I agree.It seems whatever brand and how much,I cant seem to get the flavor or scent back.I guess its time to upgrade.

I've noticed that I used to hear the vacuum leak/hiss and smell the wonderful aroma of the coffee grounds when I opened a metal can of coffee ... now with the plastic containers of Folger's there doesn't seem to be a vacuum any more when I peel off the aluminum 'foil' under the plastic outer cover and I don't smell the coffee aroma any more either. Why have they switched the packaging? I still like the Farmer's Brothers served in many restaurants; can it (the grounds) be bought in retail stores? This Swede misses the aroma of coffee too, 'lovetogarden'!

- vieja

yes! I too have noticed the coffee doesn't taste like coffee any more. No taste, no aroma. I have tirelessly tried every single brand, and roast, in every single supermarket, over the last few years trying to find that old fashioned good cup of coffee that actually tastes and smells like coffee. I've even looked up local roasters and tried their coffee's freshly ground for me as I waited. Still no coffee flavor, and no aroma. Help! What does a person have to do to get a good old fashion flavorful, aroma filled, cup of coffee? My X who used to drink a lot of coffee, now quit drinking coffee all together for the same reason. It all tastes like diesel fuel. What is the point to a cup of coffee if it doesn't taste like coffee?

I have found that the coffee that used to smell so good when you opened it, now smells like chemicals and I feel like I am drinking a hot beverage, but not coffee, doesn't even taste like coffee. What happened? jm

A year ago I purchased light roast Oaxaca at the Whole Foods bulk section. After grinding it and taking it one mile home, my car had a delightful odor of coffee for a week or so. Everyone who tried it loved the taste. Sadly, I haven't seen that coffee at Whole Foods since then. A I understand, availability is seasonal so maybe they will be having some soon.

shuffles_gw, I'll have to keep my eyes opened for that. I am no longer drinking as much coffee as I used to. Just a cup in the morning that I down to wake up, which I don't enjoy. That's a big change from the 3-4 cups a day I used to drink. Surely coffee producers must know that people aren't drinking as much coffee as they used to if my change in drinking habits are anything to go by. I work with people who have also stopped drinking coffee. Instead they down a can of Red Bull or one of those caffeine shots to wake up.

Being Swedish & English (still prefer my Swedish coffee-black- over my English tea!), I drink a LOT of coffee (read it is now good for me !). I just buy the ground coffee in the big cans (cheaper!) but I also notice it doesn't smell like it used to in those cans that were vacuum packed ... a big 'wheez' & great aroma when the container was opened with a can opener!!! NOW, just a 'metal-like film' inside over the contents & no 'sound'! when peeled off ! :(

My Swedish Dad I think used 1/2 cup coffee & ??? 1/2 cup sugar or a few sugar cubes in his mouth!!! Even convinced my English Mom to switch from tea to coffee in later years!

-vieja

What is needed is *fresh* coffee. Coffee that has already been ground looses much of its taste and aroma PDQ. Formerly, "vacuum" canning/packaging was used to keep oxygen away from the ground coffee, but that's not possible with today's cheap plastic 'cans'. That, and the fact that much of the coffee on the market these days is from inferior robusta plants (better yielding, but typically machine harvested) rather than the arabica variety.

So...grind yer own.... Coffee grinders have become very inexpensive as of late - since a lot of folks are abandoning the bland supermarket brands. I'd recommend the "Capresso" brand, which is quieter and more adjustable in grind than many. The flavor of roasted but un-ground beans will last far longer ground coffee. You'll be amazed at the difference.

How you make the coffee is another place for improvement. A programmable Mr Coffee is OK if you want the convenience of waking up to coffee prepped the night before - but there are better ways. I prefer a 'vacuum pot' - a throwback to the roadside diners of the '50s, plus it's off the charts in its "science geek coolness" factor. "Yama" is a good choice.

The next step is roasting your own beans. Un-roasted or 'green' coffee has a prolonged shelf life. And if you have one of those old-fashioned "Whirly Pop" popcorn poppers, you already have a perfect coffee roaster.

The final step is *growing* your own coffee like I do. But there's no way I can grow enough. And there's *a lot* of work involved in growing, harvesting and processing...so I never complain about the cost of quality beans.

Cheers

We've been importing beans from Mexico. Some of the most delightful and aromatic coffee I've ever had. We grind them fresh in the morning and the whole house smells delightful.

yes !!!!! coffee is not the same as it used to be. it doesn't have the same flavor. weak like cardboard. i tried sooooo many. i truly believe it's due to climate change and the coffee crops are poor. many people out of work where it used to grow.

There are several reasons for bad coffee these days. The first is a global pandemic: coffee leaf rust. This plague is a world-wide problem - except for Hawaii, which is so far from anywhere else, the fungus hasn't shown up...yet. I lost my two trees as it took too long to identify the problem and find a cure, a copper-based spray called Bordeaux mix. It's commonly used in vineyards, but coffee growing in almost subsistence agriculture and the poor farmers can't afford it.

As a result, coffee plants are being torn out everywhere. I even lost two 'volunteers' that self-planted from the first two. Since coastal Virginia is a long way from any coffee plantations, I figure the spores came in on a dying hurricane that passed over Cuba. As a side note, coffee wood makes for a most excellent smoker for the grill.

The other reason is that the Robusto variant is being planted more than the better-tasting Arabica species, Robusto can be pruned/shaped to facilitate machine harvesting, but then all of the cherries (what beans are properly called on the tree) are harvested at one time. Arabica are picked by hand when fully red and ripe. Green machine-harvested cherries make for a thin and poor-tasting coffee.

Buy your coffee in bean form from a specialty shop and insist on "fair trade" coffee which provides a honest price to the farmers, rather than funding the greed factor of some large corporation.

Cheers

We also agree that coffee no longer has the warm "java fug" of aroma and now always has a hard harsh taste. We too used to fill the house with the intoxicating smell of freshly extracted coffee, it's missing now.

This is the same no matter how "boutique" the importer/roaster or how fresh the roasted beans are. It tastes terrible everywhere and from everyone. We have purchased scores of different freshly roasted beans from specialists who rave about their beans source from small individual growers. They ALL lack flavour and aroma, there is no coffee smell from any of them when they are ground, just a hard harshness.

Fancy espresso bars that batch roast their own imported beans are the same: there's no coffee aroma inside the cafe where the coffee is brewed or in the cup!

We think that due to disease and disasters coffee plantations have been re planted in hybrid varieties grown on Robusta rootstocks to get disease resistance. Could it be that robusta imparts undesirable flavours (or the lack of flavour) to the new coffee tree?

That and as described above, green cherries being harvested along with the ripe cherries may also contribute.

Our coffee drinking friends from some decades ago all agree, coffee today is nothing like it was 30 years ago for true "coffee" flavour and aroma.

More comments please!

I AGREE 100%.....SO FRUSTRATING.

I agree too!! It is not coffee and people buy all different creamers to try and make it taste good. I drink decaf because I have to, and it is crap too. I think I will just drink hot water from now on. Tim Hortons ice cap has a coffee flavor but isn't coffee. It is a coffee paste, but no coffee in it. I am tempted to buy some coffee paste but it probably cost a fortune.

I consider myself a coffee connoisseur Being a server in many different kinds of restaurants for almost 50 years I can say without hesitation I wish I had a nickle for every cup I have served and 25 cents for every pot I have made to add to my retirement account..

Since now I am retired I just mostly make coffee for myself and family. For at least the past year I have noticed that coffee taste terrible no matter what brand I buy either beans or pre ground. I have several different kinds of coffee makers have bought 2 brand new makers in the last year and clean my maker and pots almost every time I use them with vinegar and nothing seems to improve the taste no matter what I do. To me it taste like some kind of chemical has been added to it. . I used to look forward to getting up in the morning and making a pot of coffee Now I am completely devastated that I can't even have a good cup of coffee anymore.

even the Narino is not what coffee used to be. I love coffee and I keep searching , spent way too much money so far, for that taste of that taste and smell that we had as recent as the early 90's but after that it was no more to be found. SO DISAPPOINTING

Or has Covid widely affected our tastebuds...? But it's weird: other food/drink tastes as it always has, yet coffee is now just... pfft nothing. I sure do miss it. :(

It couldn't be covid. This thread started 17 years ago. Covid is only three years old.

Coffee has been subject to a trifecta, "a perfect storm" if you will, of issues. Coffee leaf rust is a global pandemic. Sure, it can be treated with a copper-based 'Bordeaux' mix, but that may be too costly for smaller growers. Older coffee trees, which make for the more flavorful brews are dying everywhere - except for Hawaii, which is too far away from any contaminated coffee plantations that can spread spores of the disease.. Then there is the shift away from caffea arabica to caffea robusto, a plant that can be 'groomed' for machine harvesting. But red and green cherries all get harvested together, making for a 'thin' brew. Some coffee-producing nations like Brazil are almost exclusively robusto. And then there is global warming. Sure, coffee grows close to the equator, but at high altitudes where the nights are cool. Good coffee needs that. With global warming, it's not just the days that are getting hotter - but the nights as well. Coffee doesn't like that.....

thought i was alone. the coffee these past several years has been just AWFUL! no aroma and sickening to drink - recently, i have been tossing it out because it is so bad in every way. tried all types and brands over the years and it's all the same horrible thing! i cannot even remember the last time i drank or smelled actual coffee and that was at coffee houses too! the wondrous aroma is absent and the taste is undrinkable! life is not as it used to be...

So happy to hear that it isn't just me.

I tried the Narino mentioned by Spewey but it is no better.