Why I Love Gevalia - Part 1

I absolutely detest the coffee that's available at the local grocery. Can you honestly say that you like it? Personally, I've yet to find any coffee at the grocery that's satisfactory, at any price. I generally end up purchasing a "flavored coffee" of one kind or another, in order to mask the taste of the stuff.

Why is it so bad? Because the coffee at the grocery store is OLD. Even the "whole bean" stuff they sell was roasted 4-6 weeks before it hit the shelf. That's simply too long.

That's the reason why the coffee at a coffee shop seems so much better. The coffee at a shop is roasted a few days before you drink it. In some really upscale bistros, the beans are roasted onsite, but that is very rare, and of course, very expensive, even if you could find such a coffee drinkers paradise.

I stumbled upon Gevalia about 15 years ago. They were running a promotion for a free coffeemaker and four boxes of coffee for around $20, so I figured why not? I can always use a new coffee maker.

I called them on the phone (This was before the internet) and placed my order. I think I got two boxes of traditional and two boxes of french vanilla to start. A few days later, a big box arrived filled with my new coffeemaker and boxes of coffees. There was a bunch of literature in the box, and I read through the lit while I was preparing my new coffemaker for use by running some clear water through it.

The first thing that I noticed is that the literature said that the coffee was roasted on the day it was shipped! So it was as fresh as any coffee that I could get at a coffee shop. I thought that was interesting, and I sort of kicked myself for not getting their whole bean coffee. After all, I did have a grinder...

My coffeemaker was ready, so I opened one of the boxes of traditional roast and found this gold foil bag inside that was hermetically sealed. I tried to rip it open, but decided that scissors were the right tool for the job. I cut of the top, and much to my amazement, the bag made a hissing noise when I cut into the vacuum. I was impressed. I measure out enough to make 12 cups and then put the bag into a baggy and threw it into my freezer in order to keep it as fresh as possible. Then I fired up the free Gevalia coffee maker for the first time.

The first thing that I noticed was the aroma that filled the room as the water trickled through the grounds and into the carafe. It was heavenly. For the first time, I realized that I was about to experience something quite special. I was tempted to take "an early cup," but decided to exercise a bit of self control so that I could experience all that this coffee had to offer. I asked my wife if she wanted to join me and we sat down to taste our very first cup of Gevalia....

Coming Soon - Why I Love Gevalia - Part 2