So I did this experiment with a Keurig machine, which as 
I've said I find to be wasteful and waste-generating, and 
who would want to make coffee by any method than French press?

So I've decided that the ideal strength of Keurig coffee
is the second pressing, as it were, reusing a pod after 
somebody else has brewed a cup of it.

Green Mountain breakfast blend decaf - this was light and mild,
almost sweet, good though mild aroma. Pretty smooth. The second
brewing from the same K-cup was not that much different. This
to me says damning things about the whole Keurig system and also
about the consuming yuppie public.

By contrast, Starbuck's dark roast is robust to the point of
caricature, with a strong burned aroma and taste. The second
cup was still too dark for me and had too much caffeine though
I'll bet/hope the first brewing took the most of it.

Trader Joe's dark roast was quite a bit smoother but less 
coffeeish and definitely less burned. It was okay in both
first and second brewings. P.S. I tried a secondhand cup
after the first serving had been brewed at 6 oz rather than
the usual 8 or even 10. It tasted decent but basically blew 
my head off.

More Trader Joe's things

Unexpected Cheddar - this is a revisit to a chunk that had 
been improperly wrapped and had gone dry on the outside. It 
is still milder than the claim and less than Parmesany; it 
is still in fact a fairly typical American Cheddar. The cool 
thing about this block was that it had a kind of tough skin 
that took extremely well to being fried, creating a hard
crunch outside with a very savory flavor and a softish 
bordering on chewy inside, still not very sharp; but with 
this sort of cool texture, who cares. I am going to buy some 
sometime and do this on purpose; I might try using a Cabot 
or Cracker Barrel in the same way in the distant future.

Unexpected Cheddar - this was another chunk from that same
batch but unopened maybe since the head of the year. It
remains much as above but has acquired a notable crumbliness.
Also, some crystals have begun to form. It's beginning to 
sharpen up and acquire some umami, but it's still not like
Parmesan.

Real balsamic vinegar from Modena - no, it's not.
It's an okay sweetish vinegar, not bad tasting but
without any depth whatever. It appears that the US
has no standard for balsamic vinegar nor for "from
Modena." It seems that one of our freedoms is the
freedom from truth.

Reduced Guilt chunky guacamole - this might be the
worst TJ's product I have ever encountered. It tastes
like sour milk with very little avocado flavor or in
fact anything you'd recognize as guacamole. Even (and
this may be a plus for some) there's no cilantro 
flavor despite its being listed in the ingredients.
What there is is lowfat Greek-style yogurt, making
a dubious idea into a true abomination. I cry foul in
ever so many ways.
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