FRESH COFFEE???

Leo Voisine

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Location
East Freeetown, Massachusetts
I had a job once - yeah I know.
Anyway - Like I said I like the coffee fresh.

I was a design engineer at the time - on the board, with pencil. I was always there - never left. In the area there were 3-4 empty desks - that were not going to be occupied.

I asked the boss if it would be OK, if I brought in my own coffee maker and made my own coffee for myself. He said it was OK.

So - I did.

I like Dunkin Donuts coffee - so that is what I made - 1/2 pot. Bottled water - decent coffee maker, not great.

Well, there was one other guy in the office that asked me if I would care to let him have a cup - so I said OK, and he gave me 50 cents. I really didn't want it - but he insisted - and asked if I minded if he would have a cup every morning for 50 cents a cup - I said OK. So I started to make a full pot every morning.

So - word got out - and I made 5 full pots every morning - I offered tea (5-6 varieties), cup of soup, crackers, and even have special FREE days from time to time. I needed to buy new coffee makers, styrofoam cups, plastic spoons, sugar packets, and Coffee Mate.

Money was on the honor system. Can on the desk - you put money in and make your own change. I never allowed a lot of money to ever be in that can. It was always locked up in my desk.

Nobody had any idea that I was making money. I had FREE fresh coffee always - and free lunch every day. I was not trying to make money - so I just wanted the FRESH coffee - and I had FREE coffee days lots of times - but everybody just loved my coffee and kept coming. I had the entire office, even the boss. Nobody complained.

Many people told me I should charge more money, but I said no. There was another guy on the shop floor that had one of those 50? cup coffee makers - but he made Chock full of nuts coffee - real strong and bitter, He charged twice as much for the coffee.

One of the customer service reps told me one time I didn't know what I was doing. Ohhh I said - what should I do? So he showed me his Giant Dunkins Donut styrofoam cup and told me he pays $2.00 every morning - I should charge that much and if I didn't I was loosing money. I told him I would fill his cup every day for $1.00 - He got mad at me and said he would - just to prove his point. At the time - it was costing me about 25-30 cents to fill his cup.

Nobody else made the coffee - me only. I was busy. No confrontation - I made the coffee - only me - all day every day pot after pot after pot. I had my coffee made and in my cup and made sure by boss had a fresh cup - then made another pot ready for the office people as soon as they got in.

Funny - I bought soooo much coffee at dunkin donuts that my car smelled like coffee all the time.

I used to bring in supplies early early in the morning so nobody would see just how much stuff I was luggin in. Bottled water is heavy. Might look a little suspicious - but they knew.

One time I was on vacation and the engineering secretary filled in for me. She didn't measure - just dumped coffee in the filter and filled with water - WOW, did I hear about that when I got back from vacation.

Sooo - after a while I found a new job at Winchester. The coffee desk was FULL of all sorts of stuff - FULL. Cups, spoons, cup o soup, tea(many varieties), hot water maker, coffee maker, sugar, coffee mate (big cans) - etc etc etc. I could NOT take all that stuff with me. The secretary knew I was making money and got free lunch once a week or so and had all the FRESH coffee I could possibly drink and I brought home a bag of Dunkins coffee from time to time - so she asked me if I would sell her that little private coffee business. I sold it.

It was fun. :D

She never succeded at it - got her money back, yes, but eventually lost all her customers.


Leo
 
Never sold it, and when I make it, it's strong enough that many folks won't drink it anyway, but I really like goo coffee. When I worked at the trade association (about 15~20 years ago, they wouldn't let me make the coffee. :eek:

I start virtually every day with a 4 cup pot of extra strong Gevalia French Roast, and often make another pot at mid-day and a third one after dinner. Like I said, I like good coffee!
 
We have a local specialty coffee company here in Bellingham (Tony's Coffee) that our company use to have supply the office (their roasting facility is across the street from us). It was very good coffee. Use to. In trying to save money they are going to Costco and buying can coffee. Can coffee!!! They might as well just stop buying coffee because it is terrible and no one is drinking it. I am going to bring in a french press, grinder and make my own. Funny where they decided to save money. It has created some pretty strong feelings. You just don't mess with the coffee of people from the pacific northwest.
 
Hey Bill you call it a French press which i have no doubt is correct. I had to look it up as we call that plunger coffee.:rofl::rofl: Loml loves it.
Yup companies amaze me at times. The cost of coffee aint going to make the company survive. Its what the leaders do to get the business going and expanding. Staff motivation is essential in these times when everyone is concerned about their jobs and the future. Why mess with the coffee. Rather solicit ideas from the troops as to how costs could be cut without making them upset. You probably would get better and more appropriate suggestions.
 
Why mess with the coffee. Rather solicit ideas from the troops as to how costs could be cut without making them upset. You probably would get better and more appropriate suggestions.

I think they are afraid that the troops might suggest that the excessive salaries, stock options and bonuses for the corporate executives be trimmed.:)
 
I LOVE coffee, (and drink a LOT of it), and I really miss the coffees I became accustomed to in Europe, real strong, but not Bitter, of course it was all made one cup at a time, never a whole pot. (it WAS expensive per cup though).:D

The ABSOLUTE WORST coffee I ever had was in a private office of a cargo Executive at the airport in Cairo. It came in a TINY cup but had enough caffeine:bonkers: for about 20 cups, and you had to keep stirring it or it would settle into the bottom 2/3 and was just like MUD.:eek: (He, of course, thought it was the finest coffee in the world),:rolleyes: YUK, UGH!!!
 
i have no worries about coffee, i get it right from the source in colombia.:D all i need do is remember to ask relatives that are visiting down there to bring me back a pound or two. strong stuff though, only use half the amount we would normally use here.
 
i have no worries about coffee, i get it right from the source in colombia.:D all i need do is remember to ask relatives that are visiting down there to bring me back a pound or two. strong stuff though, only use half the amount we would normally use here.

It "MUST" help to know what Beans to buy down there, Dan, 'cause while we were unloading & loading cargo on my First trip into Bogota, my loadmaster came into the cockpit and asked if I wanted to buy some Columbian Coffee from a local vendor. I bought a 5 lb bag and when I got back home to Belgie, I couldn't wait to make some. After three attempts with different amounts, I decided it was the worst tasting stuff I had ever had, (EXCEPT for that stuff they called coffee in Cairo):rolleyes:, so I quickly found another sucker and "GAVE" it to him for FREE. I never mentioned it to him again, AND, neither did he.:D (I always wondered though if HE drank it OR Gave it away too).:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Neat story Leo. I've always been fussy about fresh coffee too. I'm far from a coffee snob but want a decent grind that's fresh....by fresh, I mean fresh to 3 or 4 minutes at most when feasible. If it's old, I typically won't drink it. I usually drink 8 O'Clock to keep costs down, Gevalia Stockholm roast for a treat, or occasionally DD or Tim Hortons that I get as a gift....even got some from the Dahlonaga General Store once that was really good. Can't stand the Folgers, Chock Full of #@!s, Maxwell House standard fair. I did run the mutual "coffee fund" when I was in a combined office, so I could control the type of coffee we used and make it fresh for my time frame, plus I got free coffee in exchange. :)

HHhhmmmm ...it's early enough that I have the urge to make another cup now! :thumb:

Are any of you who are particular about your coffee, also particular about your beer? Again, I don't see myself as a beer snob, but I simply don't care for the taste of the run of the mill Bud, Miller, Genny, Coors, Labatt's etc. Sam Adams is my idea of mainstream, and I tend to like the taste of micro brews and smaller breweries like Sackett's Harbor 1812 Ale, Negra Modello, Smutty Nose Brown Dog, etc.
 
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Are any of you who are particular about your coffee, also particular about your beer?

I'm with you Scott, not a coffee or beer snob, but do like the better flavor and aroma of quality brews whether beer or coffee. The last time I bought beans was from coffee farmers wife. She took several pounds of roasted with her to pick beans and I had to drive to the orchard to pick my purchase up. That's fresh! Kona coffee I think is over rated and do like the coffee grown on the Hilo side of the mountain. We do have some very good micro beers to. Kona Brewed beer I know is in Oregon and I believe Washington too. The Long Board Ale is good.
 
I just like it fresh

I don't like flavored coffee.

I like New England breakfast blend - Green Mountain Breakfast Blend - Dunkin Donuts - and yes I do like 8 O'Clock coffee.

I ground my own beans for many years - but I bean getting lazy lately and now I but it ground.

I do not like stah-bucks
 
Leo,
Enjoyed your story.. I used to like my coffee too.. For most of the years I was working, I had a cup of coffee sitting on my desk for 10-14 hours per day... didn't have the luxury of having my own machine but more often than not I made the coffee... most of the office hated my coffee... my last boss complained that when he hired me, his coffee expense more than doubled.
Usually first question everybody asked was "Did Chuck make the coffee?"..
I liked it strong and black... usually doubled the amount of coffee when I
made the coffee... everyone else made it way too weak.
 
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