I buy whole beans at Costco, Peet's Major Dickason blend. The Starbucks coffee tastes burnt. Your grocery store may sell 8 oz packages of whole beans. Start there and try a few different ones.

If there is a kind of ground coffee you have been enjoying, try their whole beans. Or even better if there's a local roaster in your area. I bought my husband a subscription to Trade Coffee a while back and he really liked it. Trade sends beans from a different independent roaster each shipment, and if you really like one or two of the coffees they send, you can order directly from the individual roaster in the future.

Trader Joe’s sells whole bean coffee, and has a grinder in store. That would be a good place to start.

I agree -- try a local roaster or Trade Joes or even your grocery store to grind them fresh and see if it is worth it to you.

I love fresh ground coffee ... and for a lot of years, I had a coffeemaker that could grind fresh for each pot. They discontinued it and I havent found another I like as much. About 3 yr ago, I decided much as I love fresh ground, I didnt like grinding each morning at 5am .. so I went back to pre-ground. I CAN grind my own if I choose ... and sometimes I do ... but it is not a priority for me during the week.

I mostly buy my beans from a local coffee roaster .. but occasionally, I will order from Porto Rico Importing Co in NYC.

I prefer places which deliver or ship since I no longer drive.

If you are like us and want to buy online...we've bought beans from Porto Rico coffee in NYC for years. Their prices are very reasonable. I now use a Nespresso machine, but DH still grinds beans for his coffee. He's been enjoying beans from Costa Rica, but you can look at the selection by the type of roast you like (light, french, espresso etc).

Years ago we loved Kona coffee (pure Kona, not the blends). But then they had some weather problem in Kona. After that the coffee became prohibitively expensive, and was never the same quality either.

Link to Porto Rico: Porto Rico NYC

I buy organic whole beans at Aldi - they have Peruvian and Honduran. I like the Honduran, but both are delicious and priced lower than the conventional beans at other stores. I grind a jarful every few days and keep both the beans and ground coffee in the freezer.

I have an inexpensive Hamilton Beach electric grinder I like a lot because the entire grinder part comes out for cleaning and the cord stows away in the base. I found it at Target. I did learn the hard way that the grinder part was NOT dishwasher safe, so after 2 replacements, I hand wash only.

For those of you who grind beans fresh every time do you weigh the beans every time to make sure you have what you need for your coffee?

Our grinder has a timer, but once you figure out how long you need to get the right amount, it's the same every time. Before we had this grinder, we just did it by spoonful. It wasn't really an exact science, but it worked.

I have been buying coffee for many years from this company (linked), CoffeeAM, which is just outside of Atlanta. I have a subscription since i prefer to get a few pounds at a time. They always roast the beans for your the day or two prior to shipping. I can’t get much more fresh than that. I’ve used both their beans and their ground coffee and they are excellent. I buy single origin, currently Sumatra Black Satin, but you might want to try a couple of different ones to see which you prefer.

For those of you who grind beans fresh every time do you weigh the beans every time to make sure you have what you need for your coffee?

DH's coffee machine does the weighing/measuring and grinding for him. Back in the day (before fancy machines), we used a coffee scoop to measure the beans. There was some ratio we used. I forget what it is now, something like 1 scoop to 1 cup water. Or maybe 2 cups water? Anyway, once that was figured out, it was easy to adjust based on how many cups we were making.

We have been switching around, but are currently getting Lavazza through Costco. Our machine grinds with each brew, so it measures for us. Before this, we would use a coffee scoop, eyeball to a spot on the grinder or do a count/measure of the ground beans -- depends on the type of grinder.

Coffee choices aren’t that confusing once you focus on basics: roast level (light, medium, dark) and origin (Western Hemisphere vs elsewhere). There are more distinctions too, more focused locations one versus another in a group. They differ from one to another, in similar way (but for different reasons) like wine.

If you’re unsure what you like, start small—buy ½ pound or less and experiment. Avoid large bulk bags (like Costco). If you live alone; you might not enjoy the flavor of a purchase and then you're stuck with it. Even if you do like it, the large minimum volume they sell insures it’ll lose freshness before you finish it.

Instead, explore varieties through grocery delivery or roasters’ websites and figure out your preferences over time.

Coffee is at its best when fresh (roasted recently) and freshly ground. Take a look at your coffee making technique and equipment too, that also matters.

PS - I recommend a burr grinder and not what appears to be a blade grinder as the photo above shows. A consistent size of the resulting grind matters and the best size differs depending on the coffee making method used. Burr grinders offer an adjustable and consistent result, blade grinders don't.

I enjoy coffee and regularly taste the products of very reputable local roasters but I also purchase Peets Maj Dickinson’s. I grind in an older blade grinder and brew in an Aeropress. I like the small footprint of the equipment I own.

I’ve thought about scaling up to a burr grinder but truly don’t know that it will make that much difference; I enjoy my own daily lattes as much as the indie coffee shop ones I purchase now and then.

Lots of roasters, if you have some local ones, will mail order their beans. If you call, most are glad to help with choosing a roast that suits your taste. I would skip prepackaged grocery store beans. Instead of investing in equipment before you know if this is something you want to do long term, see if you can get the beans in smaller amounts pre-ground to try. Pre-ground isn’t ideal, especially after you’ve refined your tastes for fresh ground coffee, but it’s fine for starting out, especially if you get fresh, locally roasted beans.

I swear I posted here yesterday, but now don’t see it. I went back and added a link, but I don’t think it was anything not allowed.

Lucille, if you have an HEB local, and can get delivery, Cafe Ole (their brand) has some really good flavors. My fav is Texas Pecan.

I mentioned World Market, too, but not sure if you can get delivery from there.

I’m glad you started this thread, great suggestions by everyone!