Cheap coffee beans online?

October 26, 2007 1:01 PM

Surely I can do better than $11+ per pound of coffee beans?

We have some decent options for coffee beans here in Salt Lake; problem is that we go through a pound of beans in about 5-6 days. At $12 or so per lb, this adds up!

Are there any good sources for decent beans online that wont cost an arm and a leg? Bonus points for a frequent buyer program.

My local grocery store has a few different bulk coffee beans at about $8/lb but they seem kind of dry and old. I'm not sure how fresh they really are.

posted by neilkod to food & drink (16 comments total)

Porto Rico Importing Co.

That should probably do it for you. Excellent coffee. Excellent sales.
posted by kosem at 1:11 PM on October 26, 2007

Er... I know this is not directly addressing your question, but are you sure you go through a pound of beans in less than a week? That seems like an awful lot of coffee. Granted I use a press and I'm only making coffee for one, but I brew four good sized cups at least five days a week and I only use about one pound a month.
posted by wfrgms at 1:13 PM on October 26, 2007

For instance, the "Peter's Blend" which is perfectly good stuff, is $4.99 per pound at the moment, with a special of 1 lb for .85. As in, right here.
posted by kosem at 1:13 PM on October 26, 2007

You could roast your own. It's not really hard, especially if you use an air popper. More information at sweet maria's. Green coffee is about half the price, and a fresh roast tastes so good.
posted by zadermatermorts at 1:20 PM on October 26, 2007

Costco roasts their own beans - reportly good stuff too.
posted by exogenous at 1:23 PM on October 26, 2007

Get thee to a thrift store for an old airpopper and then to Coffee Bean Corral for green coffee beans and you're on your way to roasting your own for around $5 a pound. Seriously, if you have one hour a week to devote to this hobby, you will have the best, cheapest coffee around.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 1:27 PM on October 26, 2007

Costco. Their coffee is fine, roasted in store, and something like $3.50/lb. If you stock up, you'll pay for your membership on your first visit.

My wife and I go through about a pound a week too.
posted by adamrice at 1:31 PM on October 26, 2007

Another vote for sweet maria's and home roasting in general. We go through a pound of coffee a week also. I just buy a 20 pound bag from sweet maria's every few months and roast a pound once a week.
posted by foodgeek at 1:31 PM on October 26, 2007

I do Costco.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 1:37 PM on October 26, 2007

Nthing "roast yr own". A popcorn popper (pay attention to the bottom of the chamber and DO NOT BUY one with mesh/a screen on the bottom unless you want the chaff to catch fire...and you don't) is about 2 bucks at the thrift store. Buy some green beans from Sweet Maria's and have a go at roasting. It's drop dead easy. And stinky! Do it outside!
We go through about a pound/two pounds per month but it still saves me money on coffee. Not to mention the taste is vastly superior. I also enjoy exploring my own blends. And I really like buying fair trade/organic beans exclusively.
posted by hecho de la basura at 1:52 PM on October 26, 2007

This site has my favorite coffee (see link) - it's pricey but a little better if you get the 5lb bag. They may have some other roasts that suit your particular fancy at a price you like.
posted by bluesky43 at 2:12 PM on October 26, 2007

5 lb of French roast whole beans: $30 delivered.

It is tasty.
posted by dong_resin at 3:52 PM on October 26, 2007

Apart from home-roasting, I've found that saving $20/mo by getting coffee for half the price you do now is never, ever worth it. Any locally-roasted stuff worth drinking will be $10-15/lb. It's certainly easy to mis-spend on stale mass-produced stuff, but if you're getting beans roasted less than 48 hours ago for $12/lb, I salute you.
posted by kcm at 4:31 PM on October 26, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Dean's Beans!!

He's a really cool guy who travels all over the world and helps coffee farmers get a fair price for their coffee. It's all fair trade and organic, in my opinion it's the only coffee to buy.

It's also reasonably priced, about 7.99 a pound. I just order several pounds at a time and stick it in the freeezer. Please check it out. www.deansbeans.com

It's good coffee!
posted by starfish at 6:23 PM on October 26, 2007

I'm with kcm; you're not going to save enough to make it worthwhile, if 1) you care at all about quality, and 2) you don't want to roast it yourself (not that there's anything wrong with roasting your own). You basically never want to have more than a few days' worth of roasted beans on hand at any given time - they get stale that quickly. I'm surprised if you can't tell a difference between the last cup from an old bag and the first cup from the fresh, new one.

Whole Foods apparently has several locations in SLC; the ones in my neck of the woods label their coffee bins with the roasting date. Maybe yours does, too. Granted this is not that cheap, but at least you know it's fresh. Maybe grab those $8/lb beans and do a side-by-side test with some known good ones from Whole Foods, see if you care about the difference in flavor.
posted by rkent at 8:32 PM on October 26, 2007

thought ... buy raw beans and a mini-roaster! Lotsa "cool factor"
posted by jannw at 5:48 AM on October 27, 2007