UCC Original

I haven’t talked about my own coffee ritual during this series yet, and for good reason. I have a small ‘single cup’ coffee maker that loves to dump the filter, so that coffee grounds get into my drink. It does take grounds, though, not disposable cups. I fill it with about two tablespoons of Cafe Bustelo, and brew. To that I add half and half and sugar, I don’t know how much off the top of my head, a lot. I stir well and let it chill overnight, so I can drink it once I get to class in the morning. I haven’t talked about this so far because UCC is the closest thing to that Cafe Bustelo with cream and sugar in terms of flavor of anything I’ve tried so far.

Now, my own coffee ritual is not gospel, in fact I think I’m already going to get hell for it from some members of my reader base, but it’s the one I like and its the one I do. Because of that UCC is one of my favorite coffees in this lineup because it tastes like what I’m used to. In regards to the cost of the serving, however… If I had to estimate based on how much coffee, cream and sugar I use I’d say that a YETI mug full of cold Joe costs about 35 cents to make in raw materials, so 3 or 4 cents an ounce? This one is 22.7 cents an ounce, making it one of the lowest on the board but still far from something of comparable taste.

It must be noted that this coffee also comes from Li Ming, but I have seen it at the local Popshelf store retailing for $2.99. They also had the UCC Caffe Latte, which we won’t be talking about until the very end of the omnibus. It also must be noted that this coffee also comes in a very, very thick can. Jeez, this thing must have gotten double servings at the factory commissary. It’s a linebacker of a can, goodness gracious. Save some aluminum for the rest of us! UCC would be my go-to brand, except it is a lot more expensive than Highlands or Pokka. Still, commonly found and delicious, certainly better than gas station coffee and a bit less expensive than the good stuff. Try it!

FLAVOR SCORE-7/8

VALUE SCORE-7/8