The Coffee Stash

I used to work for Starbucks.

I really enjoyed my time at the buck. I started the summer after my sophomore year in college, and continued in the summers until graduation, when I moved to Chicago and worked at a different Starbucks. It was a good gig. The people are generally cool on both sides of the counter, the hours aren't too bad (sure you're either opening the store at 5am or closing around 9, but you either start work at like 2, or get done at 3 so it really isn't that bad), and if you work there (at least when I was there) at least 20 hours a week, you get benefits. PLUS a free pound of coffee a week.

One pound of coffee each week.

Do you have any idea of how much coffee that is?

It's a lot of coffee. When I was living at home I would stock up on coffee I liked when it was available - like New Guinea Peaberry, which is only available every couple of years or so - the rest of the time I would give my pound a week to my mom or I'd get tea or something. I brought some coffee to school with me and I always had plenty for the entire school year. When I moved to Chicago, I lived with my aunt and uncle for a month and then I moved to a different aunt and uncle's house. That first month I didn't have a job, I just did odd jobs around their house. I didn't pay rent. I moved to the next aunt and uncle house and started my job search, going to Starbucks first so that I could get health insurance, should the whole job search thing not be as quick as I would like. When I started at Starbucks, I started giving my first hosts Italian or French Roast every once in a while because they made espresso in the mornings and those make good espressos. I gave my other aunt some decaf, some mild roast that they'd like and started building a good stock of coffee in their freezer. I would also save some coffee for me.

Then, at Christmas, my aunt got an espresso machine. See, there's one week where Starbucks gives their employees a bigger discount than usual and the Barista Espresso machines were on sale. Not to sound like a corporate drone or anything, but those machines are awesome. They are really high quality and they make an excellent shot of espresso. It doesn't take much to learn how to use it, either. Anyway, so with the big discount, I bought a machine for myself and my aunt bought one, which I taught her how to use. So, now I was giving her espresso too.

My younger brother also worked for Starbucks for a while, though we were never at the same store at the same time.

The point of all of this is: It has been six years since I worked for Starbucks. This past week, I had to buy coffee. Seriously. I mean, a pound a week is 52 pounds of coffee a year. I am the only coffee drinker in my house and I don't make it everyday. My brother did give me some coffee when he still worked there and I didn't, but still. I quit Starbucks six years ago, and I just now ran out of coffee.