Solid thread topic, I just saw this. As coffee is a big passion of mine and new career choice, I wanted to share a little.
The fact of the matter is that a vast majority (probably 99%) of people in the world who drink coffee actually drink shitty, stale coffee produced from unripe cherries and lackluster processing/roasting methods. As a result, the general lack of flavor found in such ubiquitous subpar coffee is normally compensated by over-roasting in order to produce a "consistent" (read: burnt) taste. The consumers (general masses) of this vile nectar - in order to make such a brutal beverage palatable - must compensate for this by the addition of copious cream, sugar, spices, and flavorings to mask the truly horrid taste of your standard gas station coffee in it's natural "black" state.
To avoid this unnecessary misery, do yourself a favor and either: 1) make friends with a hipster (somehow hipsters know good coffee) and ask him/her to show you where to find a micro-roastery selling freshly roasted single-origin coffee beans/drinks with various manual as well as espresso machine brewing methods with talented baristas. You're typically wanting to look for places that don't have pumpkin spiced soy lattes on the menu or have those hazelnut and vanilla flavor syrups lying around; or 2) google third-wave café or coffee roastery in your area (if you're so lucky to have one near) and buy beans from them that clearly state the roast date and origin of your bean, and it is preferred to have some tasting notes as well, if possible. The deal with specialty coffee is that it's expensive, because it is rare yet highly sought after. A good 12 oz. bag of specialty coffee beans will cost you in the neighborhood of $13-18, which should last a normal person roughly 14 days give or take.
In Australia, you can use the Beanhunter app or
website to find an extensive list of café rankings and reviews...nowadays the site even has listings in Japan, New Zealand, and parts of USA like California and New York.
As a general rule, the bigger macro-roasteries (in the United States) are still leaps and bounds better than say Starbucks. These include: Intelligentsia, Blue Bottle, Counter Culture, and Stumptown just to name a few of the respectable ones.
A few words of caution: the labels of organic, free-trade, rainforest alliance, etc. do not guarantee whatsoever coffee quality or freshness.
Ideally - for you home-brewers - you should be buying
AND CONSUMING ALL of your coffee
within 3 weeks of the roast date (although 2 is better), and
always buy whole bean.
Once you grind coffee, the oils and flavonoids in the bean rapidly degrade within 15-20 minutes of exposure to atmosphere which means that flavor and body rapidly degrades as well. Also, invest in a decent burr grinder - this is important because burr grinders typically excel at grind size consistency which is important for even extraction of coffee. You can buy manual hand crank ones like the
porlex mini which is a decent grinder that I use for travel. Or you can buy one of
these for the slightly more serious and discerning home fanatic. Both of these create above-average results for manual brewing methods.
Find a roaster that has different roast profiles depending on the brew method and origin of bean. Typically, for manual brew methods like
V60,
aeropress,
Chemex, or even drip coffee maker, etc., you're going to want a medium to lighter roast. With an espresso, you are going to want a medium to medium-dark roast, typically. But as with everything, taste is somewhat subjective on the roast profile. Generally speaking, if the beans are black or have an oily sheen to them, chances are the only flavor you're going to taste is ash, charcoal, or a mix of really bitter, unpleasant flavors.
A truly balanced coffee should taste sweet, possibly fruity, possibly caramelly, nutty, chocolaty, etc. with a nice body and overall balance of subtle flavors with a smooth finish. Typically the presence of overpowering acidic or bitter flavors is an indication of poor quality beans or improper grind/brewing techniques resulting from under/over-extraction. Although, many Italian espresso coffee blends seem to be mixed with a bit of robusta beans to add a slight bitter tone to their espresso, as bitter seems to be a preferred flavor in Italy. So, taste preferences can of course vary by region as well. Australians love milky coffees (flat whites), but in general, as a country, they have espresso (specifically, the short/long black) drinks figured out better than anywhere else in the world I've been to - specifically Melbournians.
Check a forum like
coffee geek for more in-depth coffee-nerd discussions.