Find a local roaster.
The quality is so much better and you support a local business instead of a megacorp.
One tick further down the rabbit hole is the most recent roast date of the local available roasters.
Yup, and most of the big brands are actually Nestle anyway. Fuck Nestle.
Lavazza?
Looks like it’s independent still. But not really close to the size of the Nestle brands (like Starbucks bagged coffee)
Here’s the brands listed on the Wikipedia page (though Seattles Best is missing, but present on Nestles own site):
Coffee
- Blue Bottle Coffee Company
- Bonka
- Buondi (Portugal)
- Chameleon Cold-Brew
- Christina (Portugal)
- Dolca (Argentina)
- Dolce Gusto
- Ecco (Chile, Peru)
- El Chaná (Uruguay)
- International Roast
- Kirma (Peru)
- Loumidis (Greece)
- Mountain Blend
- Nescafé
- Nespresso
- Partner’s Blend
- Ricoffy
- Ricoré
- Ristretto
- Sical
- Starbucks (Perpetual License)
- Sunrise (India)
- Taster’s Choice
- Tofa
- Zoégas (Sweden)
Wow I had no idea that Starbucks in bags was Nestle.
Also tends to cost more from what I’ve seen. Which, if you drink a crap ton of coffee like I do… matters.
La Colombe. Really love their all dark roast.
Eight’O’Clock Coffee is my jam. Regular or Colombian roast.
I like the organic coffee that I can source from Galaxy Girl Coffee. If I am in a pinch and can’t wait days for a roast on site; I go for Peets, Caribou Coffee, or if I am feeling particularly odd, Starbucks. I only buy whole bean as I have a coffee grinder and my French Press needs a great coarse grind to work its magic.
I think for me, it’s Tim Wendelboe’s coffee, but it’s somewhat hard to get ahold of. Also real expensive, but man are those some good beans.
My local roaster is Quartertone Coffee. I’m wearing their tee-shirt right now.
I also like Dunkin when I make it at home. I find their stores to be inconsistent, though. Sometimes they brew it properly and it’s delicious, and sometimes it’s weak and doesn’t taste very good.
Illy
McDonalds. It’s the only place I ever get coffee that manages to consistently avoid moldy beans.
I actually enjoy McDonald’s coffee as well. That and Tim Hortons. I know it’s not a popular opinion, but sometimes it just does the job.
Anyone ever done trade coffee? Is it worth it?
I’ve been using Trade for several years now. They’re awesome.
What’s that?
Its a online subscription service but they give you bags from roasters around the world. I see it advertised in youtube videos, and wasnt sure if people had used it to find new brands of coffee they liked.
I use it, but I don’t think I’m on the level of a lot of the posters in this community so take my opinion with a grain of salt
I like it, the bags are smallish for the cost 17-25 dollars per order. But it varies the type of coffee I drink and it has led to me discovering new brands that I go back to.
I’m on my second year or 3rd year of Trade and have been happy enough.
Everything I’ve gotten has been good, but I’m not enthused with their recommendations. I’ll look at what they pick for me, but I end up picking my own thing more than half the time.
It’s let me learn what I do like though, by having access to a good number of things in one spot. I could go to the specific roasters and likely get it for the same price or a buck cheaper, but this lets me search in one spot.
I try to make the most of it by skipping blends, and doing light to medium roast single origins only, unless there’s a special seasonal blend or something. It lets me get whatever overall vibe I want for that order more closely: extra fruity/chocolate and nut/wine-like/warm and comforting flavors/etc.
I’ve never gotten the same thing twice, but I do feel I’ve hit up most of their suppliers at least once. Each supplier gets new runs of different things, so even though their regular coffees will be the same each month, keep an eye out for their seasonal or special runs.
Once you get a hang of what you like, supplement with outside vendors or bounce around on your own.
In short, it’s convenient, you know what the price will be, and there’s a good variety to pick from, and it tastes fresh. It’s not infinite options, but it should be more than enough.
8 o’clock. Smooth, flavorful, and cheap!
I really like Raven’s Brew, they have a lot of tasty blends.
Ozone Coffee Roasters
A New Zealand brand, also available in the UK. Beautiful single origins from all over, for a decent price (for NZ at least)Passenger
I used to really enjoy Kings Coast. Great value for the money, solid quality, and the way they roast coffee makes the beans have excellent subtle flavor notes, which I really appreciated.
Unfortunately if you’re not in the US or Canada, you’re out of luck, because in 2021 they stopped shipping internationally completely
Bridgeport Coffee Co., Chicago 🤓