You’ll give up Starbucks forever after trying one of the blends from Philz Coffee.

http://philzcoffee.com/

One thing you can do is buy a grinder and buy whole bean coffee. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but my husband is and he swears by this.

@augustlan Definitely! Even if you buy really fancy whole beans, it’s cheaper than going to starbucks.

My store sells a 12 oz bag of coffee for about $10. That’s kind of pricey, but it’s about the price of four cups of drip coffee vs. enough beans to make coffee for a few weeks at home.

French press coffee is delicious, very strong, and simple to make. You just get the press, put grounds in the bottom, add hot water and let it steep for a few minutes. Then lower the press, which presses the grounds to the bottom of the container and leaves the coffee at the top. It has more caffeine than drip or espresso because the water spends more time in contact with the coffee.

Starbucks beans are fine, but most big cities will have one or two local coffee roasters. They’ll probably sell their beans through independent coffee shops or high end grocery stores like Whole Foods, Balduccis, or Wegmans. I live in the DC area, and we have Mayorga coffee and M.E. Swing here. I used to work at an independent coffeehouse where they roasted the beans on site every day- it was awesome! What you get out of this is fresher flavor. If you have a grinder at home, and grind the beans as you need them, it will taste fresher and better, too.

@joon1986 welcome to Fluther!

cafe bustelo espresso

I love Peets French Roast!

Olympia Coffee Roasters. Rich, delicious, not burnt, not bitter.
Buy a little stovetop espresso maker. Va bene.

Java Brewing Company, Heine Brothers, Red Hot Roasters

I only drink Starbucks in airports because it’s predictable. There’s a difference in roasting techniques in different areas of the country.

I grind whole beans, and like a french press pot if I’m making just a cup or two, or a Krups drip coffee maker for a full pot.

Lurve @PandoraBoxx for only drinking Starbucks in airports.
But in airports a good Starbucks is exactly the right thing.

I am very fond of Melita whole bean coffee, especially the Vanilla flavoured. I like to mix it with 20% hazelnut flavoured of the same brand.

Call me crazy but for the money 8 O’clock coffee is tops in my book as long as you grind it fresh each time. I have some of my snobby friends tell me that there is no way 8 O’clock could match the likes of Peet’s or Starbucks, but lo and behold when I brew side-by-side pots they admit that 8 O’clock is worthy. Try it! Also, their 50–50 (50%decafe, 50% caf) is unbeatble in my book against other 50–50’s./

Hey, America Runs on Dunkin’ . I love that aroma.
Grnd it yourself and save a lot.

San Francisco Bay! The 3lb bag of Rain Forest Blend is amazing! Depending on where you live, you might be able to pick this up in a store (I’ve only ever seen it at a Trader Joes/Costco type store in the Bay area), but even online the price is reasonable. You can look around the site to get other SF Bay coffees or other brands of coffees from Rogers Family Company. I also like the Fog Chaser.

Get yourself a coffee grinder. Then pick up some Organic French Roast (whole bean to grind) Dark Roast. You can get a 2 lbs bag for 15 bucks. Add some good creamer and you’ll thank me. ;-)

It’ll save you some cash, as well.

Nothing like a good cup of freshly ground coffee.

I like http://www.metropoliscoffee.com/ and http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/ (intelligentsia’s site has a great ”how to” video)

First, i have never had a decent cup of regular coffee at Starbucks. its either too strong or its burned. i avoid Starbucks like the plague. if you have a Kroger store near you, their brand of Colombian coffee is the best for home brewing. its already ground. while there, also buy yourself a gallon of real spring water. use of level scoop of coffee for each two cups of coffee in your coffemaker and be sure to use a coffee filter. this is the best coffee to use at home and the aroma of it brewing will drive you crazy. using spring water eliminates the chlorine taste of most tap water. enjoy.

Cheap.

Supposedly, a big problem with much of the coffee available in America is that it’s stale. Starbucks and other big name companies therefore over-roast their beans to mask the taste that stale coffee has.

It might not save you money, but if you want to try something fresher, consider a site like http://www.coffeefool.com/.

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Me? I’m no expert. I get along on Folger’s just fine.

Forgot to add. I use the a Meijer brand (the orgranic, French Roast yadda, yadda that I mentioned above).

Again, cheap, but, yummy.

I’ve got to say I agree with my sister-in-law Sueanne Tremendous. She proved me wrong when I said 8 oclock couldn’t stand up to my fave brand, Peets.

Caribou Coffee is one of my favorites.

My husband does use the 8 O’clock, French roast, whole beans.

Dunkin Donuts, but Starbucks’ is good too