Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So the whole Starbucks melee got me wondering, what are people's favorite coffee beans and/or ground coffee to use at home that aren't particularly expensive? I'm talking about the type of coffee you might find at a typical American supermarket (or that can be ordered online, if the prices are reasonable). About 95% of the coffee I drink is consumed at home so I'm always on the lookout for ones are cheap but don't taste ultra-bitter. I have both a drip pot and french press. Suggestions?

I really like the Major Dickason's Blend from Peet's. I can get it at a regular grocery store here (Stop & Shop).

My mom swears by Yuban 100% Colombian, so that's what I usually drink. I like it; I won't touch Folgers or anything but it's comparably priced.

Totally! For a drip pot, Yuban is the best cheap coffee there is.

I usually get coffee from Trader Joes, but I also like the coffee Target carries, especially the flavors like Hazelnut and French Vanilla and Cinnamon Vanilla Nut.

I find dark roasts less acidic/bitter. I like both Whole Foods' Brand Dark Roast and Trader Joe's Cup of Joe Dark Roast (about $5/12 oz).

But my favorite is:

World Market Sumatra or Moka Java ($9.99/24 oz) Plus, world market has a customer card thing where they keep track of how many bags you buy and on your 6th one you get a free 12 oz bag! And, if you go on Wednesday, they count every bag twice, which means 3 bags bought=free bag! (And Starbucks won't give you free soy... I don't care if it's a first world problem. I live in the first world, this is what I know)

We drink lots of World Market Colombian also, not because we have a World Market around here but because wyvern does near him and he keeps us well supplied. That shiitake is awesome.

We usually buy Whole Foods French Roast or Espresso Roast, but I really like the Mocha too.

We buy whole beans and grind them ourselves.

I like the Ethical Bean stuff. I don't know if it's really classifiable as "inexpensive", but it's cheaper than Starbucks.

For cheap, pre-ground coffee I like Chock Full O' Nuts.

Okay, I don't know much about coffee other then the fact that I LOVE it. At home we brew one of three Maxwell House Varieties. It is either hazelnut, vanilla, or 100% Columbian. I would love to buy some of the other ones but I can get a can for $3 or sometimes less when they go on sale. Since we are living very cheaply at the moment, that is what we get and don't even try anything else. One day though.....

TJ's French Roast or New Mexico Pinon Coffee (I've only ever seen this at TJ's, but it's not an exclusively TJ's product. . . it has ground pine nuts in it and tastes amazing). Dunkin' Donuts is my guilty pleasure coffee (apparently all DD blends except pumpkin are vegan, but you might want to double check that). . . I've been loving the toasted almond lately. If you can find them, Cafe du Monde coffees are pretty delicious, and you can get a huge can for not too much money. I just use a drip pot; they are probably ground too finely for a French press.

Ditto on Trader Joe's. I buy the fair trade whole beans for my french press on a semi-regular basis. They're usually about $7 or 8. The local coffee I like to buy is closer to $14 or more, so this helps.

How cheap are we talking? A pound of what I get is normally anywhere from 12 to 16 dollars depending on the brand. But I'm kind of picky with my coffee and I try to buy organic and fair trade if at all possible. The fair trade coffee at Sbux is about 12 bucks a pound for whole bean, I think. That's not bad to me.

I think anything under $15/lb could potentially be called inexpensive depending on what it is, though obviously there's a lot of variation within that price range and I'm probably aiming a bit lower. There have been some good suggestions in here so far though! We have been getting the Trader Joe's dark roast, which is OK but I don't love it.

community coffee: coffee and chicory!

Costco is really good for coffee (at least around here). They have lots of organic/fair trade brands and one is usually on sale. For those west-coasters, I love Saltspring Island coffee. I had a tour of their facility over the summer and felt super good about the whole atmosphere and ethic. I got two pounds of their coffee for $12 at Costco.

Update: I bought a can of Melitta coffee for $5 and it's really good! Pre-ground coffee may not be the best, but it's all I can afford right now. I like the Melitta better than Chock Full O' Nuts and Cafe Bustelo.

When we lived in the US we'd go to the PriceRite (super discount supermarket that stocked a lot of Goya and portuguese brands) and bought whatever strong dark coffee was in the "Goya aisle"- it was sometimes a Brazilian brand like Pilon or other times Bustelo, i can't remember the other brands, but all expresso-strength and strong enough to smack you in the face.

I also found that if you make it cold brew in the fridge overnight, even garbage coffee is quite yummy.

Bunniee, it kills me that Melitta is more expensive in frigging Brazil than it is in the US!!! Believe it or not, Melitta is the top end of the market here, the really good stuff all gets exported. When I can, I buy local green beans and we roast and grind it ourselves. Usually it's not feasible, but there are certain brands that are produced within our state and I go for local over price. Also slave labor practices are not a problem down here so buying from the southern part of the country is a cheap/easy way to make sure it's fair-ish trade.

+1 for Yuban. My husband is the pickiest coffee drinker and swears by it too. There's even better of course, but this one's really good for the price.

torque - I thought it was crazy that Dunkin Donuts coffee costs twice as much as Melitta here. I don't think of Melitta as being low-end, or DD as being fancy gourmet coffee. I guess some people will pay more for the DD brand name.

I like DD but I think it's crazy that it's as expensive as it is.

Wegmans has some good coffee. Not sure who their supplier is. I also like Café Bustelo and Eight O'Clock brands. Never had the stomach for Folger's.

I love New Mexico Pinon Coffee! My go to is Cafe Bustelo though. (It tastes decent, and the yellow is pretty.) I might pick up Yuban when I see it if I remember.

I've been a complete coffee nut as of late--brewing some at home AND stopping at Starbucks. It's been cold though, and it's wonderful to have a hot cup with breakfast, and the Starbucks is such a nice work treat.

I'm a tea drinker, but I get the 8 O'Clock Columbian when I'm buying coffee on the cheap; it's not offensive and does the job. I'll try this Yuba stuff though.

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