Eight O'Clock Coffee

After recently rediscovering Chock-Full-O-Nuts Coffee, I waxed nostalgic. Caught up in my musings of younger days, I decided to submerse myself in another historical coffee... Eight O’Clock Coffee. My grandmother in Cleveland used to serve Eight O’Clock Coffee, which she purchased at the local A&P Store. I rediscovered this coffee in the early 1990's at another store which used to be an A&P. I thought that the A&P brand, like Bell Telephone was broken up in the 1980's because it had become too big. However, I found a history of A&P which does not mention anything about these events. Although the stores no longer carry that name, it appears that they are still owned by a single entity in Germany. I talk about the history of A&P when discussing Eight O’Clock coffee, because this bean was the signature blend of the A&P chain, which as a tea company at it’s founding in 1859. This trademark blend was launched in 1919.

After drinking Eight O’Clock coffee again, I was wholly unimpressed. I don’t know where the appeal for this blend came from, but I used to drink it in the early 1990's fairly regularly. Of course, in the early 1990's we didn’t have nearly the selection we have now. I would still prefer Eight O’Clock coffee over Maxwell House, which is about the most disgusting coffee I have ever consumed. I would rank Folger’s a step ahead of Maxwell House and about even with Eight O’Clock coffee. The appeal of this brand for me when I was drinking it was probably that it was as good as any other coffee on the shelf at that time for a fraction of the cost. Currently, this blend runs around $3.50 at Wal–Mart. That is almost a dollar more for a 12 ounce bag than Chock-Full-O-Nuts (which gives you an extra ounce...13 ounces in all), which is a superior blend. In other words, this coffee is a good value at the price point, but not nearly the best value at this price point.

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