I was talking to my Mom yesterday and she was telling me she had gone out that day, which doesn't happen all that often and that she had needed to fill up her fuel tank. Because she goes out so rarely, filling up her car happens very infrequently. So she was quite surprised to find that with 1/4 tank still left, the fill up had cost her over $40! Now that's nothing new to me. I drive an SUV and, while I don't drive all that much, my weekly fill ups cost me at least that much.
Once again, the price of gasoline is becoming a hot national topic. The cost of oil is broadcast daily, and nearly all of us at this point shudder as the prices goes beyond $100 per barrel. We know that before long, we'll be feeling the pain at the pump. With Spring just beginning and the fact that gas prices always rise in warm weather as people travel more, a $4 gallon of gas can only be a few days away. And who knows from there? $5 a gallon and beyond sometime this summer seems almost inevitable.
So I was thinking about this yesterday, after talking to Mom. At the time I was thinking about it, I had a cup of coffee in my hand. I love coffee. I love the diversity that single word encompasses. Some roasts are so light and the flavor so delicate, you hesitate to put even a small amount of milk into it. Others are so intense, they have to be mixed half-and-half with milk. (I'll bet you're thinking I've gone completely off topic here, don't you? Hang on a minute. I've got a point coming.) I particularly love those coffees with that rich, smoky flavor that is very near the same taste as a really good cigar. And yes, I do know what a really good cigar tastes like! But that really is getting off topic.
Because I enjoy those flavors, I really like Starbucks coffee. So I was thrilled when they recently came out with their coffee in K-cups for my Keurig single-cup coffee machine. YUM! I love to fix that first cup of the day. As its brewing, the incredible aroma fills my entire kitchen. Just the smell, alone, is enough to get you wide awake. I prepare a batch of milk foam, add a sprinkle of cinnamon (the really good stuff), and just a tiny sprinkle of sugar over that (amazing flavor, if you haven't tried it). There's just no better way to start the day.
But Starbucks coffee is expensive. Go into any of the zillion and one of their stores, and you'll pay $3.50 for a disposable cup of of their joe. $3.50! At least!!! Even the K-cups are more expensive than other brands. A tiny box of only 10 pods will cost you $10 in any grocery store. $1 per cup of home-brewed coffee. Whew!
So there I am. Sitting with my $1 coffee in hand and thinking about my Mom paying $40 for a tank of gas. Now I'm certain I'm not the only person to have ever had this epiphany. And by now, you've probably figured out where I'm going. What if our cars ran on coffee, instead of gasoline?
There are 16 cups in a gallon. Just my cheap Starbucks K-cups would figure out to be $16 per gallon. Go to the "premium" pre-brewed from a Starbucks store, and you'd be spending $28 per gallon (I figured there are 2 cups of coffee in one of their ventis). This would mean that filling up the 13 gallon tank of my SUV would run me between $208 and $364! You know what I say?
Thank God we got cheap gas, cuz we sure ain't got cheap coffee.
Once again, the price of gasoline is becoming a hot national topic. The cost of oil is broadcast daily, and nearly all of us at this point shudder as the prices goes beyond $100 per barrel. We know that before long, we'll be feeling the pain at the pump. With Spring just beginning and the fact that gas prices always rise in warm weather as people travel more, a $4 gallon of gas can only be a few days away. And who knows from there? $5 a gallon and beyond sometime this summer seems almost inevitable.
So I was thinking about this yesterday, after talking to Mom. At the time I was thinking about it, I had a cup of coffee in my hand. I love coffee. I love the diversity that single word encompasses. Some roasts are so light and the flavor so delicate, you hesitate to put even a small amount of milk into it. Others are so intense, they have to be mixed half-and-half with milk. (I'll bet you're thinking I've gone completely off topic here, don't you? Hang on a minute. I've got a point coming.) I particularly love those coffees with that rich, smoky flavor that is very near the same taste as a really good cigar. And yes, I do know what a really good cigar tastes like! But that really is getting off topic.
Because I enjoy those flavors, I really like Starbucks coffee. So I was thrilled when they recently came out with their coffee in K-cups for my Keurig single-cup coffee machine. YUM! I love to fix that first cup of the day. As its brewing, the incredible aroma fills my entire kitchen. Just the smell, alone, is enough to get you wide awake. I prepare a batch of milk foam, add a sprinkle of cinnamon (the really good stuff), and just a tiny sprinkle of sugar over that (amazing flavor, if you haven't tried it). There's just no better way to start the day.
But Starbucks coffee is expensive. Go into any of the zillion and one of their stores, and you'll pay $3.50 for a disposable cup of of their joe. $3.50! At least!!! Even the K-cups are more expensive than other brands. A tiny box of only 10 pods will cost you $10 in any grocery store. $1 per cup of home-brewed coffee. Whew!
So there I am. Sitting with my $1 coffee in hand and thinking about my Mom paying $40 for a tank of gas. Now I'm certain I'm not the only person to have ever had this epiphany. And by now, you've probably figured out where I'm going. What if our cars ran on coffee, instead of gasoline?
There are 16 cups in a gallon. Just my cheap Starbucks K-cups would figure out to be $16 per gallon. Go to the "premium" pre-brewed from a Starbucks store, and you'd be spending $28 per gallon (I figured there are 2 cups of coffee in one of their ventis). This would mean that filling up the 13 gallon tank of my SUV would run me between $208 and $364! You know what I say?
Thank God we got cheap gas, cuz we sure ain't got cheap coffee.
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