Coffee!!

When you're living in the lowest decile of income, coffee or specialty teas are rare treats. They usually come in the form of a single cup, served at a Tim Hortons or other local gathering place. So imagine my excitement when reading tweets last month - I'm an avid Twitter fan - that London Drugs was offering a 400 gram bag of Saltspring coffee to the first ten people who retweeted their message.

I retweeted. I won a free bag of coffee!

The last time I won anything, it was a pogo stick. I was eight years old.

I won a second time, the next day, the prize a bag of Ethical Bean coffee.

And the next day, it was Marley Coffee!

Together I won 1.2 kg of premium coffee.

London Drugs didn't stop there. They also offered one-day-only super coupons to the Twitterverse. By 'super' coupons, I don't mean just pennies off the featured product. I mean up to $4.00 off one of those bags of coffee.

I wish more retailers and manufacturers would follow the example of London Drugs and the coffee makers. It's a clever promotional campaign that offers free stuff to people who help spread the word about a product or service.

As to the coffee I won, hilarity followed when I received the coffee December 24th. All three bags contained coffee beans, not ground coffee. Yes, I understand that for freshness, beans are better than ground. Alas, on December 24th, I hadn't a coffee grinder.

As is my habit on discovering yet one more thing I don't have, I placed a Wanted post on my local ReUseIt site. In the meantime, not to be outdone I did try using my new/old blender. Coffee dust and bits flew everywhere, escaping through heretofore unknown gaps at the blender's seal. I ended up wearing a lot of it.

Never mind. On December 28th, I received a new/old coffee grinder. Within minutes, a mug of coffee sat before me. With nostrils flaring to inhale the aroma, my eyes rose heavenward in ecstasy.