Consumer Reports' Ground Coffee Tests Reveal Some of the Best Cost the Least

[Omaha Steve]

Our favorite is fair traded. I doubt it was tested because it is such a small brand: http://www.gourmet-coffee.com/home.php

http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/02-02-2009/0004964921&EDATE=

Eight O'Clock 100% Colombian coffee bests Folgers, Maxwell House, and Starbucks

YONKERS, N.Y., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eight O'Clock Coffee 100% Colombian at $6.28 per pound ranked number one in Consumer Reports' tests of 19 ground coffees, besting Folgers, Maxwell House, and Starbucks - America's best-selling ground coffees.

A CR Best Buy, Eight O'Clock costs less than half the price of Gloria Jean's, Peet's and other more expensive brands. CR's coffee experts deemed it a complex blend of earthy and fruity, with a bright, pleasing sourness - a good thing in coffee parlance.

Starbucks Coffee Colombia Medium, $11.53 per pound, didn't even place among the top regular coffees and trailed among decafs. While the Regular rated "Good," testers noted it had flaws such as burnt and bitter flavors, though milk and sugar may help.

Following Eight O'Clock and also ranking "Very Good" were two Midwest brews: Caribou Coffee Colombia Timana, at $11.76 per pound, and Kickapoo Coffee Organic Colombia, at $14.33 per pound. Both had fruity aromas and beat an array of larger players among regular coffees. But both come at a hefty price.

Other trendy brands fared less well. Bucks County Coffee Co. Colombia, from Langhorne, Penn., tasted only OK, and Peet's Coffee Colombia from Berkeley, Calif., was burnt and bitter, despite costing $14 per pound.

Among decafs, Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Decaf, $10.25 per pound, Millstone Decaf 100% Colombian Medium Roast, $11.59 per pound, and Folgers Gourmet Selections Lively Colombian Decaf Medium Roast were the front runners. But even the best decaffeinated coffees couldn't match the best regular brews in CR's taste tests.

The full results of the coffee ratings are available in the March issue of Consumer Reports, on newsstands February 3rd and online at www.ConsumerReports.org.

FULL story at link.

[Ian David]

1. Gloria Jean's Coffee is owned by a crazy anti-choice chrisTo-fascist religious cult.

I've only been buying Fair Trade, shade-grown coffees anyway.

[slampoet]

2. I serve cheap Chicory Coffee to java snobs all the time and they always ask what my secret is.

[Sanctified]

3. I always add a tablespoon of Chicory to my coffee before brewing, it makes it taste better.

[emilyg]

4. Love my Folgers smooth.

[Wiley50]

12. I like Folger's Gourmet Supreme and now their new Black Silk

make a pot every morning and drink it until 2-4 pm.

I like dark roast, strong and black

[emilyg]

20. It's very good but

tears up my tummy. I have a healing ulcer.

[wolfgangmo]

5. All of the fair trade / organic coffees at my co-op...

...are cheaper than all of the ones listed in this article. Beyond the fact that I know that no clild slave labor was used in making my coffee, They are also taste GOOD. I am not a big drinker these days so I don't mind paying more for small amounts if it is primo.

Interesting story. I never was a big coffee drinker until I lived in Costa Rica and Venezuela and got used to really good, really fresh coffee which is the norm in those places. When I returned to the US after living down in those 2 countries I was craving some coffee on my first stop-over at Miami International and I stopped at the only place that seemed to have coffee, Starbucks. There was a big line and I thought, I'll get some coffee. The first shock was how slow the baristas seemed to be. The second shock was how expensive it was. The 3rd shock was that it was so bad I threw it out after taking a sip. It was horrible.

Talk about culture shock.

Finally, I recently started drinking cold brewed coffee. If you haven't tried this then you have no idea just how good coffee can be. Seriously. Cold brewing is a coffee fiends best friend.

[supernova]

6. 8 O'Clock coffee tastes great

I don't drink coffee anymore, except decalf. But 8 O'C is consistently good.

I Can get great fair trade coffee on sale, usually for $8-10/bag. It's enough to last me until the next time it goes on sale.

[tabasco]

7. Too bad they didn't test the dollar store brands.

That's the kind I buy. Tastes ok to me.

8 O'clock is very good, especially fresh ground, but I ain't payin' no $6.28 a pound.

[sendero]

8. Uh..

... isn't the taste of coffee a bit subjective?

I no longer trust CU anyway, they've just made too many bad calls.

Remember, their mission is to entertain, not necessarily inform. Or so they said in court when they got their asses sued off.

[Shakespeare]

13. Exactly what I was thinking. So much depends on how dark a brew you prefer.

I like a dark, dark intense brew, so my coffee of choice is either an Italian roast from whomever's on sale, or (preferably) Trader Joe's Bay Blend or Ultra-Dark Sumatran.

My mom, on the other hand, would probably like the Eight-O'-Clock stuff. Bleah.

[Atman]

9. Did they test them on a Mac?

Nothing brings out the best of DU like a Mac or a Starbucks thread!

:popcorn:

.

[Stevenmarc]

10. Fairway Italian roast

$7.00 Lb and they roast the beans on premises.

[jmowreader]

11. I want to know where they're getting it for $6.28/lb

In Fayettenam it's WAY under $5 per pound...and 8 O'Clock French Roast is really good coffee.

[sakabatou]

14. I just use Trader Joe's brand

[Pryderi]

15. Krogers' Columbian is great! n/t

[tridim]

16. Costco's First Colony Rainforest Blend is the best coffee I've ever tasted

$8.99 for 3 pounds, whole bean.

[kestrel91316]

17. I like my new favorite, Trader Joe's 100% Kauai (whole beans).

It's not super cheap, but it's half what Kona costs and yet is also about as local as I can get and is also BUYING AMERICAN.

[99th_Monkey]

18. Trader Joes "French Roast" .. tasty .... $4.99 (12 oz.) = $6.65 for full pount. ~nt~

[Moochy]

19. They can't handle the Peets

Of course they don't appreciate the heart of darkness that is Peets.

[Lugnut]

21. That's my coffee!

I drink Eight O'Clock Columbian every morning.

[blogslut]

22. I drink this

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NA16VWSDL._SL500_AA280_PIbundle-6,TopRight,0,0_AA280_SH20_.jpg

I like my coffee super strong and @ $1.99 a pound, Cafe Caribe does the trick. Of course, I take mine with a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk, which makes almost anything taste awesome.