FAX: Never be ashamed of having taste.
Back to helping Buck with his current problem at work. Faced with authoritarian cheap management with bad taste who won't provide decent coffee, the coffee lover is left with few options. Buy coffee every day? Too pricey and the coffee probably still isn't any good. Instant? Those Starbucks instant packs aren't bad in a pinch, but are better left to the survival bunker and camping gear. It's also important to note that Starbucks instant is made with microground beans. That taster's choice is a freeze dried cup of coffee. Huge difference.
Pour over isn't a bad option, but you end up standing around while people judge you based on your fiddly brew method and it's time consuming.
The French press is another, but as any person who's used one can attest to it's a pain to clean and uses a high volume of beans. Plus there's the problem in keeping what's in the press but won't fit into your first cup hot. A press that fits your mug of choice is likely smaller, but takes just as long to clean. The solution that's made my life at work a much nicer experience over the last year? The Aeropress.
If you've got one of those Bunn machines there that has hot water, you're really in business with this method. Sure, the water that comes out is closer to bath water than the 195-200 degree optimal brewing temperature but it's close enough.
Allow the Sandwich to demonstrate:
AeroPress “Ritual” from Sandwich Video on Vimeo.
Now there may be some difference in your at-work method with this little guy. I have my beans ground in advance by the fine folks in Brookside (to a 4 if you're curious) and keep them in a dark cabinet inside an airtight container. I use what's called the inverted method where the plunger is base while it steeps. This keeps more control over the exposure of water to the beans. This has the added bonus of being a real snap to prep in my office and minimizes my time with the jackals who are happy to slug down the crap that's distributed by management and don't understand that some people believe that life is too short to endure poor coffee or bad wine. I digress...
I walk into the break room, fill my mug with that crap decaf to warm the mug, fill the Aeropress and wait for two minutes. At the end of two minutes, I put the filter on, dump the crap decaf and press the coffee. Finally I top it off with some more hot water and I'm ready to retreat to my cave to enjoy the best coffee in the building. It takes about 5 minutes total.
Now here's the best part.
That Aeropress will cost you the same amount from Amazon as that ungodly disaster of the instant coffee that you originally posted.
So do your part in the fight against poor taste and say no to the cheap crap that has been foisted upon us by the accounting department. Say no to dealing with freeze dried bad coffee and say yes to the feeling of confidence and superiority that comes from knowing that your coffee is superior to everyone else's around you.