I'm a coffee snob. I admit it. I roast my own coffee, ran my own coffee roasting company for a while, and I've been in tasting coffee in "cupping" sessions many times before. So, when I read that Eight O'Clock coffee won top honors from Consumer Reports I was skeptical.
But the marketer in me did wonder: is it so hard to believe that Eight O'Clock coffee could actually produce high quality coffee, just because of its chosen distribution channel?
Well, its certainly hard to believe, but not impossible, I suppose.
As a market researcher, I question the testing process that CR uses. I suspect that either one of two things are going on here:
1) CR is testing as the masses drink it - buy it off the shelf regardless of how old it is and dump it in a coffee maker that was cleaned sometime last summer
2) It's seems like slightly flawed testing to run a comparison between high-end brands, like Caribou, Kickapoo, and Peet's, with Eight O'Clock coffee if you are going to abuse the coffees in the same way, since they are not meant to be used in the same way (sort of like testing the comfort of slippers vs. high heels because they both go on your feet).
Let me explain what I mean by "abuse"... there are two things that have a huge impact on the flavor of coffee once it hits the store shelves: age (when was it roasted? when was it ground?) and how clean is the coffee maker that you make it in. (Ok, you other coffee snobs know the roast, the beans chosen, the packaging, the quality of the water, the grind fineness, and the temperature of the water also can have a huge impact on the flavor, but these are for a later discussion.)
Basically, what we've got here is a test of convenience coffee. By that I mean coffee that is available easily in the grocery store, has a much longer "good before" date, and is pre-ground, if you believe the picture. Testing these convenience coffees the way that consumers use them, is completely valid and makes perfect sense from a marketers standpoint. But from a coffee professional perspective this "test" makes me cringe. This likely is not a cup of coffee you could buy at a specialty coffee shop, and is not a cup of coffee you would tolerate from a specialty coffee shop. Though this does beg the question, has Columbia so gentrified their coffee production, that farms are not able to produce the varieties that they once were? Another discussion for another post.
If you are just looking for a basic coffee flavor, then true, almost any Columbian coffee that you buy will fill the bill to varying degrees. But, you are seeking a truly extraordinary Columbian coffee that has a much more complex taste, then you will probably have to pony up the cash for a fresher coffee, a grinder (which the article does acknowledge at the end), and you will have to actually clean your coffee maker once in a while (gasp!).
Bottom line, I think this test does tell you which coffee makes a fine coffee for your hurried morning, but I don't believe this test tells you which coffee is better for a more complex and enjoyable coffee experience.
But the marketer in me did wonder: is it so hard to believe that Eight O'Clock coffee could actually produce high quality coffee, just because of its chosen distribution channel? Well, its certainly hard to believe, but not impossible, I suppose.
As a market researcher, I question the testing process that CR uses. I suspect that either one of two things are going on here:
1) CR is testing as the masses drink it - buy it off the shelf regardless of how old it is and dump it in a coffee maker that was cleaned sometime last summer
2) It's seems like slightly flawed testing to run a comparison between high-end brands, like Caribou, Kickapoo, and Peet's, with Eight O'Clock coffee if you are going to abuse the coffees in the same way, since they are not meant to be used in the same way (sort of like testing the comfort of slippers vs. high heels because they both go on your feet).
Let me explain what I mean by "abuse"... there are two things that have a huge impact on the flavor of coffee once it hits the store shelves: age (when was it roasted? when was it ground?) and how clean is the coffee maker that you make it in. (Ok, you other coffee snobs know the roast, the beans chosen, the packaging, the quality of the water, the grind fineness, and the temperature of the water also can have a huge impact on the flavor, but these are for a later discussion.)
Basically, what we've got here is a test of convenience coffee. By that I mean coffee that is available easily in the grocery store, has a much longer "good before" date, and is pre-ground, if you believe the picture. Testing these convenience coffees the way that consumers use them, is completely valid and makes perfect sense from a marketers standpoint. But from a coffee professional perspective this "test" makes me cringe. This likely is not a cup of coffee you could buy at a specialty coffee shop, and is not a cup of coffee you would tolerate from a specialty coffee shop. Though this does beg the question, has Columbia so gentrified their coffee production, that farms are not able to produce the varieties that they once were? Another discussion for another post.
If you are just looking for a basic coffee flavor, then true, almost any Columbian coffee that you buy will fill the bill to varying degrees. But, you are seeking a truly extraordinary Columbian coffee that has a much more complex taste, then you will probably have to pony up the cash for a fresher coffee, a grinder (which the article does acknowledge at the end), and you will have to actually clean your coffee maker once in a while (gasp!).
Bottom line, I think this test does tell you which coffee makes a fine coffee for your hurried morning, but I don't believe this test tells you which coffee is better for a more complex and enjoyable coffee experience.
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