I voted "black and bitter" because it was the best option, but that's not entirely true. Black? Yes. Bitter? No. If your coffee is truly bitter, then it's old or stale, or just crap coffee. "Real" coffee is a
sweet beverage---and anyone who has had a French Press of Costa Rican La Minita Estate, that was roasted 2-4 days prior and just ground 30 seconds prior, can tell you that it's anything but "bitter". This country is just so used to Folgers' bitter blend that real coffee is to them what Schneider Aventinus is to a BMC drinker. I like my IPA's bitter, and my coffee black and sweet. As I type this, I'm drinking a thermal mug full of freshly ground/brewed Kenya AA from our local roaster,
Shenandoah Joe...who roast, quite simply, the most badassed coffee I've had (though, freshly brewer Peet's Coffee from the little coffee shop in Mill Valley, CA is a close second).
Yeah, I'm a coffee freak. My favorite is a "red-eye"---I brew up a pot of drip and then make a shot of Shen Joe's "Dark Horse" espresso, and combine them. Rocket fuel...but truly amazing stuff.
The only time I'll put stuff in coffee is when it's really bad coffee, like truck-stop-blend kinda stuff. Then...the best remedy is cinnamon. A few sprinkles of cinnamon will help to mask the stale-cardboard taste that most sh*tty coffee has. I don't have a big sweet tooth, and I don't like creamy coffee, so I don't usually add anything but maybe skim milk in a cappuccino (which I almost never have).
As for Charbucks...I'll go for them if there is no better alternative. They purposefully burn their coffee beans so as to ensure "uniformity" from batch to batch and store to store. The one time I was really impressed with their coffee was the xmas blend from last year that we got when we were travelling on I-95 (when faced with a choice between truck stop blend and Charbucks, I'll always choose the latter). It was actually really enjoyable. But that's very rare.
Fact of the matter is, I rarely get a cup of coffee anywhere that is as good as I make it (the exception to that rule is if I get it from Shenandoah Joe themselves). Most people get beans which they have no idea how old they are and how long ago they were roasted...then they grind the beans themselves days or weeks ahead of time, not realizing that ground coffee starts to go stale about 4 minutes after it's ground. Or worse, they get the pre-ground stuff, which is where the old "coffee is bitter" misconception comes from.
And before anyone bashes me for being a coffee snob, just remember: to me, Folgers is on par with Coors Light. And few of you have any trouble being snobbish when it comes to beer.