I'm with the people who say it was too old. I am a bit of a coffee snob-I buy whole bean, grind it myself, and then make drip coffee mostly, with occasional forays into french press. I've had Equal Exchange coffee be quite good, when bought and prepared this way.

I should also add that I hatehatehate Maxwell House. To my palate, it is "coffee" that's been used once already, dried and repackaged for the unsuspecting masses. *shudder* No, thank you.