Here at Coffeeness, I’m always encouraging you to buy high-quality coffee beans from reputable coffee roasters. And thanks to the wonders of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to find the best of the best. With that in mind, I’ve put together this overview of the best places to buy coffee online.
Of course, I couldn’t include all the best coffee roasters here, so you’ll find a curated selection of well-regarded brands. And just for good measure, I’ll give you the lowdown on things to be aware of when you’re buying the best coffee online.
Table of Contents
Best Places to Buy Coffee Online at a Glance
Coffeeness
Roasted fresh in Brooklyn
Available in 1lb & 2lb bags
Direct trade espresso blend
Wide selection
Advanced filters
Discount for return customers
Direct trade coffee
Consistent and reliable
Widely available
Sustainable coffee
Selection off blends and single origins
Good value
Third wave pioneers
Tons of great options
Direct trade coffee beans
Trusted coffee company
Solar-powered roastery
Solid espresso blend
Why Do People Buy Coffee Online?
In a perfect world, we’d all be able to walk out of our front door and stroll down to our local craft coffee roaster. However, the reality is that many of us live far away from the nearest independent coffee shop. That pretty much leaves the local supermarket as the only option for buying coffee, which isn’t ideal. After all, a supermarket coffee bean selection is usually fairly limited and dominated by mass-market garbage. Plus, the coffee beans often sit on the shelves for way too long.
Fortunately, just about every coffee roaster worth its salt now has an online presence. This makes it super easy to purchase high-quality coffee beans and have them shipped to your house lickety split. Heck, you’re able to browse from a vast selection of single origin specialty coffee from the comfort of your living room. Plus, you can even learn about where your coffee was grown and how it was harvested and processed. Best of all, many companies will roast coffee to order, guaranteeing maximum freshness.
Of course, the downside to ordering coffee online is the shipping costs involved. Still, it’s common to expect free shipping when you spend a certain amount. What’s more, you may even get a solid discount when you purchase a lot of coffee at once. With that in mind, you might consider gathering together a group of coffee-loving friends. You can each choose your favorite coffee beans and reap the benefits of buying them all in one go.
The 6 Best Places to Buy Coffee Online
OK, now that we’ve established that buying coffee online is a wonderful option to have, let’s get to my top picks.
Coffeeness
I couldn’t write about the best places to buy coffee online without highlighting my Coffeeness Espresso Blend. After all, I’m incredibly proud of my signature espresso roast and I think it’s hard to beat.
A blend of ethically sourced natural and pulped natural Brazilian coffees, my Coffeeness Signature Espresso Roast is roasted in small batches in Brooklyn, New York. Featuring prominent notes of milk chocolate and hazelnut, this espresso blend produces rich, full-bodied shots of espresso with deep complexity and balanced acidity. Personally, I love using this blend as the base for a latte macchiato, seeing as it pairs so well with steamed milk.
Finally, you should know that we’re passionate about transparency and sustainability. That’s why all of our coffee beans are sourced through direct trade in partnership with Ocafi. What’s more, we can guarantee that the farms where our coffee is grown practice organic and environmentally friendly farming methods.
Seattle Coffee Gear
It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of Seattle Coffee Gear here at Coffeeness. Based in –you guessed it – Seattle, WA, this company specializes in espresso machines, fully automatics, coffee grinders and much more. In other words, the folks at Seattle Coffee Gear are our kind of people.
As it happens, you can also buy coffee from Seattle Coffee Gear. Sure, they don’t roast their own coffee beans, but they do offer a staggering selection of whole beans from dozens of companies. What’s cool is that you can use detailed filters to help you narrow down your search. So, whether you’re looking for an anaerobic-process single origin for your Chemex or a dark roast blend for your espresso machine, Seattle Coffee Gear has you covered.
Finally, if you want to set up regular deliveries of coffee beans, you can sign up and receive a five percent discount. That’s not bad!
Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Stumptown Coffee Roasters is a super popular coffee company based in Portland, Oregon. A third wave trailblazer, Stumptown was one of the pioneers of the early direct trade movement, developing long-lasting relationships with many producers. And although Stumptown is now owned by a large corporation, they haven’t sacrificed their integrity or dedication to high-quality, direct trade specialty coffee.
Stumptown Coffee Roasters offers a rotating selection of single origin coffees as well as a few consistently reliable blends. Personally, I’m a big fan of the Hair Bender and Holler Mountain blends, both of which are available on Amazon.
If you want to buy single origin coffee from Stumptown, you can visit the company’s website. Here, you’ll find a ton of information about each coffee as well as handy brewing guides.
Onyx Coffee Lab
It’s no secret that Onyx Coffee Lab is one of the best places to buy coffee online. This popular Arkansas-based coffee roaster has been making waves in the specialty coffee industry over the past few years.
As it happens, I’ve reviewed the brand’s Monarch Espresso as part of my guide to the best espresso beans. And as I remember, this espresso blend was especially good when used as the base for a latte or cappuccino.
Onyx Coffee Lab also offers several single origins and works directly with coffee producers all over the world. Like Coffeeness, these guys believe in sustainable coffee and nurturing relationships with farmers. Heck, Onyx Coffee Lab even runs a solar-powered roastery! As with most of the companies in this guide, you can buy Onyx Coffee Lab beans on Amazon or directly from the brand’s website.
Intelligentsia
Intelligentsia Coffee is a Chicago-based roaster that was another major force in the third wave coffee movement during the early 2000s. Now owned by a major holding company, Intelligentsia is a force to be reckoned with, and the roaster’s offerings are widely available for purchase online.
I’m actually a big fan of Black Cat Espresso, which is Intelligentsia’s flagship espresso blend. It’s as consistently tasty now as it’s ever been, and goes especially well with steamed milk in a latte.
As with all the coffee roasters on this list, Intelligentsia is dedicated to quality and sustainable practices. Sure, the company is bigger than ever, but nothing has changed when it comes to the way Intelligentsia sources coffee. Rather, this coffee roaster fosters enduring relationships with producers, ensuring that farmers are paid fair living wages. That’s something to be celebrated!
Counter Culture Coffee
I first encountered Counter Culture Coffee when I was putting together my guide to the best coffee beans on Amazon. As it turns out, Counter Culture has been around for decades, and has been promoting sustainability, transparency and healthy producer relationships from the start.
Probably the best-selling offering is Counter Culture Big Trouble, which is available on Amazon or from the company’s website. I really enjoyed this blend, and found that its medium-dark roast profile stood up to a variety of brewing methods.
Choosing the Best Coffee Online: Factors to Consider
Now you’re familiar with my picks for the best places to buy coffee online. Still, there are many more great options out there, and you might want to strike out alone in your quest to find your favorite beans. If that’s the case, I encourage you to consider the following factors. That way you’ll know how to get the very best coffee beans possible.
Single Origin vs Blend
Choosing between a single origin coffee and a blend is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when selecting beans. It all comes down to personal preference as well as your go-to brew method.
For example, if you make coffee with a pour-over dripper, consider selecting a single origin coffee with a lighter roast profile. This preparation method is great for highlighting complex floral and fruity notes. On the other hand coffee blends are crafted by roasters to be well-balanced and multi-faceted.
Personally, I always use a coffee blend when I’m making espresso, seeing as I want body, depth, complexity and sweetness. That’s why my Coffeeness beans are a blend of natural and pulped natural coffees from Brazil. This way, I was able to get everything I wanted from a shot of espresso, from balanced acidity to a long, satisfying finish.
Coffee Bean Roast Profile
I’d say that most of you probably already know what your favorite coffee roast profile is. Some folks prefer dark roast coffee with smokey, bittersweet notes and very low acidity. However, other people opt for light roast beans with floral or fruity notes and more pronounced brightness.
Either way, you should pay attention to how a coffee’s roast profile is described online.
Personally, I often use light roast coffee beans, especially if I’m breaking out my Chemex or Hario V60 dripper. But when it comes to espresso, I usually reach for coffee beans with a medium roast profile.
If the beans have been carefully roasted to perfection, their natural sugars will have been caramelized. This means my espresso shot will have the right balance of sweetness and complexity. My Coffeeness Espresso Blend is roasted this way, which is why it produces balanced shots with milk chocolate and hazelnut notes.
Whole Bean vs Ground
I think you know what I’m going to say: you should always buy whole bean coffee if possible!
Here at Coffeeness I’ve been preaching about this for years, because your experience will be a million times better if you grind right before brewing. I mean, given that coffee starts to go stale as soon as it’s been ground, it stands to reason that it won’t taste as good after a short period of time. So, if you buy preground coffee online, it’s going to be a shadow of its former self by the time it reaches you.
With all that said, if you don’t already own one, check out my guide to the best burr coffee grinders. Trust me, you may be surprised at how affordable many of my top picks are.
Coffee Freshness
Even whole bean coffee goes stale eventually, so make sure your beans come with a recent roast date label. I mean, coffee prices aren’t going down, so you should get what you pay for. With that said, with the right packaging, whole beans will stay nice and fresh for at least a couple of weeks.
While I’m on the subject of labels, reputable coffee roasters should offer up as much information as possible about their beans. You should be able to learn about how the coffee was procured, where it was grown, how it was processed and the roaster’s relationship with the producer. And whether this information is on the bag itself or the company’s website doesn’t matter as long as it’s available.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the best places to buy coffee online. Do you have a recommendation you’d like to share? Feel free to leave a comment!
FAQs
There are tons of options when it comes to buying the best coffee online. My top recomme
ndations include Coffeeness Espresso Blend, Stumptown and Seattle Coffee gear.
The best coffee for gastritis is low in acidity. So, look for dark roast coffee that’s 100% Arabica.
The best-selling coffee in America is Folgers. However, that doesn’t mean it’s the best-tasting coffee!
