I had my breakfast tray at rehab ('nother story)
On it was a innocent packet of Bustelo instant coffee. I don’t drink much coffee.
But I have this odd desire to smell things lately. Things smell weird to me now.
I opened it and breathed the aroma in. OMG! I loved it.
I tasted the granules. Oh, I like that!
We were going home. I had Ivy stop and buy me a jar.
Well, now I’m a little wired (no, not weird). I’ve decided I’m not eating anymore. Tonight.
Bustelo is hella strong-flavored & strongly caffiene-y. It’s the indiscriminate sledgehammer of coffee. There are lots of tastier and less aggressive Latin American coffees to enjoy, but Bustelo has mass market distribution in the US.
Don’t worry, a full pot of Bustelo never causes explosive diarrhea while bed-ridden. Never.
I lived for a while, some decades ago, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Bustelo was the standard coffee of the neighborhood bodegas – the New York Puerto Rican much-better-than-convenience stores. Great stuff; I’m glad to see that it has become more popular and more available. The taste comes from its being more heavily roasted than milder-tasting coffees. Won’t do anything to you that much blander coffee will, as far as anyone knows.
I’m sipping some moka pot Bustelo right now. Just picked up a couple of bricks at the store on sale for $3 off the regular price. I also really like Cafe du Monde’s coffee/chicory blend, but the price went up by almost $4 a can this year.
I drink a cup of Cafe Bustelo every morning. I might buy a cup of some other kind of coffee while on the road once in a blue moon, but 95% of the coffee I drink is Bustelo instant espresso.
I bought a small can of Folger’s French Silk. When I used it in my French Press, a friend forbade me to use it in my own house when she was around.
Cleaning out a French Press is rather disgusting and messy. Coffee grounds under the fingernails, ick. I splurged on K-cups of French Silk, and then enjoyed crawling into a big cup of that in the AM.
To me, Bustelo has a slight sour taste that I don’t really care for.
Morning routine: 3 scoops 100% Colombian coffee + 1 scoop Café Bustelo in a french press. After 2 cups of the resulting elixir, I’m ready to solve all the world’s problems. Without it…I’m going back to bed.
This barista says a cup of Bustelo contains 60–90 mg of caffeine, whereas a cup of Lavazza has 47–75 mg. If your Italian coffee is not strong enough, just make a quadruple ristretto.
I often use an espresso coffee in my regular drip coffeemaker. I really like the flavor but I’m not always in the mood for the coffee-concentrate effect of the espresso pot.
