Starbucks, the king of all caffeine, is lowering the price of its average brew by 5 to 15 cents. I'll drink to that. Lattes too. Only on smalls tho. Drinkers of the Pacific Northwest bean will shell out an average of 10 to 15 cents more for large, "complex" drinks. I never went for the fru-fru brew anyway. But I know many of you don't consider coffee, in its raw, bitter form, drinkable. You gotta add milk, cream and x-tra sugar, right?
Price seesawing went into effect in some markets today, but not in the motherland, Seattle. Have you noticed a change at your backyard bucks?
True Coffee Confession: I've been doing the DIY iced coffee dance all summer long. Figured I've pocketed at least $100. Still there are times when the body craves, natch demands Starbucks. I'm feeling pretty good about the shift, but it seems counter intuitive. Are they trying to get us to buy talls only? At this rate, wouldn't two talls be cheaper than one venti? And what of the long-lost short? You can order this 8 ounce pet (i say pet becuz I'll carry this puppy with me all day long from car, to store to office and finally throw out the cold stuff end of day) off-the-menu, but they don't want you to. Baristas if you're out there, please weigh in.
GG, have you tried cold-brewed coffee for your homemade IC? Even $bucks is on the bandwagon, selling a gizmo that makes it - totally unnecessary. Mix a pound of regular grind coffee with 9-10 cups of cold water (or do the math for a smaller batch) and let it sit out for at least 9 hours, or in the fridge for 12-24. Filter through a fine sieve, then through a paper coffee filter (which will tend to clog if you try using just the paper, but doable if you are sieve-less and patient). Refrigerate the concentrate, then dilute to taste for your daily IC. It makes a great, flavorful, less acid coffee though it seems to me to have a greater caffeine kick than regular hot brewed, and is terrific diluted and nuked for a mug of morning java. .