They broke a Shulak family holiday tradition this year. They bought us something.
Now I happen to have strong personal feelings about spending good money for holiday presents. Frankly, I don't believe in it. I just don't like the idea of others spending their money on me.
As you probably know I did not celebrate Christmas growing up, putting all my belief in the Hanukkah Man instead.
It's much easier and more practical to say I, or in the case with Wanda for the past 27 years, we don't need or want anything.
At this point in time we buy Christmas presents for our grand kids and have breakfast at Jennifer and Eric's.
Wanda and I go over to the kids' house for food and holiday cheer. This year when we arrived I noticed a good sized wrapped box on the kitchen table. It was for us.
Despite all our requests for a gift free holiday we received a new coffee maker. And not just any coffee maker but a fancy new modern Keurig coffee maker. I've come so far in the last fifty years. When I was sixteen I was most concerned with bra cup size and now I am about to enter the world of K-cups.
The first thing I had to do when we got home was get the machine out of the box. Thank goodness for me it came with instructions.
Once the appliance was removed, which was no easy task; I washed and put it together. I was ready to enjoy a cup of coffee, tea, or even hot chocolate.
This Cuisinart has a built in charcoal water filter. I decided to put it on the counter next to the sink. I could use regular tap water from the spray gun to fill the water reservoir therefore avoiding the use of plastic bottles.
After all, I figured, if I was going to add all the K-cups to land fills, it was the least I could do.
I was confused, this was a Cuisinart not a Keurig and so I did some research.
The Cuisinart SS-700 is a handsome-looking kitchen appliance with thoughtful design and durable-feeling construction. It is designed to make single servings of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate in less than a minute by way of a K-Cup brewer design licensed from Keurig.
Keurig is an American manufacturer of coffee brewers for both home and commercial use. It is a part of Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. Its main product is the K-Cup, a single-serving coffee brewing system.
Each K-Cup is a plastic container with a coffee filter inside. Ground coffee beans are packed in the K-Cup and sealed air-tight with a combination plastic and foil lid. When the K-Cup is placed in a Keurig brewer, the brewer punctures both the foil lid and the bottom of the K-Cup and forces hot water under pressure through the K-Cup and into a mug or cup. Initially used only for coffee, K-Cup varieties now include tea, hot chocolate, iced teas and coffee, as well as fruit drinks.
Keurig licenses its K-Cup technology to coffee roasters and tea makers.
Since
In 2013, nearly one-fifth of American households used K-Cups.
It took me some time but I eventually got it.
The new machine came with 4 boxes of a dozen samples. We had all types of coffee and tea to try. Hell, I even made a Chai Tea and I don't like the stuff. I drank, Dunkin' and Starbucks and Green Mountain Blend. I'm such a rebel, I made a cup of English Breakfast Tea and sipped it after dinner. Wanda and I were having a ball.
We checked Amazon for K-cups, we went looking at Costco. We thought we found a great blend only to discover they were Vue cups, which is an entirely different system.
The Vue packs are shorter, stockier, and work slightly
differently than the K-Cup. In addition, you can recycle a part of the Vue
pack, unlike a K-Cup.
Vue I now know is another designation for Keurig 2.0. So that is one less bit of information I need to consider......Vue...2.0...Vue...2.0...same thing!
In addition to finding a decent brand I had to experiment with strength. The machine has settings from 4 to 12 ounce cups. At .30 to $1 a cup I didn't want to make muddy or watered down swill. My friend Ruth is a fellow coffee drinker and she has a wealth of Keurig and K-cup experience. She sent me a detailed Email with recipes for success and various brands to try and I thank her for that.
I have been a Starbucks customer for years. I've been a Gold card member since 2010. To keep my status I've purchased at least thirty drinks per year for four years.
At an average of $3.50 per drink that's $420.00 but I'm sure I've spent three times that.
Each time buy a drink Starbucks gives me a gold star (I seldom got them in school) it's called a reward. When I accumulate a dozen I get a free drink. I also have my choice of any drink free on my birthday. Well, not actually on my birthday but around my birthday. So last month Wanda and I went to Starbucks and I ordered my free drink only to be told by the clerk I didn't have one on my account.
Ignoring the five impatient people behind me in line I asked her to double check.
Ignoring the five impatient people behind me in line I asked her to double check.
"I'm sorry I don't see any reward on your account," she said as she scratched her nose.
Damn it! I was really looking forward to that Venti Caramel Peppermint Macchiato with an add shot.
"OK, never mind. Just give me a Grande Non-fat Latte and I'll pay for it."
When I got home I checked my card status and indeed had a free birthday reward coming, so I called Starbucks customer service. The call only took 15 minutes and 18 seconds. I was told the problem was my drink request. I asked for my REWARD rather than my BIRTHDAY REWARD and the barista had no way of knowing the difference.
Hey Starbucks.....see this?
Thanks Jennifer, Eric and Nick for this wonderful present.
We haven't slept since Christmas.
1 comment:
You will not like my response to your post but here goes. On a scale of thrifty, we beat you hands down in the coffee department. We pay about $7-$9 dollars on a can of folgers that makes 240 6oz. cups. Can't do the k-cups due to thriftiness. Eric has asked us about the machine too but he knows us too well. But----you & Wanda beat us hands down in the gas & electric bill (even with Alan's 25% discount) so I presume we even.
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