So basically you can get 350 cups of coffee from either container. I do find it misleading that they get this with LESS coffee in the container, however.

I was just thinking that. 3lbs is a lot. Opening and closing that container, exposing the coffee grounds to the air just kills what little taste the Folger's might have had.

Addition by subtraction.

I've got to hand it to Folder's. They are getting creative to the point that they are refying the laws of physics!

@bavb:

Buy a container and let us know if you are correct.

I'll get you! I'll kill you all!! As God is my witness...

[www.ebaumsworld.com]

IE: My Mother in law uses a store bought dark roast, and does three heaping tablespoons for a pot (12ish cups). It's STRONG! At home, I buy the beans and grind them myself, and the ones I get take about one heaping tablespoon PER CUP and it's still not as strong as my Mother in law's three tablespoons.

Density is an intrinsic quality for a substance.

I think what many of you are referring to is the "bulk density" which accounts for the volume of the substance, its pores and the air pockets between particles (i.e. it depends on how you pack it down).

Bulk density is an extrinsic quality for a substance.

I think this is just another case of marketing gurus gone wild.

@donopolis: Coarser grind = more air pockets between each crystal = less density = less weight for the same volume.

Any questions?

A coffee cup is officially calculated as around 5 ounces I think, I can't seem to find it online after a quick search (Anyway between 4-6).

Coffee producers stop planting when the price is low, and plant extra when the price is high. The problem is it takes 3 years for a plant to start producing enough beans to pay for itself, and by then, 3 years of heavy planting means the price drops dramatically for a few years so they stop planting until old trees start dying off, demand exceeds supply, and the planting starts again.

This is one of the main reasons to buy fair wage coffee -- the price is guaranteed so they don't boom/bust as other coffee plantations have for over 150 years, leading to a more stable planting policy with an emphasis on using the land for a lot longer, leading to more ecologically friendly plantations.

Somehow they squeezed an extra 5.96 ounces of prepared coffee out of every ounce weight of coffee.

@MrFreshy: but what if it's sawdust from the coffee plant stalks? eh, smart guy?

I think the thing to keep in mind is that anyone buying 3 pounds of pre-ground coffee is clearly not concerned with the taste of their coffee.

Using volume for measuring dry goods is a sham anyway. I can show you a tablespoon of Folger's that weighs 4 grams and another tablespoon that weighs 7. The fudge factor that changes 360 cups to 380 cups is well within the packing margin of error.

Maybe if the poster would have taken a scoop from the old coffee and compared it to a scoop from the new coffee, we would have a better picture of this mystery. If they reduced the amount of the same coffee, then chances are that they would also reduce the size of the container to avoid the visual impression of getting less coffee. The containers look to be the same size, so it might point to a new processing technique. Explore all angles first.

Unfortunately, many get caught up in the hysteria before getting to that point.

There seems to be a double shrink effect going on here, unless they've found a way to pack more flavor into less bean.

See kids, math is important.

@whoneedslight : A cup is 8 ounces.. NOT 12 ounces like your mug holds.

@EBounding: Beat me to it.

@EBounding: I would like to buy your million cup coffee.

I'm pretty sure that's the BS marketing logic. :P

@dorianh49: Win!

I think Folger's is counting on the Grocery Shrink Ray affecting cup sizes.

I'm Maxwell House kinda guy. That shit is good to the last drop.

Granted, most people don't make coffee by the single 6oz. cup, but still.

duh.

Maybe the price of sawdust increased so they were forced to increase the coffee to sawdust ration, thus allowing for more cups of coffee with less "coffee" grounds.

are they including their own "tablespoon"?

They just burnt the bean a little more so that way it takes less coffee to get that Folger's burnt taste!

[www.askmehelpdesk.com]

Basically, coffeemakers have been hit with the shrink ray too. A "cup" of coffee has been (re)defined as 5 oz.

So your 12-"cup" coffeemaker makes 60oz. of coffee, or 7-8 8oz. cups of coffee.

even a different grind doesn't explain how you can get more following the same directions...

Don

@failurate: I'm going to join kidincredible in the failure read the article/look at pictures corner of shame.

i = fail

They are measuring using Italian 4 ounce cups, as opposed to the French 6 ounce cups, as opposed to the British 8 ounce cup, as opposed to the American 12 ounce cup.

Google says "39 oz to lbs" = 2.4375 lbs

so the more cups, isn't referring to the older packaging, but to the step down packaging.

misleading? sure. but not a scooby doo mystery

I know how you can get 1000 cups! Just add water!

Is it somehow related to the fact that although my coffeemaker *says* it makes 12-cups, it realistically makes only 7-8 cups?

Couldn't a more coarse grind lower the density?