If you have not been using FRESH beans -- bought within a few days of roasting and used up within a couple of weeks after that -- you really should give them a try. It makes all the difference. If you can't find a roaster near you, there are many excellent sources for mail order beans that ship them out the day they are roasted. Black Cat blend from Intelligentsiacoffee.com is one of the best blends out there for espresso. At $13/lb + $6 for shipping it won't save you much compared to Illy, but your taste buds will thank you.

Whatever you're paying for Illy, it's probably still cheaper than buying a cuppa at Starbucks.

Wow, I suppose with coffee beans at $19 per shipped pound one wouldn't want to muck it up with Splenda and Cremora. Gracious, that seems a lot for coffee...for one who daily drinks about ten cups of instant heated in micro.

I think that Peets and even Dunkin Donuts beans have their fans . . . New England Coffee roasters sells in my local grocery stores. Our Whole Foods uses a local roaster who dates his beans, so in the rare case that I can't get to Shenandoah Joe for my bean fix, I still can get my stuff. If you have a Whole Foods, they may supply beans from a local roaster as well.

Where are you? With the current coffee craze, I would imagine that a roaster isn't too far away. I also will say that as a new convert to burr grinders, try one if you haven't already - the difference is absolutely incredible.

Teedup, if you love the coffee taste - one taste of real, fresh, well-ground . . . you'll swear off the instant for all but dire caffeine emergencies. If you buy Megabucks by the cup every morning, then paying $19 a pound for good stuff is cheap in the not-very-long run. I've read somewhere that paying $2000 for an espresso machine pays for itself in 2 years over going for your daily fix at megabucks. A pound of coffee lasts us (2 drinkers, 3 cups a day total) about 2 weeks - that's high math, for sure - but still only a little over a dollar a day. And I think my coffee is closer to $13 a pound.

Cooterboot, sounds to me like you are in for a fine time tasting various beans!

Cheers, and happy drinking'

Illy is some good coffee. I only have the pre ground version that is sold in the silver can. For beans you could try Starbucks. I have used them but find the roast a bit to strong. If you live near a Whole Foods market you can buy beans from them...I use their brand almost every day and the taste is good.

We have a bunch of small coffee roasters around who sell at the farmers markets and to some smaller stores in the area and their roasts are good also..so you might try to look for local roast beans.

Hey, Thanks's for all the great advice. I forgot about half foods, my order is in at S.Joes Thanks to mommyc. After checking the coffee sites, I have the itch to roast my own .

Cheers

Absolutely--Roast your own! You'll get seriously good coffee for a fraction of the price you'd pay for it roasted. It's always fresh, and you and you have access to huge selection of beans that you'll never see on any grocery store shelf. I started roasting about 8 years ago and have never looked back. It's fun and it just tastes good.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Coffee Project

That is too cool. Cj, how much can you roast at a time? I plan on building my own roaster soon.

I should see if I can get an acquaintance from another board to join this discussion. He's going one step further, growing his own coffee. I think he'll have someone else roast it, though.

Here is a link that might be useful: So this is Kona

I dig that idea. I can't get my coffee tree to grow here in Illinois. I suspect the only way to grow it successfully would be to cross polinate with our corn. On a side note, I been Starbuck free since Oct.8 . So 21 months to go before my machine pays for itself.

Cheers