7-Eleven Coffee

Like most people, I need to have coffee to start my day. I usually prepare a pot at home to get me through my morning routine. But I often find that's not enough to get me started at work, so once I get to work, I buy another cup of coffee. 7-Eleven coffee.

The coffee station at 7-Eleven is brewing like mad between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. They must have at least fourteen different pots with all sorts of flavors. This isn't coffee that's been sitting around waiting for takers. A 7-Eleven employee mans the station brewing constantly. I drink the hazelnut.

But why 7-Eleven? You probably think I have no other choice, but not so. Actually, on the same block there is a Dunkin' Donuts and, wait for it, a Starbucks. But for my morning fix, I drink 7-Eleven. Hazelnut.

Let's get the easy one out of the way. Dunkin' Donuts. Their coffee isn't actually that bad. However, why do they insist on fixing it themselves? I don't like for others to put cream in my coffee (except for my sweetheart who knows just how I like it). Just because I like cream in my coffee doesn't mean I want my coffee to look pale. There is an exact shade of creaminess that only I know. Therefore, I've never been happy with a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee. And frankly, even though the coffee is not that bad, it's really not that good either. Dunkin' Donuts does donuts, and coffee is an afterthought. I don't like afterthought coffee.

But why not Starbucks? I mean, Starbucks is all about coffee, right? Well, yes, I suppose. Starbucks is the McDonald's of coffee. There's no room for variation. There's an exact formula for coffee and coffee drinks. I don't believe that's how coffee should be made. Coffee is a personal experience. A person who makes coffee or espresso drinks should understand the art of coffee and feel a connection between themselves and the drink they are creating. But Starbucks doesn't want that. Most chains don't want that. They need consistency to sell their product. They want you to know that no matter which Starbucks you enter, you will get the same taste every time. And the taste of a regular cup of joe just isn't that good. I don't agree with the Starbucks brewing technique. I don't know what they do, but I don't like the results. The coffee is either too bitter or acidic. I like a smooth, full-bodied coffee. Starbucks coffee tastes burnt or stale to me. Now, if I want a latte or iced latte, I will go to Starbucks. But I don't drink those everyday. For my morning jump start, it's got to be a regular cup of joe.

Okay, so given that I'm a coffee snob, how do I bring myself to drink regular ole coffee from 7-Eleven? I like the simplicity of it. They know they are brewing just regular coffee. And they know how important that coffee is to the scores of coffee drinkers that come in every morning. They have that connection. Someone is there to watch over the coffee counter, wipe it down regularly, brew coffee as soon as it's needed, wipe down the counter again, make sure the cream is full, make sure you have everything you need to make that essential cup of joe. It's just that simple. Is it good? Well, it's not great. It's not that kind of coffee great that you get at a good restaurant after a fabulous meal. Or that kind of bagel shop great where the folks know a bagel tastes better with a great cup of coffee. But it's definitely good enough. And I just drink the flavored kind to make up for the lack of quality. It's a psychological trick, but it works.

You'll find that my coffee snobbery works in mysterious ways, but after a while you'll catch on to what I find important in the world of java.

So today is a very happy day for me. My partner, Caroline, just returned from a 10-day trip to Finland during which time we didn't get to communicate that much. I missed her terribly. But this morning we woke up together and everything felt right and normal again. Driving into work, I felt really good. When I stopped into 7-Eleven, they had bananas at just the right ripeness, and that made me even happier. So when I got to the counter, I decided today would be a good day to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket. I could feel it would be a winner. And it was! $2. That's a 100% return on my money. Life is good.