My cheap instant coffee actually won me over after years of snobbery

I used to roll my eyes at the grocery store brand instant coffee, figured it was all sludge. But last month I ran out of beans and grabbed a $4 jar of Cafe Bustelo instead of driving 20 minutes to the specialty shop. Mixed it with a splash of oat milk and a tiny pinch of salt and it was genuinely good, not bitter at all. Now I keep a jar in the pantry for lazy mornings when I don't want to fire up the pour over. Has anyone else found a budget swap that surprised them?

3 comments

3 Comments

josephmartin10d ago

@phoenix_grant34, did you see that article about how store brands are actually winning taste tests now? I read something recently that said a lot of the generic stuff comes from the same factories as the name brands. My buddy worked at a food plant for a while and he told me they'd run the same thing through the line, just switch labels at the end. It makes you wonder if we've been paying extra for marketing this whole time.

phoenix_grant3410d ago

Right?! Same thing happened to me but with store brand ketchup. I bought the generic stuff to save a few bucks and honestly it's better than Heinz now. Way less sugar and tastes more like actual tomatoes. Makes you wonder what we're paying for with the fancy labels, huh?

annaw7310d ago

Oh man, @phoenix_grant34 you're spot on! I switched to store brand salsa last year and it's wild how much better it is than the name brand stuff. The generic one has chunks of actual jalapeno and cilantro, not just that weird gel they put in the expensive jars. I started checking ingredients on everything after that, honestly the store brands are cutting corners on sugar and fillers.