorrow. Even I think it’s weird if I end up dreaming about my first cup tonight.

I like Starbucks.  The coffee is a little more expensive than fair-priced.  The crazy coffee drinks like Triple Espresso Chocolatey Cafe Mocha (not an actual Starbucks product) are even higher priced but I’ve yet to find anybody who does it better.  It’s like Hawaiian Kona coffee…three times more expensive and definitely better, but not three times better.  The frappucino is still one of my favorite drinks at Starbucks.  This weekend, I returned to a Starbucks location in Birch Run, Michigan that I’d been to before.  As I was leaving, an employee stationed at the front door stopped me with a blind taste test.

If you haven’t heard, Starbucks has entered the instant coffee foray with a product called VIA Ready Brew.  At first, it was mind-boggling.  Instant coffee is the worst of all coffees, and Starbucks is the gold standard of good coffee.  Their claim is that the instant coffee prepares…well…instantly, but tastes as good as their brewed coffee.  You can imagine by the title of this posting how the rest of the story plays out.

The blind taste test was to compare a sample of freshly brewed
Pike Place Roast blend with a sample of the VIA Italian Roast.  Here’s the play by play.  I smelled coffee number one, then took a sip.   I smelled coffee number two, and then let her know which was which even before my sip of the second sample.  She gave me the “are you sure?”, but her face said it all.  How did I do it?

First of all, I have an unfair advantage.  Even among Starbucks customers, I probably drink an above average quality of coffee.  Second, don’t discount the sense of smell when it comes to coffee.  Coffee has an aroma that figures into its flavor and if you’re familiar with coffee cupping, you know that’s purely by sense of smell.  The instant coffee had virtually no smell, especially compared to the Pike Place which is an excellent Starbucks blend.  I didn’t want to hurt her feelings too badly, and let her know it was definitely the best instant coffee I’d ever had.

If you’re a regular visitor to MakeGoodCoffee.com, you’d be right to assume the site has been abandoned for the last few months.  But friends, you couldn’t be further from the truth.  I’d like to take a minute and update you on what’s going on behind the scenes.  When it’s unveiled, you’ll know the best of this site was yet to come.  In the meantime, let me pull the curtain back.

MakeGoodCoffee.com has enlisted the services of a professional designer that you’ll get to know in the coming weeks.  The more you know about the site, the more you’re aware that everything gets reinvested.  Sure, that sometimes means reinvested into my own coffee paradise here at home, but even that gets covered with what I learn and can pass on so you can also make better coffee at home.  The latest reinvestment is into a better-organized and more functional website – not to mention a heck of a lot better looking.

Stay tuned!  I’ve already been given a sneak peek at what the new site will look like and how it will be organized.  I have to say it’s nothing short of impressive, and will allow new content and postings to be easier to find and enjoy.