Big Bite Taste Test: Supermarket Coffee

I know the people here don't know about a small local company, but jazzybird frozen espresso is amazing! It's based in Louisiana and if you take a shot and just add water, it's the best instant that i have ever had! I wish they could check it out.

Did you try Yuban? best off the shelf !

Sabine wrote : "I hate French roast, it tastes vaguely like pee".
Tell me Sabine, why do you know what pee taste like?

I heard the hype about 8 o'clock. a friend said don't do it - but I bought some anyway and he was right.
Not really good.
Starbucks is ok, but I like the way I brew it at home better for some reason.
Most coffees are kind of disappointing. - but by taste testing various ones you can find decent stuff.
There is a local roaster that puts out a sumatra that is so good it really outshines just about anything.
Oily beans, amazing aroma (before and when brewed) full intense flavor.
Man, wish I had some right now!

Starbucks? Oh, someone has not had really good coffee.

Chock Full O Nuts regular roast is fine by me and priced right at Target.
To splurge I would get Dunkin Doughnuts regular: it has a spicier taste than CFN, about 3X cost

The best are Seattles Best Breakfast Blend and Big B Best Blend (former Beaner's) - not sure community and maxwell house are in the same league -- From someone who loves coffee -- this is not reality!

Have you tried McDonald's McCafe coffee? The price is right and it tastes better!

Why do you not include NESPRESSO coffee?

My personal favorite is Lavazza, but I am not too sure if it is sold in America. It's strong, but not bitter, and you can still tell it is coffee, even if you put sugar in it... Maxwell House tastes like baked beans, and Starbucks really is bitter.

Peets is the coffee for me. Awesome flavor. Much better than Starbuck$

I don't know who rated the coffees in the story but they don't know beans about coffee.

It would have been nice to know what other coffee's Rachel Ray and her panel of experts sipped through to get a little more insight into why they chose the ones they did as "best." As you can see from all of the comments, the "best choice" is purely subjectional. Everyone has their own idea (and taste) of what is good.

sorry but ALL favorites lose when the premise is wrong. All coffee is stale 7 days after roasting...mud rather than fresh coffee. The answer is simple, roast your own beans for an amazing cup that you'll never forget. Easy and cheap, just place raw green coffee beans in a plain skillet over high heat and shake like popcorn until glossy, dark brown, 5 minutes to heaven. I roast a batch after dinner, then grind in the morning...Wow! Goggle for the details, it's really that easy, no fancy equipment and beans coast less than $4 lb. online

I've seen a couple references to percolator coffee. Do you know what that is? It cycles the coffee through the grinds over and over and over again, that is disgusting. Vacuum brew, french press, or the simple chemex. Electric brewers lack the heat to brew coffee at the correct temp. Don't buy decent coffee and then brew it in a piece o crap and complain about the flavor of the coffee. Most people put down starbucks because it's trendy to put them down. To say they have bad coffee is just plain ignorant. Expensive? Yes. Exploitative? Yes, but less so than most of the 8'oclock/folgers/maxwell/ dunkin/mcd's who exploit farmers take the crappy cheap beans and do not practice fair trade.

my wife only lets me buy starbucks coffee

Yeha Really Did You try The Kroger Value blend For a generic can of coffee this stuff rocks ...however I can't believe you don't have Eight O Clock coffee on your list we all know what great coffee that is and it has been around forever. And of course Dunkin Donuts Classic is got to be on the top of my list as well. But Kroger Value for $4.95 for 34.5 oz of premium coffee is a very Robust and full bodied coffee for a great value ....and it beats Maxwell House out of the gate flavor wise every time.
In this Economy I will save a buck and not sacrifice one ounce on flavor Thanx

I hesitate to write this but as a person who has had Starbucks French Roast when nothing else was available I had to respond to Sabine. I do agree with her basic sentiment that it is not the best, but I am curious where the comparative likening it to "pee" came from, even if only vaguely reminiscent of it.

It pains me to see Starbucks given any mention as a quality coffee.
There are very few "quality" coffee shops but should be sought out as a base of reference for judging any coffee.A good starting point would be to find a shop that features "Thanksgiving Roasting Companies" coffees as they are pioneers in the Specialty coffee roasting and probably the truest reference for developing a template for judging coffees.

Did you even TRY Peets french roast