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How To Find Quality In Your SuperMarket Coffee Aisle
A stroll down the local supermarket coffee aisle may be overwhelming for some, and a sheer panic attack inducing attack for others. The massive selection of ground coffee, single-serve pods, instant coffee, whole bean, and whatever else, can completely intimidate any innocent shopper just looking for a good cup of coffee.
The key to finding quality coffee is knowing what you’re not looking for. By understanding the options, you can quickly narrow your scope to the best coffee brands and the best coffee beans. All the coffee choices you don’t want will become a blur in your periphery while you focus on the few choices that do matter to get the best whole bean store bought coffee you can cherish everyday.
Our Top Picks
Best Coffee Beans For Espresso
Best Coffee Beans For Cold Brew & French Press
Best Dark Roast Coffee
Our Favorite Picks for Coffee Beans
- Kicking Horse
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters
- Mayorga Coffee
- Equal Exchange Coffee
- Tiny Footprint Coffee
- Counter Culture Coffee
- Blue Bottle Coffee
- Ethical Bean Coffee
- Intelligentsia
- Stone Street Coffee
Image | Product | Purchase |
|---|---|---|
 | Kicking Horse
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| | Mayorga Coffee
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 | Blue Bottle Coffee
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Tips To Pick The Best Espresso Machine
The way to capture the aroma and flavor from these delicious beans is to pair them with an amazing espresso machine. Once you find your favorite coffee machine and coffee beans combo, you will be blessed with a delicious, creamy cup of flavorful coffee every single time. Being a coffee connoisseur myself, I have searched high and low and found my favorites. These are guaranteed to satisfy every coffee lovers requirement be it flavor, type of beverage, ease of making it and also budget. Now that you have your coffee decided on, check out my reviews on your espresso machine of choice below.
The Choices
One of the reasons most grocery stores offer so many coffee choices is the varying forms by which coffee can be presented. The most popular these days seems to be the single serve coffee pod.
By coffee pod, we mean that coffee that comes in little containers that look like half-n-half capsules on steroids. The ones that need special machines. The selection of coffee pods can take up half the coffee aisle real estate, which is surprising because they all taste the same — stale. Are they convenient? Sure. Do they constitute quality coffee? No.
Next, there are those tubs of pre-ground coffee to rule out. You can keep right on walking past these beauties. Coffee loses its freshness within hours (some would argue even minutes) within being ground. So, you can guarantee all the ground coffee in the aisle is stale.
Moreover, most tub coffee is a mix of all the bargain basement mass harvested coffee beans that possess very little flavor. Those substandard beans are then over-roasted and ground up into these vacuum sealed tubs that sit on grocery shelves, and then your Aunt Marge’s counter for who knows how long.
Once you’ve ruled out the single serve pods and the big vacuum sealed tubs, besides the niche coffee products you can completely ignore, you’re left with the rows and rows of coffee bags to figure out.
Since we’ve already established that ground coffee means nothing good, you can focus on the whole bean coffee bags for the best taste. (And, pick up a grinder while you’re at it.) These combined with one of the highly rated super-automatic espresso machines, can give you heavenly cup of coffee each day!
The Whole Bean Picture
So here’s where a discerning eye is crucial. While buying whole bean coffee will help guarantee a fresher product, not all whole beans are the same. Your goal is to walk away with a bag of high-quality beans [1] that have been sourced on a small scale, processed correctly, and roasted to the appropriate level. To help whittle down the choices, use the following criteria.
The cheapest whole bean coffee will most likely be over roasted to hide defects in the beans. Common bean defects include under-ripe, overly ripe, or rotten beans. Conversely, while the more expensive beans are usually a sign of higher quality, purchasing the most expensive beans may not be necessary. So, don’t rely solely on price to find the best whole beans.
Finding bags that have an appropriate roast level will help narrow down the choices quickly. Most supermarket coffee is over-roasted for the aforementioned reasons. Look for bags that say “medium roast” or “light roast” if you want the best flavors. [2]
(You may also see light and medium roasts called “City +” or “Full City”.) Beans roasted at this level most likely indicates the roaster is not attempting to cover up imperfections, and focusing instead on showcasing the natural flavor of the bean.
Looking at the package for statements about bean origin can give you some indication of the quality of beans you’re buying. But it’s not foolproof. If the front of the bag says something like “An enticing mix of 100% Arabica Beans” and nothing else, then you may want to keep looking.
Although Arabica beans are far superior over their lower grade cousin, the Robusta bean, the best Arabica beans will be found in bags that are labeled with the exact location of origin. For example, a label that says “Guatemala Antigua Familia Perez” is ideal because of the specific origin identifiers.
A bag with this label tells you the beans are from the Antigua region of Guatemala from the Perez Family farm. A label this specific may be hard to find among the offerings in a chain supermarket, but you should be able to find something close, such as “Guatemala Antigua”. At least with this label you know you can expect a flavor profile that’s specific to a certain region.
A Word About Blends
Blends are great if your roaster is combining two or three beans from different regions. The label should specify, however, what the blend is, such as “Ethiopian/Mexican Blend”.
If the label isn’t specific, that “blend” could literally be any coffee bean from anywhere, including all the reject beans at throwaway prices.
Roast Date
Now, this may be asking a lot, but once in a while, you’ll be able to locate a roast date on the package, especially if your supermarket carries coffee from local or regional roasters. If a roaster is willing to stamp their bag with a “roasted on” date, that’s a good indication that roaster cares about the quality of their product.
If you do see some bags that appear to be from local roasters, take the opportunity to give them your consideration, even if it means spending a couple dollars more. Local or regional roasters tend to be smaller, tend to take more care in offering quality coffee, and participate more in direct sourcing of their beans.
Getting To The Point
Really it’s up to you how much time you want to invest in getting a quality cup of coffee. If you just want something worth drinking that doesn’t taste like liquid cigarette ashes, go the whole bean. Everything after that is all about preference.
If you’re searching for the best the supermarket coffee aisle has to offer, keep your eye out for locally roasted coffee, light to medium roast levels, single origin or clearly stated blends, and pricing that’s not bargain basement. Roast dates are a plus if you can find them. Happy Brewing!
10 Best Coffee Beans On Amazon Reviewed
How To Find Coffee With Heart & A Heavenly Roast
If you’re in the market for some really well roasted, high-quality beans, you may be able to find them at your local grocery store. But, you’ll also have a greater and wider selection of the best coffee brands to choose from online. If you do a lot of shopping on Amazon, you can add coffee to you cart conveniently and avoid a trip to the local store.
We have curated a list of the best coffee on Amazon for your convenience.
1. Kicking Horse
Kicking Horse coffee is a roasting company with a sense of humor. Their packaging is fun, and so is their website. They roast coffee at different levels, precisely, realizing everyone will vary in their coffee drinking tastes. Half the fun is trying each type of coffee they offer while enjoying the witty names that accompany them.They have one of the best coffee beans for Espresso and their decaf blend is our pick for the best decaf beans.Their products also come with a sustainability certification which indicates that their products are produced according to ethical and environmental standards.
2. Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Stumptown is one of the best Coffee brands in the U.S. They use their well-established coffee roasting business to raise serious issues among the coffee growing community. They have a robust educational program and a robust variety of coffee.
Most of their coffee is certified organic and direct trade, meaning direct partnerships with the farmers.
All of their coffee is superb, but you can be sure to find your favorite depending on what area of the world your favorite kind of coffee originates from.
Most of their coffee is ‘medium roast’ because they roast their high quality beans just enough to bring out the best flavors. All of their beans are of excellent quality. But they stand out for producing the best coffee beans for cold brew and French press.You wont have to wander too far to find the right coffee for you. Stumptown is one of the best coffee brands; great quality, taste and you can definitely find this everywhere. Stumptown is known to have the best coffee beans for cold brew. It has a balanced flavor and aroma without the bitterness. Aside form cold brew, Stumptown is also great for French Press. It’s like an all around coffee for any preferences.
3. Mayorga Coffee
Based out of the Washington D.C. area, Mayorga has been reaching back to its roots in Latin America, working to help eliminate systematic poverty caused by the coffee trade.
In the process, they’ve been roasting coffee superbly. Mayorga works directly with farmers to help discover the best ways to produce the best coffee. They have some of the Best coffee beans overall and their dark roast in particular is a standout.
4. Equal Exchange Coffee
Equal Exchange started in 1986 out of Nicaragua in an effort to level the playing field between the farmers who grow the coffee and the large companies who pay so little for it, while at the same time growing consumer awareness about the value of well grown, properly roasted coffee.
Equal Exchange Coffee is a Nicaragua based coffee producer which means you can get an overall higher quality of beans coming from the regions. You can also help increase awareness of pay inequities for farmers by purchasing their products. It’s proceeds goes to improve the living standards of its growing membership and fund programs in medical care, education and environmental sustainability. You can be sipping your coffee comfortably anywhere knowing that your money goes to those in need. All of their roasts are excellent single origin small batch coffee delivering perfectly roasted coffee every time.
5. Tiny Footprint Coffee
Tiny Footprint coffee does two things really well: practicing environmentally positive business habits, and roasting single origin small batch coffee. They have a large selection of coffees from all over the world to include Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Sumatra, and Papua New Guinea, roasted at levels that are most appropriate for that particular coffee growing region.
6. Counter Culture Coffee
Counter Culture Coffee brings the coffee enjoyment process full circle by working directly with farmers to foster sustainability in coffee growing practices. They work to continually improve growing environments and working conditions. They put as much care into the roasting process, too – which results in delicious, high-quality coffee.
Counter Culture Coffee works to promote sustainable coffee farming for an exceptional coffee beans. You can guarantee great care into roasting to produce high-quality, sustainable coffee.
7. Blue Bottle Coffee
The emperor of freshness, Blue Bottle coffee started in Oakland, California just shy of twenty years ago with the vow that coffee over 48 hours old would never be sold. Because of this dedication, the rest of their trade is just as devoted, and their coffee is absolutely impeccable.
8. Ethical Bean Coffee
Ethical Bean has a unique take on their coffee process. They want the coffee drinker to witness the path of the coffee every step of the way. So, they put a QR code on every bag of coffee they roast. Just connect to their app and you can see where your coffee has a unique take on their coffee process.Each bag of Ethical Bean Coffee is equipped with a unique QR code to track your coffee’s origin from farm to cup. This is one of the great tasting coffee.
9. Intelligentsia
What’s so wonderful about Intelligentsia is their transparency in the coffee acquisition process. Just go to their site and you can find out information such as the name of the buyer, the certifications, the farm on which it was grown, the country, the coffee plant cultivar, and the harvest period. With all of that specificity, they take great care to make all of the greatest attributes of each lot come out in their roast.Intelligentsia is known for their transparent coffee acquisition process to showcase the purest expression of unique taste and unrivaled quality. They give great care in roasting to bring out the best characteristics of the beans to ensure freshness and optimize quality while the profiles remain consistent.
10. Stone Street Coffee
Still a small coffee roasting joint based in Brooklyn, New York, Stone Street Coffee roast small batch coffee daily. Their packaging is simple and straightforward, and they are one smaller roaster that actually offers flavored coffee done well.
Stone Street Coffee Company is a small business based out in Brooklyn, New York since 2009. They roast small batches daily so you can guarantee fresh coffee every time and also offer flavored coffee for those who prefer difference.
Our Winners For The Best Coffee Beans
Best Coffee Beans For Espresso
Best Coffee Beans For Cold Brew & French Press
Best Dark Roast Coffee