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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Consumer Reports finds some of the best coffees cost the least
Here’s a sneak peek at a story scheduled to run in Friday’s (2-13-09) Dayton Daily News.
Sometimes a cuppa joe isn’t just a cuppa joe.
In its March 2009 issue, Consumer Reports magazine (www.consumerreports.org) assembled a group of coffee experts and asked them to taste-test several coffees made from ground 100 percent Colombian beans and sold in coffee shops and grocery stores nationwide. The results were surprising. Consider:
— Some of the best coffees cost the least money. The magazine’s top-rated caffeinated brew was Eight O’Clock Coffee, which the magazine said cost less than half the price of some of the more expensive brands in the taste-test. At $6.28 per pound, the Eight O’Clock 100 percent Colombian coffee was designated a “Best Buy” by the magazine for having the “best combination of taste and price.”
— Folgers Gourmet Selections Lively Colombian Decaf Medium Roast was among the top-rated decaffeinated coffees despite its low 11-cents-a-cup price tag, and was rated higher than Starbucks house blend medium decaf that costs more than twice as much. Dunkin’ Donuts decaf, at 19 cents a cup, was awarded the top rating among decaffeinated coffees, and the 14-cent-a-cup Millstone decaf medium roast joined Folgers among the top-rated decafs.
— If there was a loser in the ratings, it was Starbucks, which the magazine said “didn’t even place among the top regular coffees and trailed among decafs” despite a 25-cent-per cup price tag (a penny more for decaf). But not all of the humble brews fared well. Long-standing coffees Chock full o’Nuts and Maxwell House contained “off notes (and) little complexity,” the magazine said.
The results came as a bit of a surprise to Henry Dean, vice president of operations for Dayton-based Boston Stoker, which operates 10 coffee shops in the Miami Valley, including three in Dorothy Lane Market grocery stores and two at the Dayton International Airport. Boston Stoker had no coffees in the magazine’s taste test.
Dean said he feels Starbucks offers a higher quality of coffee than Eight O’Clock or Millstone, but he’s not surprised at the high rating for Dunkin’ Donut’s decaf.
“Everybody is upgrading their coffees, including McDonald’s,” Dean said.
Still, he’d love to see a rematch that would include Boston Stoker, which Dean said “provides the highest quality beans and serves it as fresh as possible.”
“I would love it,” Dean said of a taste test against the other national and regional brands. “I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
Consumer Reports offered advice for coffee drinkers to make a brew that truly is good to the last drop: choose a good coffeemaker, and consider grinding your own. “Even the best pre-ground coffee can’t beat the best fresh-ground when it comes to taste,” the magazine said.
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TweetLocal ice cream shop closes
Earlier this week, when we wrote about the abrupt closing of the Ruby Tuesday in Huber Heights, I received an email from a reader who wrote, “Our favorite ice cream place, the Marble Slab Creamery, closed without a notice here in Huber Heights as well. It was a favorite spot here with many of us.”
I drove up to the ice cream shop at 7805 Waynetowne Blvd., just off Ohio 202 and Interstate 70, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, and coincidentally, got there just a couple of hours after the auction of all of the ice cream shop’s contents. An auctioneer was still there, and although he didn’t know exactly when the shop closed, he noted that the auction “went very well.”
I wrote about Marble Slab Creamery’s opening back in May 2007. The franchise owner at that time was Scott Stewart, and he was pleased to be affiliated with the Houston-based chain that operated 539 locations in 35 states. I wasn’t able to reach Stewart this week.
The closing leaves only two Marble Slab Creamery shops in Ohio: in Dublin and Newark.
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TweetRestaurant Week shatters previous records, may embrace 2-week format
Dayton-area diners didn’t let a little cold weather — or a little ice, or a lot of snow — stand in their way of grabbing a bargain meal.
Winter 2009 Restaurant Week shattered all previous records, with the number of meals served already reaching 20,686 with six of the 57 participating restaurants still waiting to report, according to Amy Zahora, executive director of the Miami Valley Restaurant Association.
The previous record was 12,051 set just last summer.
Now with this winter’s Restaurant Week extended for a full second week by all but a handful of the 57 participating restaurants, it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, but the numbers are very impressive, as was the record number of restaurants that chose to participate this time around. And the two-week run of Restaurant Week didn’t exactly occur during a balmy stretch of weather most conducive to dining out.
The two charities that will benefit from the record turnout — SICSA and Hannah’s Treasure Closet — must be pleased, since $1 from every meal will be split by the two non-profits.
The restaurant association and the restaurants are exploring whether to make Restaurant Week a two-week event, Zahora said. The restaurant owners and managers are hashing out the pros and cons. It might be that restaurants would have the option to “sign up” for one or for two weeks.
What do you think of the two-week format?
Click here to read “our reviews and yours” of Restaurant Week.
The Summer 2009 Restaurant Week will be held from July 26-31. Mark your calendars!
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