Coffee Snobbery

I admit it... I'm a coffee snob! I was a late-comer to coffee. I was well into my thirties before I started drinking it. Up until that point I just didn't think I liked it. One day it occurred to me that I loved coffee candy and coffee ice cream so perhaps if I added enough sugar and cream I would also enjoy a nice cup of coffee. It worked! In those early days each cup was nothing more than a ton of calories. I think I started with half a cup of sugar, half a cup of cream and a splash of coffee. From there the sugar and cream became less and less while the coffee became more and more. These days I like coffee and drink it either black or with cream. I like it both ways equally but I do still have to have it sweet. I no longer use sugar but a couple of packs of Splenda do the trick. Due to a recent heart problem I can no longer drink regular coffee but decaf seems fine and so far no problems. The thing is I have a preference for specific brands. I have never liked weak coffee... you know the kind that looks like tea. If you can see thru it then it is probably too weak for me. I like it bold and strong but not bitter. On my first trip to France many years ago I discovered they have the best coffee I've ever had. It looked something like dirty motor oil but so delicious! Bold but no bitterness what so ever. Each time I visited France I returned home with a luggage full of coffee. When my French friends visited I asked them to bring me coffee. No matter what brands I tried here in the US, nothing has ever compared to the richness and delightful taste of coffee in France. Over the years I discovered Gevalia coffee. It's not available in stores but you order it online and I have been a regular customer of theirs for many years now. I always order the French Roast but recently discovered their Espresso Roast. Both are available in decaf so I can safely enjoy a nice rich, bold, nonbitter cup of coffee anytime I want. During the holidays my Gevalia order got lost in the mail so I ended up having to buy a bag of coffee from the store. I took a long while trying to choose a good one.... it is awful! It's strong alright but bitter and has a burnt taste to it. Yuck! Gevalia has a new order on the way to replace the one that never arrived so until then I am drinking hot tea. I just can't handle bad coffee. Even David has made comments about how this coffee just doesn't match up to what we normally have. I know a lot of people swear by Starbucks, which is probably the best I have found available in stores but even that doesn't hold a candle to Gevalia and no one matches the coffee from France. So yes, I am a coffee snob and proud of it!