Pantry Fresh!

This morning, as I sat on the train on my way to work, I noticed someone holding a cup of coffee that had been purchased from a place like Burger King or a Holiday gas station. The paper cup exclaimed that the coffee inside was "Pantry Fresh!" Now, forgive me if I'm wrong, but the words "pantry" and "fresh" seem contrary to me. Almost an oxymoron. From dicionary.com we find a number of entries such as: "a small storeroom for storing foods or wines" and "A small room used for the preparation of cold foods."

When I was thinking about this, wine came to me as an example of something I would want stored in a pantry (cellar) because it is something that can sit there for years. I hope that coffee wasn't sitting in the pantry as long as the '94 Burgundy that has been sitting in my mom's "pantry."

In conclusion, claiming something as "Pantry Fresh!" is saying the cup contains cold, old coffee.