Best coffee for ~$10 / lb?

[ThankYouJack]

I usually spend around $16 / lb for coffee and am thinking about trying something cheaper - $10/lb or so. I typically like medium to light roasts - thinking about trying Ethiopian origin. Any recommendations?

[jpelder]

I really like Trader Joe's Wake Up Blend. It's not the best stuff in the business, but at circa $16 for two pounds, it's a good brew for the buck.

[tainted-meat]

in my experience, anything with arabica beans is usually good.

my personal favorites:

8'oclock brand 'The Original' flavor - bought at Walmart
Community Coffee brand 'Cafe Special' flavor - bought at Walmart
Tim Horton's 'Original Blend' bought at Costco

[jincopunk]

I am a big fan of Ruta Maya.
They sell it for $9/lb at Costco and a little less/lb at HEB if you have one nearby.
https://www.costco.com/ruta-maya-organi ... 41370.html

[prd1982]

We like Dunkin Donuts original blend. It is a light roast.

[bradinsky]

Tim Horton’s Original Blend. After 10 years of using Costco’s Columbian, this is a nice change. It’s smooth & much less acidic.

[N.Y.Cab]

Another vote for Eight O'Clock. Make sure to get whole beans and use a hand grinder e.g. Hario Ceramic Coffee Mill for best result.

[Kagord]

I find alternating between the Costco monster Folgers bucket (weekdays, auto drip) and whole bean fresh craft roasts (weekends, quite a variety of contraptions to brew properly) is a good satisfice.

As they say, variety is the spice of life.

[A440]

Chock Full O Nuts.

[startwithtruth]

If you're a Costco member, have a grinder, and don't mind taking a while to work through a large bag, they have several good coffees. I love Ethiopian, medium roasted but I haven't seen any at Costco lately (if it ever comes back, try Kirkland Signature Ethiopian). I switched to this one at Costco several months ago and really like it. It's a "medium-dark" roast although I found it wasn't too dark for me; comes to $8/lb.

Jose’s 100% Organic Mayan Whole Bean Coffee 2.5 lb, 2-pack
$39.99
Item #906562
https://www.costco.com/jose%e2%80%99s-1 ... 23756.html

I'm picky about coffee but so long as I grind the beans each morning, I don't notice if it's been several weeks since I opened the bag; YMMV

Edited to add - looks like Costco.com (not my local warehouse) DOES have Kirkland Ethiopian again, in a light roast; $10/lb, free shipping:

Kirkland Signature Organic Ethiopia Whole Bean Coffee, 2 lbs, 2-pack
https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signatu ... 01327.html

[tonyclifton]

This is an excellent review from James Hoffmann - The Best USA Grocery Store Coffee

Probably can't find a better, more comprehensive, dryer wit review.

[anonenigma]

We like the Major Dickason's blend from Peets, which might be too dark a roast for your taste? We buy the two pound bag of beans at Costco for $16.99 though only paid $11.99 when it was recently on sale. Nice coffee (though James Hoffman wasn't a fan - he's a light to medium roast drinker, I believe) at a great price.

[jayjayc]

I just brewed a new batch of Ethiopian light roast beans. Very fruity coffee. I ordered the 2lb bag and with shipping it was $14/lb.

https://happymugcoffee.com/collections/ ... 8903176479

[homebuyer6426]

I go for any cheap coffee of Colombian origin and find I like it better than the other options of similar price. It is light-medium.

[Marseille07]

Pleasant Hill Farms Arabica Coffee from Costco is very good, I like it.

[JPH]

I am a big fan of Ruta Maya.
They sell it for $9/lb at Costco and a little less/lb at HEB if you have one nearby.
https://www.costco.com/ruta-maya-organi ... 41370.html

Agree. I'm drinking it now.

[shm317]

For me, wawa (if on east coast). i like a lighter brew tho haha

[JWooden10]

Costco Kirkland Signature Colombian is my $10/lb. go to coffee

[Marseille07]

Costco Kirkland Signature Colombian is my $10/lb. go to coffee

I used to buy this, not a fan. I still use their can to store other coffee though.

[KlangFool]

I usually spend around $16 / lb for coffee and am thinking about trying something cheaper - $10/lb or so. I typically like medium to light roasts - thinking about trying Ethiopian origin. Any recommendations?

ThankYouJack ,

$8.75 per pound including shipping. Shipped directly from the roaster to you.
"Received a 91-point score from Coffee Review in 2016"

Very good coffee. It should be much better than whatever you pay $16 per pound for.

https://www.costco.com/mother-earth-org ... 20592.html

KlangFool

[elforeign]

https://www.smokinbeans.com/shop/fresh-roasted-burundi/

BURUNDI – Washed Process: fresh roasted coffee

Clean tasting cup with a sweet delicate flavor. It is rich in body with a bright citrus acidity. Flavor nuances of berry, and floral components add complexity and excitement to the cup. Brews a fantastic delicately flavored pour-over at medium roast. Brews an impressively rich tasting French press at espresso roast.

382 Roast. Regular Beans – (1 bag – 2 lbs each resealable bag) – at $13.90 per pound

$27.80

Great tasting coffee!

[fishmonger]

Equal Exchange is excellent and has a good variety

[bondsr4me]

Another vote for Eight O'Clock. Make sure to get whole beans and use a hand grinder e.g. Hario Ceramic Coffee Mill for best result.

+1 on the 8 o'clock.

[jucor]

Seek out a local roaster and try out what they have. We have several in our town who do a good job and are priced in the $9 to $12/pound range.

[bsteiner]

Starbucks house blend medium roast whole bean is around $8 a pound at BJs or Sam's.

[windaar]

Cafe Bustelo Cuban-style coffee; tastes great and wakes you up. Good prices at Target. 2 lbs for $16.

[JakeyLee]

I’ve been finding Peete’s “Big Bang” on sale for the last several weeks. It’s been my staple drip for the last month or so. Medium roast. Meh, I’ve had worse.

[Hebell]

Caribou coffee Mahogany. While that flavor is a darker roast, it is so incredibly mellow and causes me no tummy problems.

[mtbouchard]

It's gotta be Peet's coffee, probably Major Dickason's in a French Press, or Sumatra in an Italian percolator(wow).

Yes, Peet's in Berkeley went public in 2001 so and then was bought by the same German conglomerate that owns Trader Joes, but they have to me maintained their same original quality standards as I experienced in Berkeley in 1994. Of course there is the interesting story of how Starbucks originated from Peets (and in fact used their beans to roast).

As we are frugal people here, yes Peets can be found under $10/pounds on sale in grocery stores, and in store it is more expensive but at least you have always gotten a free (small) cup when you buy beans(whole beans of course).

While possibly slightly more than $10, I'd encourage a try (and they have a basic guide of recommended water/coffee, temperature, etc on their website since some people complain of the coffee being burnt when in fact they are over extracting via too small grounds/steeping too long): https://www.peets.com/pages/brew-guides

Matt B.

[Doctor Rhythm]

I cycle through Costco’s offerings. In addition to the usual mega brands, some random smaller ones will pop up for a month or two and then disappear. Typically aim to pay $6-8 per pound in a 2-3 lb bag.

[wrendan]

Stumptown coffee subscription with 5lb bags. 5lb bag of Hairbender is normal $80. If you sign up for a subscription you can take 30% off your first order which reduces the cost to $56 or $11.20 per lb. Buy multiple bags at once then cancel subscription as needed. I buy in 6 month increments.

https://www.stumptowncoffee.com/pages/s ... 6908936360

[Pete12]

Costco Kirkland Signature Colombian is my $10/lb. go to coffee

This… 1000%!

[tooluser]

Costco Kirkland Signature Colombian is my $10/lb. go to coffee

This… 1000%!

(That's Irish coffee in those mugs!)

[iamlucky13]

We like the Major Dickason's blend from Peets, which might be too dark a roast for your taste? We buy the two pound bag of beans at Costco for $16.99 though only paid $11.99 when it was recently on sale. Nice coffee (though James Hoffman wasn't a fan - he's a light to medium roast drinker, I believe) at a great price.

This is my go-to, as well. I guess they label it as dark, but I'd say they're on the medium side of dark.

[rockonhumblepie]

We very much enjoy San Francisco Bay Organic Rainforest Blend !! Great to the last....taste
$9lb retail
$6.70lb Costco

[Kagord]

We very much enjoy San Francisco Bay Organic Rainforest Blend !! Great to the last....taste
$9lb retail
$6.70lb Costco

Once a year or so, Costco has 2 for $30 on the SF Bay mail order, that brings it down to $5/LB for the French Roast (6Lbs, this may be a larger package than some of the other varieties). That's the same per pound as Folgers on sale at Costco, an excellent deal.

So here's the cost table I have come up with that one can use to compare and analyze the enjoyment/satisfaction utility they receive:

Folgers/SF Bay on Sale $5 Lb
Costco Kirkland House (Starbucks) $6.50 Lb
Craft Fresh Roast Delivery $20-30 Lb
Kopi Luwak Premium DHL Air Overnighted $800 Lb

[surfinagin]

Poll is providing no consensus on a "winner" -wide variety of preferences!

Another vote for Costco Kirkland Signature Colombian at <$6 per pound.

The votes for Tim Hortons reminded me that I liked that coffee when I tried it many years ago -but appears to be approx 50% more expensive.

I moved up from Folgers to "splurge" on Kirkland, which for now balances price/taste for me.

[tennisplyr]

While it's a very personal choice, DW and I love Seattles Best-Portside Blend. On a similar topic, does anyone find different paper coffee filters affect taste significantly...I've used Walmart's, Melitta.

[tommy85]

I roast my own coffee! Tastes better than anything store bought and cheaper in the long run. Green coffee run approximately $6/lb. Roaster is around $400-450. You can do the break-even math based on how much coffee you go through. For me it was 2 years and I am past that now. The roasters last about 10 years on average.

[GG1273]

+1 for Tim Horton's
Though I prefer the Dark Roast
usually $7 / bag at Wegman's in NJ

[Swansea]

Duncan Donuts French Vanilla.

[Broken Man 1999]

I'll add another vote for Costco's Kirkland brand coffee, and other coffees sold at Costco. I buy whole bean only, coffee is ground fresh each morning.

I rotate thru a few different coffees, here are my favorites:
-Kirkland Signature Sumatran
-Kirkland Signature Costa Rica
-Kirkland Signature Guatemalan
-Kirkland Signature Rwandan

I also like these:
-San Francisco French Roast
-San Francisco Bay Fog Chaser

My next purchase will be the Kirkland Signature Organic Ethiopia, haven't had coffee from there in a long time.

Broken Man 1999

[climber2020]

Give Seattles Best a try if it’s available in your area. It’s a few dollars cheaper than Peet’s and to me it tastes better.

Discovered this coffee a few years ago while vacationing in Washington state. All the hotels and lodges we stayed at provided this (local to there) brand in the rooms and we were pleasantly surprised at how tasty and inexpensive it was.

[blaugranamd]

See if you have a local coffee roaster. We have a small shop in town that roasts their own coffee and they have a "leftover" blend they sell for $10/lbs that is way better than any store bought coffee.

[ThankYouJack]

Seek out a local roaster and try out what they have. We have several in our town who do a good job and are priced in the $9 to $12/pound range.

My local roasters are typically $16 - $22 / lb. It may be worth the premium but I'm going to do some taste testing with some from Costco for about half the price to see if the difference is noticeable.

[Cash is King]

Another vote for Peet's Major Dickason's.

[heartwood]

https://www.amazon.com/Hawaii-Royal-Cof ... S4AT36HYOX

except we got it at Costco for $21.49 for 2.5 lbs, so under $10/lb there.

We've eaten at various Roy's many times and always had good meals, good service and good times.

We generally would not have bought the Roy's 10% Kona (and don't generally get the Kona hype), and this is only 10% Kona, but some renters left a small bag at our condo. We really liked it and bought more.

[Ependytis]

I personally like Trader Joe’s exceptionally smooth cup of coffee. It’s $4.99 for 14 ounces. It taste like a much more expensive Jamaican Blue for less than half the price. I use a simple pour over carafe and a coffee filter.

[bb]

I find it hard to believe any store bought would compare favorably to freshly roasted coffee. And also find it hard to believe you will find freshly roasted coffee for $10/#. Might be all in my head but once you get used to freshly roasted coffee everything else tastes flat/stale.

[naples09]

Agree. Not $10 but great fresh coffee from Buddy Brew in Tampa, FL

https://www.buddybrew.com