Finding the best coffee grounds?

Unfortunately the coffee market is split into two major segments - cheap mass-market coffee (like Folgers) and specialty (like Starbucks). Where I live all the specialty coffees are sold at about the same price of $10 a pound, so yeah, not something I'd want to buy every week. The Starbucks coffees aren't much more expensive than the local roasters' coffees

What you could try is drinking a 100% Colombian coffee. It's higher-quality but still in the mass-market segment, so the price should be affordable. Wal-Mart's 100% Colombian coffees have gotten high reviews and they're not over $4/lb.

If you're looking for something exotic, someone I know enjoys Cafe Bustelo, a cheap coffee aimed at the Hispanic market. If you get it at a regular supermarket it's comparable in price to other mass-market coffees.

Or, you could try drinking tea. :P Not as much buzz (unless you go for very expensive matcha) but cheap tea is generally better than cheap coffee. (Expensive tea can be very good indeed - but by that point you're paying specialty coffee prices.)

Hey I have a great recommendation for you!

Try the MJB European Roast. It might be even cheaper than Folgers but it tastes a lot more like Starbucks. You should be able to find it in any supermarket right near all the other canned coffee. It comes in a green can.

Enjoy!

EDIT: I oringally called it "french roast". It's actually "European Roast"

EDIT 2: And make it kind of strong, like Starbucks does. Use one full scoop of grounds per cup of coffee.

If you want good coffee, go to World Market or Cost Plus.

They have a huge selection, and decent prices. When you buy 10 bags of coffee, you get one free, often at a lower price than what you could buy these lines of coffee for at other retail outlets. I buy some lines of single-source coffee from World Market for as much as 50% lower than what I would buy it for at other retail outlets. These are certified single source organic coffees, so we know where the are coming from. Many farms sell their coffee to different labels, so you could LITERALLY buy the exact same harvest of coffee beans from 3 different companies, and pay 3 different prices, with absolutely no difference in the beans, as they are sourced from the same place. Research helps you in this area.

Overall, really good coffee tends to be expensive because of the cost of proper handling, the selectivity of the good beans, the precision with which the beans are grown and picked at just the right time, the expensive equipment used in roasting (to perfection), and vacuum packing. Add to that the overhead of the labeling company, and there is where you get your expensive coffee. Thus, as a general rule, the closer to the source you buy, the cheaper (and fresher) your coffee will be. If you are buying a traceable (single source) coffee from a place like World Market, they are buying the same coffee beans other companies are buying, but they put an inexpensive label on it, and have very little marketing costs, so you can get a good deal on it that way... still a bit pricey, but one of the better options.

There are some good things in life that are free. Coffee just isn't one of them.

If you are near a Trader Joe's their prices for coffee ar great and their French Roast is wonderful. They are reasonably priced

Try "Chock full o' nuts" brand coffee, it is very cheap and has been around for about a hundred years. It is a New York classic coffee.

You can find it at Wal-Mart also.