What is your favorite whole bean coffee.

We have had the technical discussion about the process of preparing the elixir of life, now I'm looking for the bean.

The coffee brand I've been using for years has been in and out of stock for the last year or two. Don Pablo's Signature Blend, medium roast. It's really good coffee, smooth with a nutty chocolatey flavor. It's also fairly reasonably priced. I usually buy a 2-pound bag for $18 or the 5-pound bag for $38. 

I have tried Amazon's medium roast. It's not bad coffee but it is kind of shallow and simple tasting. It does have an outstanding aroma but the taste didn't back it up.

I have also tried 8 O'clock's coffee. Also not bad. Not as good as the Don Pablo IMHO, but close. It's a little too fruity for me. 

I'm looking for alternatives. Something with an earthy, nutty flavor. Not too fruity. Fairly strong. 

What is your favorite whole bean coffee?

Why do you like it?

Where do you get it?

What does it cost? 

If you like a preground coffee, post it as well. Frequently they will sell it both ways.

I buy green beans from Sweet Maria's and roast my own. Always fresh, never over-roasted once you learn the signs. Next step is a good burr grinder for a consistent grind. If I had to buy pre-roasted coffee... I'd go down to Foxtail and buy it fresh from them. 

Many of the good things about the elixir of life are volatile and don't last very long when you're talking about packaging, shipping, and shelf storage. Not to mention how long it sits in the cabinet open and waiting. Most connoisseurs recommend using it within 5-7 days of roasting for peak freshness. If your coffee is falling flat, you may simply be sitting on it too long. 

In sum, support local and enjoy freshness by finding your local roaster.  

Edit: Earthy and nutty are what I typically associate with African beans rather than Colombian or Guinean. That's a brash oversimplification, though, as roast profile is a major factor. A Full City roast would, generally, land you in the nutty and earthy range as City/Light roasting tends to showcase fruity and floral notes. 

The best stuff is almost always from local shops. Smaller batches and shorter logistical lines from roasting to your grinder.

For convenience though, I usually buy Peet's at the grocery store. I'm fond of the Big Bang medium roast blend.

Whatever my wife brings home from Costco.  I like it because Costco doesn't sell crap, it's inexpensive (not cheap!), it's whole bean, and it's good coffee.

I find that if I had a favorite and drank it all the time, it wouldn't be my favorite any more.  Coffee, like beer, tastes better if you switch it up from time to time.

That said, my tastes run to dark roasts and espresso style coffees, and I've had plenty of Bustelo.  It's good stuff for the cost.

I used to mix 8 o'clock Columbian with 8 o'clock Italian. 

We've found some good ones on our honeymoon though. The Lancaster County blend and Amish breakfast blend are both really good.

I don't really like flavored coffee, but the wife loves a lot of the ones at the link too.

Mayorga Cuban roast. The big bag from Costco. Tastes like something that costs $20 a pound for 1/3 the price.

Otherwise, Cafe Bustelo, like Duke linked.

I always look for a local shop that roasts their own. If the barista is knowledgeable, I'll ask them which one they recommend. If not, I'll just ask for their lightest roast. 

The regular Cafe Bustelo espresso style with the red and yellow label is also great, but as far as I know is only available ground, not whole bean.

Eight O'clock's Italian Roast is also pretty good.  But as you can guess, I prefer dark-to-very-dark roasts.

Sounds like we have similar taste in coffee. My "daily drinker" is the Aldi Organic Single-Origin Whole-Bean from Honduras. It's not the most exciting coffee in the world, but this is the Grassroots crowd, and we appreciate a good deal; this stuff is like $4 a bag...might be up to $5 now. Get the bag with the green label, they have a similar-looking gold-labeled bag from Peru that isn't as good. Seems like most people at our local store agree, there'll be 10 or 12 of the gold bags on the shelf and maybe 3 or 4 of the green bags at any given time. You want the green bag.

Like 1988RedT2 said, I like to mix it up to avoid getting stuck in a rut; I will get a bag of locally-roasted beans from Dunn Bros. or one of the smaller local places every month or two. Sometimes they're better than the Aldi beans, sometimes I don't like them as much. The Aldi beans are the baseline that I always go back to, because they make a darn good cup of coffee that I'm never disappointed to drink.

Not to bash others' suggestions, but I recently tried the Peet's Big Bang blend, and it was okay, but less interesting/flavorful than the Aldi beans in my opinion.

Looking forward to trying some of the other suggestions in this thread!

I'm lucky, cuz www.vistaclaracoffee.com is right down the road from me. This is Dave Stewart's outfit, of stewart bros. coffee, which became seattle's best coffee before they sold to starbucks. Rather than retire, he opened this place. He's a really nice feller, who really knows what he's doing. If you like fresh coffee this is the place. He sorta does just-in-time roasting so the coffee they ship out isn't more than a week or so old. I like to pick up a bag that's still warm from the roaster...  yum 

obsolete said:

Not to bash others' suggestions, but I recently tried the Peet's Big Bang blend, and it was okay, but less interesting/flavorful than the Aldi beans in my opinion.

Hey, if there's something better that I can pick up regularly at Kroger, I want to know!

I lean towards the Big Bang because I tend to like African beans. I like earthy, spicy, and cocoa notes. I find South American to be brighter with more acidity than I prefer.

Just Coffee Co-Op Maya Super Dark

From Madison WI and I assume mostly local to Wisconsin, but mail orderable.

If you really want to mix it up try a subscription for a few months, something will grab you  

https://www.intelligentsia.com

Costco Columbian medium roast. $16 for a 3# bag including tax. Easy to find if there's a Costco nearby.  I'm gonna have to find something else soon as there isn't a Costco in my new locale. I'm a medium roast kinda guy that isn't too finicky, but freshly ground beans makes the most noticeable difference to me. I tried the Don Pablo and I liked Costco's house brand a little better and it cost a little less.

I buy the Kirkland house brand coffee. Or caribou daybreak. 
 

Sorry, but y'all have terrible taste in coffee. 
go to www.intelligentsia.com, fill out the coffee profile thing and sign up for the subscription. 
I normally prefer Ethiopian Natural roast coffees but this month we've got a natural Columbian that's pretty tasty. 
Lots of solid roasters out there but intelligentsia is pretty great and the delivery is reliable. 

Find a local roaster, figure out what they have that is awesome, and you will be all set for decades.  I've been getting my coffee from a local roaster (just down the street from me) for almost 20 years now.  Costs more, but very, very worth it.

In reply to grover :

I just finished last months Ethiopian one, cracked into the Colombian this morning. Both are good. 

Seems relevant, to my mind.

In reply to Beer Baron :

Have you ever tried https://yeahmetoocoffee.com/?  He has, in my opinion, the best coffee in Columbus and has Ethiopian  beans from time to time.

I've had successes and failures. My wife swears by this place that we visited while traveling, and I order 3-4 bags at a time for her

https://cowboycoffee.com/

I use the subscription service from Black Rifle Coffee Club, and am pretty happy with them.

My oldest son and I are the only ones who drink coffee at the house and he has not gotten tot he point of wanting to grind it yet so I stock this at home:

Specially Selected Premium Roasted Ground Coffee

Its from Aldi, not expensive, reasted in Germany and good.

fresh beans from local roasters ... and best no older than a month or two

Beer Baron said:

I lean towards the Big Bang because I tend to like African beans. I like earthy, spicy, and cocoa notes. I find South American to be brighter with more acidity than I prefer.

Ah, that explains it! I usually prefer south or central American beans.