When I was a child ( say late 70’s - maybe 8th grade ). Mom would buy the canned coffee. We were a Folger’s house. In those days I would add cream (OK milk) and sugar. Mom would drink it black. The darker the better! So I was raised on strong coffee. In those days you wanted pure Columbian beans, nobody ever mentioned dark roasted, or light roasted.
One day I noticed two cans of coffee in the refrigerator. We always made coffee from the can in the front. One day, that can was empty and we switched to that old can in the back. The thing is since it’s been in the refrigerator for so long there was a distinct stale taste. But that’s ok.. coffee is coffee. We noticed after the first lot either we were fully used to that stale taste, or only the first quarter inch or so, got stale.
That was how things were until I grew up. I got a part time job at the local air base, we’re I was introduced to military day(s) old coffee. Stronger stuff still.
Finally i reached the age where I could move out into my own place. I didn’t have a coffee maker then but I still had the military brews from the office, and coffee from Denny’s, much weaker, but certainly a treat.
One day something happened.. Denny’s was out of sugar, or cream (I cannot remember) and I was so angry. There was a store across the street! How could a restaurant chain as large as Denny’s run out of sugar or cream? Also, why an I getting so worked up over the lack of some condiment. I decided, right then and there. No more coffee condiments.
One day I got myself a Mr. Coffee, and a blade grinder. Then I started playing with different flavors and roasts. I seemed to have standardized on Italian roast. It’s dark but has an extra flavor. My wife prefers the French roasts. We are so compatible. :)
Blade grinders are good, but they are inconsistent. Or at least this writer ground beans inconsistently. I decided to upgrade. I searched the internet for the best coffee maker with a built in but grinder. I found the capresso coffee maker. It was great.
The problem with the Cappresso. Is the with all the parts it would fail after as couple of years and would have to be replaced. During that period it was back to the Mr. Coffee. One day there was a double whammy failure. Both coffee makers were broken!
I found a new brand Bunn. This maker was fabulous. Is would brew a pot in under two minutes and the pot was great. The secret it it has a water tank in it so when I put cold water into it. It pushed out hot water. Because of its simplicity, the average lifespan of one of these makers is over a decade.
From then on, at the house I have always had a burr grinder and a Bunn coffee maker.