From: mcconnel@b11.b11.ingr.com (Guy McConnell)
Subject: Re: Mail Order Coffee Suggestions
Reply-To: mcconnel@b11.b11.ingr.com (Guy McConnell)
Organization: Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 1992 17:00:15 GMT

In article <21983@sybase.sybase.com> leighann@sybase.com (Leigh Ann Hussey Oster) writes:
>Magnus says that Gevalia is most popular in Sweden because of the price,
>but over here, the price is far from competetive; $10/lb as I recall, or
>maybe $20, for coffee that I couldn't wait to get rid of.  And the
>idiots kept phoning me after I'd cancelled my "subscription" to say,
>"Why did you quit."  No amount of diplomacy would suffice, and I finally
>had to say, "Your coffee stinks and it's too expensive; I can get better
>coffee at half the price half a mile from my house."
>
>So stay away.  The marketing gimmickware is cute (I still use the
>canister), but the coffee isn't even close to worth it.

    Granted Gevalia is not the premier coffee supplier for the
serious coffee afficianado but I think you're being a little rough
on them.  I have been a member three different times over the years
(got the cannisters the first two times and the 4-cup drip
coffeemaker this time around) and have been generally satisfied
since I know what to expect.  As another poster mentioned, the
coffee is always fresh at the least.  If they have a sin, it is in
the fact that their standard blend and roast is inoffensive to the
greatest number of people, much the same way that mass-produced beer
is (this *is*, after all, rec.food.drink!).  They have darker roasts
for those who want fuller flavor and my most recent shipment mix was
a pound of "Dark Roast" and a pound of "Espresso Roast".  I keep my
shipments spread out to 8 weeks apart and buy coffee from my local
roastery in between.  I recently suspended shipment of my regular
Gevalia coffees and I'll go into why in a bit.  The coffemaker is
great for use here at work and the regular coffee beats coffee from
the grocery store by a wide margin.  They also have a "special
selections" service that will ship four different varietal coffees
at four different times a year (3 months apart, a different coffee
each shipment).
    As for their calling and asking "Why did you quit?", I have only
had them call once each time after I quit.  My answer was the same;
that their standard blend was not above average and that they did
not allow one to get the Special Selections without also receiving
the regular coffee.  The reason I suspended shipment of their
regular coffee recently is that they have changed this policy.  I am
still a member but all I will recieve is their quarterly shipment of
a varietal coffee.  I still get the catalog, etc.  Apparently I
wasn't the only one who requested this.  I have found that their
regular blend is good for serving people who, like my parents and
in-laws, do not appreciate coffee made to the strength God intended.
Both my parents and in-laws buy supermarket coffee and put three
scoops to 10 - 12 cups of water.  They can handle the regular
Gevalia at its regular roast almost at full strength and I don't
have to drink stump water.  Just another data point.

--
Guy McConnell  guy@mspe5.b11.ingr.com