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swehSo about 10 years ago I bought a Flavia Fusion coffee machine. This is a "packet" type coffee maker (you put a packet in, press a button, coffee comes out). In the home market it lost out to "pods", but it's still pretty big in corporate markets.
I got it because some mornings I really wasn't awake enough to deal with the standard American drip machine. "Insert packet, place mug, press button" vs "water in jug; water to machine, filter, scoop coffee, wait, transfer coffee to mug, throw away filter and grounds, clean jug". It's an indicator of how not-awake I can be that once I even forgot the mug and the Flavia started spurting coffee all over the place.
Now these packets are pretty expensive (it used to be 40c/packet 10 years ago; now it's more like 56c/packet today). But it really didn't matter that much; I only used one per work day, and maybe 2 or 3 on a weekend day.
But I've been out of work for a few months and noticed I was getting through 20 or more packs per week. OK, I guess that makes sense; 3 per day, same as weekends.
So I decided that I should switch back to the drip machine. A can of Maxwell House (I'm not a coffee snob; if I was I wouldn't have the Flavia in the first place!) cost $4 and gives me around 40 cups of coffee.
Except I drank those 40 cups in one week. So my consumption has over doubled. I was drinking 6 cups of coffee per day (and 3 more cups of decaf, for that matter!).
So why the change? The only difference is in how I make the coffee.
So the Flavia I make 1 cup at a time; but with the drip machine I make 3 cups
at a time. And so when my mug is empty I get up and refill. This leads to increased consumption.
(My costs have dropped despite the increase in consumption; instead of $12/week it's now only $4/week).
It's interesting how presentation can change consumption. "Because it is there" I drink more.
I got it because some mornings I really wasn't awake enough to deal with the standard American drip machine. "Insert packet, place mug, press button" vs "water in jug; water to machine, filter, scoop coffee, wait, transfer coffee to mug, throw away filter and grounds, clean jug". It's an indicator of how not-awake I can be that once I even forgot the mug and the Flavia started spurting coffee all over the place.
Now these packets are pretty expensive (it used to be 40c/packet 10 years ago; now it's more like 56c/packet today). But it really didn't matter that much; I only used one per work day, and maybe 2 or 3 on a weekend day.
But I've been out of work for a few months and noticed I was getting through 20 or more packs per week. OK, I guess that makes sense; 3 per day, same as weekends.
So I decided that I should switch back to the drip machine. A can of Maxwell House (I'm not a coffee snob; if I was I wouldn't have the Flavia in the first place!) cost $4 and gives me around 40 cups of coffee.
Except I drank those 40 cups in one week. So my consumption has over doubled. I was drinking 6 cups of coffee per day (and 3 more cups of decaf, for that matter!).
So why the change? The only difference is in how I make the coffee.
So the Flavia I make 1 cup at a time; but with the drip machine I make 3 cups
at a time. And so when my mug is empty I get up and refill. This leads to increased consumption.
(My costs have dropped despite the increase in consumption; instead of $12/week it's now only $4/week).
It's interesting how presentation can change consumption. "Because it is there" I drink more.
