Million Dollar Question: What happened to the aroma that coffee once had ??

[LNK]

I'm 72 years old and drink coffee daily..THE BIG QUESTION...what happened to the aroma coffee once had...I have used Ma well and Folgers for a life time.Neither now has that wake up aroma any more.I use a drip type machine....any idea ?

 

[PinkRose]

Hello LNK,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums website.

Maxwell House and Folger's coffee still have a bit of an aroma when you first open the container. Those coffees are ground and placed into the cans (plastic jugs) and they are sealed tight - until you open them. The gasses and aroma escape as soon as you open the container. Those coffees sit on the store shelves for a very long time, and they lose a lot of their aroma. I have my doubts about the plastic containers actually being air tight until you open the top. I still remember the distinctive "hiss" that used to hear (many years ago) when I opened a can of coffee using a real can opener. I have a feeling you're missing that "hiss" along with the coffee aroma that instantly followed it.

If you really want the aroma of coffee to waft through your house, you'll need to buy some freshly roasted coffee (whole beans or ground). Buying whole beans and grinding them yourself (as you need them) is the best way to get the best coffee aroma, but that can be a bit of a chore. If you buy the coffee beans and have them ground for you, you'll still get the aroma, but it won't last for long.

The only other option is to buy a coffee scented candle, but I have a feeling that would be going in a whole different direction, and it's not what you're looking for.

~ Rose

 

[Kudzu]

...I still remember the distinctive "hiss" that used to hear (many years ago) when I opened a can of coffee using a real can opener.

Do you remember when coffee cans came with a metal "key" stuck to the bottom to open them by winding off a strip of metal around the side of the can near the top?

 

[PinkRose]

Do you remember when coffee cans came with a metal "key" stuck to the bottom to open them by winding off a strip of metal around the side of the can near the top?

Wow! Yes I do. I forgot all about it - until now, that is.

The metal key came with canned hams, too. I rarely got the key to work to unwind the metal strip without complications. I used to have to use a pair of pliers in order to finish opening the can. Those metal strips were sharp, too. That metal key is certainly one thing from "the olden days" that I'll never miss. I never liked those canned hams, and I don't miss them either.

I do, however miss the smell of coffee when I used to open the can. Maxwell House was what my parents used to buy when I was a kid. I don't remember when Folgers started appearing on the shelves.

Thanks for the memories.

~ Rose

 

[PinkRose]

I'm 72 years old and drink coffee daily..THE BIG QUESTION...what happened to the aroma coffee once had...I have used Ma well and Folgers for a life time.Neither now has that wake up aroma any more.I use a drip type machine....any idea ?

I work in a café a few days a week. I grind coffee and brew coffee all day long. Quite often, people come into the café and say how much they love the smell of the coffee.

I don't smell it anymore. It's disappointing, because I used to enjoy the aroma when the coffee was brewing. However, when I go into the shop where I buy my roasted coffee beans, I can smell the coffee there. I have a friend who works in a chocolate shop, and she says that she can't smell the chocolate anymore.

As they say in the commercials for air fresheners, sometimes we become "nose blind" to our surroundings.

Maybe the pleasant aroma of coffee is there when you brew the coffee, but after years of experiencing the same aroma over and over again, you can't smell it anymore - or it just doesn't smell as good as you remember.

 

[Jackchan]

I have used regular Maxwell House for many years, they have changed their packaging recently. Whether or not they made any changes to the coffees, I do not konw.