Craving Coffee in Europe the Nescafe Way

The stuff's everywhere--in hotel rooms, in cafes, in restaurants, on the grocery shelf, on trains. It's Nescafe, Europe's answer to coffee-on-the-go.

You'll find little packets of Nescafe just about everywhere coffee is served. In many places there are two kinds of coffee on the menu, expresso drinks and Nescafe.

Now let me tell you about those little packets; one isn't enough. I need three in one cup of hot water if I'm to make a dent in the grogginess I have when I get up in the morning. Two cups with three packets in each usually will get me going in the morning.

With the euro at record highs against the dollar, Nescafe is sure to turn into the coffee for Americans. No more expressos...they're $5 a pop when taking the exchange rate into account. I can drink up to 10 expressos in a day (five doubles a couple of times a day). That can cost me up to $50 a day, just for coffee.

Now when I go to Europe, I drink Nescafe all day. To save money, I just go to the store and buy a jar. That only costs about $7 after the exchange rate. And it'll give me all the coffee I need for a week.