The Best USA 🇺🇸 Grocery Store Coffee

I have to say - I was thrown by how tricky this was, and by how much the comparative tasting messed with my head, and made coffees seem different compared to what they were being tasted alongside.

This episode was supported by my Patreon.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:55 Round 1
7:12 Round 2
10:22 Quarter Finals
12:02 Semi Finals
13:06 Final Round
14:20 The winner
15:30 The brain takes a delicious coffee bath
15:57 Notable coffees/Recommendations

Links:

My Books:

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[jameshoffmann]

To address the Philz controversy: I didn’t realise they weren’t widely available. It was heavily suggested in the Patreon poll to pick the coffees, so I presumed it had decent distinction US-wide. My apologies! I also don’t think I understood the massive grocery variation by region (coming from a small island). Feel free to pick your own winner from the top 4! Regardless - I hope this was a fun video!

[natekiellach]

As a Starbucks employee who hates Pike Place, seeing James wince at a slurp of it is all I’ve ever wanted

[IAMED]

I thought it was very funny that he consistently described the Canadian coffee as "friendly" 🍁

[josephmay]

as someone who used to drink a lot of grocery store coffee, being whole bean 100% gave phil's a massive advantage

[iainwall]

As a Canadian watching tim horton's make it as far as it did really validates that the employee's in store just don't know how to make coffee

[jeremyhorvath]

As I work corporate for one of these manufacturers, I have been waiting for us to be trashed by James for so long :)

[Chip]

When I worked for Starbucks, we were allowed to take home a free bag of beans every week, and Veranda blend was basically the only coffee I drank for about 3 years because of that. It’s surprisingly drinkable, all things considered. James’s face on tasting the Pike Place roast definitely brought back memories though.

[marklacatena]

Many of these are available as whole beans. I’d love to see a remake with only the whole bean versions. Tip: 8 O’clock puts the roasting date on the bag. Get the freshest. If your favorite brand doesn’t have a roasting date, pick the bag with less air space. Air means old beans.

[simonandrews]

As a Canadian who doesn’t really like Tim’s, I still couldn’t help but shout “that’s my boy!” every time that cup went through

[nataliejones]

As a person who hates acidic coffee, i appreciate you explaining the flavor profiles and not just saying good or bad

[ofthenearfuture]

Your quarter finals match up between Tim Hortons and McDonald's was by far the most interesting to me! Up here in Canada, it's like mythology at this point that Tim's always had the best 'fast food' coffee, and maybe 10 years ago McDonald's stole their coffee supplier and Tim's had to get a new one, which wasn't as good. I myself still prefer McDonald's coffee for something cheap and quick on the go (other than Starbucks Blonde roasts), but it was really cool seeing you taste each head to head!

[TastySlowCooker]

Wait can we just take a moment to admire the beauty of the cut from taste test James to editing James? That was amazing

[Ultrathrust]

This video was surprisingly touching for me! I used to watch my mother drink Eight O’Clock coffee, but I remember it being quite bitter since I was so young. Now, as an adult, I drink Starbucks Veranda. To hear they’re so similar and I accidentally grew into my mother’s taste makes me feel very close to her. I should probably give Eight O’Clock another shot!

[HickoryDickory]

That venomous "I know what you are" at the chicory imposter was everything! 🤣

[amethystdawn]

While I work at Starbucks, we did little coffee tastings where corporate would pair coffees and pastries or we would just taste the different blends and try and distinguish notes. I swear to God, every time Pike Place was in the tasting, we would all become super quiet and awkward about it with our manager. We were all terrified to say that it is one of the worst-tasting coffee blends ever, since its the primary blend used during the afternoon & is supposed to be their "famous" blend lol

[funtclaps]

Cafe Bustello has been my go to for a VERY long time. I’ve tried every single one of these. I enjoy the dirt dark super toasty taste though.

[ThongNguyen-fljp]

Wow that meta-edit at 9:07 was one of the smoothest transitions in a youtube video!we all know how excellent your taste in coffee is, but your taste in video production deserves credit too, between this, the brad pitt commercial, and the portable espresso videos, I nominate you for an oscar!

[alecjbarlow]

I was a barista for a couple of years at Philz. They trained us to push Tesora on new customers, but I always recommended Silken Splendor instead. Looks like my personal taste checked out!

[larisonjohnson]

Peet’s Major D had always been my go to Grocery store brand. Though I usually buy whole bean. It broke my heart when he eliminated it initially, but then, by some type of divine intervention, he corrected himself, and then it showed up at the end! ❤

[metalmike]

His critiques are sensitive but at the same time so brutal it's hilarious. Love the personality 🎉