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Sarah McCarthy

At any big brand coffee shop the coffee is much more expensive than what you would pay for by making it yourself. New coffee making technology and machines that have recently come out makes brewing coffee at home easier, and even a better tasting product. Many say that the coffee they make at home can compete with what is made at big brand coffee shops. In addition, when at home someone can also choose to add as much or as little sugar needed. This is different from coffee shops, because the baristas decide the sugar to add and don't carry it based on customer preference. The freedom of coffee choice and flexibility at home creates a viable option for coffee enthusiasts to enjoy. Junior Anna Scheel explains, "Making coffee at home is totally a viable alternative to going to a shop everyday. It might take some upfront cost and tweaking of your drinks but after awhile it's almost easier to just make your own than having to frame your morning around having to make a detour to Starbucks."

Everyone has heard of big coffee shop brands such as Starbucks, Caribou, or Dunn Brothers, but few people know the truth about these brands. Although coffee is naturally good for one’s health, when high calorie sugars, milks and sweetners are added, the healthy part about coffee becomes unrecognizable. Natural News cited that Starbucks is only 1.1% organic coffee. The root of the reason why people find themselves purchasing from large coffee brands is not for their health, but for the convenience and the popular brand. Anyone is willing to walk around with a name brand coffee, due to its signature label being slapped on the front.

Large coffee companies have become trendy and a way to boost one’s status. The amount of photos of people holding big company coffee cups being posted on social media has become overwhelming. It has become less about the quality of the drink, and more about where the coffee was purchased. Even when there are plenty of available at home options for the average coffee consumer, they still are drawn to the expensive name brand option.

When someone goes into a big brand coffee shop the typical drinks for purchase range anywhere from 300-500 calories. The pastries aren’t safe either, a carrot cake is around 600 calories. According to the Healthy Weight Forum, a simple muffin and coffee breakfast carries over 1,000 calories, which is a lunch and supper meal combined. The root of why there is so much added sugars to big brand coffee is that the coffee comes out tasting bitter and burnt during the production process.

Senior Brooke Espelien explained, “Local shops or at home coffee machines use actual espresso machines where you pound the espresso every time you make a shot, but when you go to Starbucks you click a button and it goes out of a machine. And so the espresso typically tastes really bad because they use the same beans for like five drinks, and then they cover it up using their sugars and syrups.”

The United States thrives on consumerism and popular branding. People in this day and age are consumed by the pressure to buy name brand popular products. Big coffee brands have become yet another popular consumer product, and it’s not just about the actual quality of coffee for customers anymore, it’s about what’s on the label. Walking around with a big brand coffee in hand has become a national symbol of a ‘high class’ citizen, because it shows they can afford spending over five dollars on coffee everyday.

Senior Kallie Quist said, “Big coffee chains have become popular because it’s become such a mainstream subculture. People don’t care if you’re drinking coffee, they care where you got your coffee.”

However, there are better alternatives to big brand coffee companies. There are hundreds of ways to enjoy coffee at home, for much cheaper and much healthier. The average one pound of bag of coffee beans or grounds can make about 20 ounces of coffee a day for up to 16 days, and this bag costs on average $11. At big brand coffee shops a customer typically can only get two drinks for the same eleven dollars. With price differences like these, it’s impossible not to second guess buying from a big brand shop everyday. Not only that, but by making coffee at home, someone can personalize the strength of their coffee, as well as what type of beans/grounds are to be used to make the coffee.

Junior Anna Scheel explained, “After you ditch spending $5 on one cup off coffee, and instead spend that $5 on a creamer for 2 weeks the cost difference becomes horrifyingly noticeable. It saves a ton of money to make your own coffee in the morning.”

Espelien concluded, “People just like it [big coffee brands] because they think it tastes really good, but their packing in the calories to make up for the fact that their coffee doesn’t taste that great. “