I've NEVER bought beans before. The extent of my coffee trials has mostly been limited to ground Folgers.
That IS a shame.
Going to that one link provides me a way to whittle down my number of potential choices to around 50. Regular -- Whole Bean -- 1 lbs Bag or Less. Anyway I can easily whittle it down some more, or should I just stick with the most popular choice -- "All Day Gourmet Coffee - Fresh Roased - Celebes Kalossi"??
For now, I will definitely follow your advice and stick to the whole beans at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Just did a quick Google search for a local roaster and found one about 15 miles away, so I will check them out next time I'm in that direction.
I don't think it's too difficult to recommend a generic beer for someone who wants to find good beer.
No matter who you are...
- Sierra Nevada WHEAT (not the Pale Ale, which I do enjoy from time to time) is a great beer that anyone can enjoy.
- Abita Restoration is a great beer.
- Abita Jockamo is best served with seafood, like crab legs.
- Magic Hat #9 is good.
- SweetWater 420 is good.
- Sam Adams Boston Lager is OK, but there is a huge variation in its flavor from batch to batch for a number of reasons, so not the first I'd recommend.
If you wanna be cheap...
- Pabst Blue Ribbon is certainly better than most other "American" beers that are no longer headquartered in America.
If you wanna be REALLY cheap...
- Steel Reserve will get the job done as well. But it's best to pour directly into a glass to let the excess carbonation fizz out. Definitely worth 99c for a 24 oz.
Or perhaps you want the BEST beer that money can buy??? For me it's....
- Rogue Brutal IPA (around $6 for a 22 oz. bottle, which really ain't that expensive for its awesome flavor)
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These are what I would call recommendations. Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts would seem to be more like recommendations of coffee outlets. But perhaps coffee beans are not quite as moldable to designer names and such? The choices will be limited to light, medium, and dark.... of which I will more than likely ignore the dark roast choices.
Guess I just need to do a bit more researching...