It's all rather pointless without knowing what the OP, personally, defines as "decent."
Each of has our own personal minimum acceptable quality.

As a reality check.

• Most people on coffee forums would not buy roasted coffee costing less than $10 per pound unless circumstances are very unusual. At this price point, it is almost impossible to get specialty grade coffee (the top 10% or so of all coffee grown); instead, you are buying commodity coffee.
• You can buy excellent green coffee at this price, the top 1% of all coffee produced. However, most home roasters also enjoy the roasting process and make a hobby of it. The value you add to the green coffee by roasting roughly equals the income from a minimum wage job. If you do not enjoy roasting, and you value your leisure time more highly than this, it is not economical.

Take a look at http://ourcoffeebarn.com/

They have plenty of green and roasted coffee in your price range (especially if you buy 5lb bags). I have never tried them, but it looks like nearly all of their offerings come from a reputable importer (Cafe Imports).

I also noticed while checking out their site that they offer discounted shipping through Spee Dee if you live in parts of the Midwest including your state. http://ourcoffeebarn.com/estore/shipping.php

aspenedelen wrote:Do decent roasted or unroasted coffee and espresso beans exist at the pricepoint btw $6 to $10 per lb? I drink what I would consider a lot of coffee (10+ cups a day) and go through a lb of coffee per week. Any ideas and thoughts?

Anthony, a couple of questions, if I may . . .

Why $6-$10 a pound? What is "magical" for you about that price point?

You go through one pound a week, and you think that's a lot, but many here go through that much or more each week.

Bear with me:

• 1 pound = 454 grams.
• A "standard" double shot of espresso consists of 14 grams, though admittedly many use a higher dose than that.
• Presuming 14 grams, a pound of coffee yields 32.5 doubles. Given spills, wastage, etc., let's say 30 doubles to one pound.

At $20/lb. delivered, your coffee cost per 14 gram double shot of espresso is $0.667 per drink.
At $18/lb. delivered, your coffee cost per 14 gram double shot of espresso is $0.60 per drink.
At $16/lb. delivered, your coffee cost per 14 gram double shot of espresso is $0.533 per drink.
At $14/lb. delivered, your coffee cost per 14 gram double shot of espresso is $0.467 per drink.
At $12/lb. delivered, your coffee cost per 14 gram double shot of espresso is $0.40 per drink.
At $10/lb. delivered, your coffee cost per 14 gram double shot of espresso is $0.333 per drink.
At $8/lb. delivered, your coffee cost per 14 gram double shot of espresso is $0.2667 per drink.
At $6/lb. delivered, your coffee cost per 14 gram double shot of espresso is $0.20 per drink.

Now I grant you, 20¢ is a lot better than 60¢, but the point here is that coffee is cheap!

Napa Valley Cabernets regularly sell for between $50 and $100 -- a four-ounce glass will cost you (at home, at retail) between $8.333 and $16.667. And in a restaurant . . . ouch!

Cheers,
Jason

aspenedelen wrote:Do decent roasted or unroasted coffee and espresso beans exist at the pricepoint btw $6 to $10 per lb? I drink what I would consider a lot of coffee (10+ cups a day) and go through a lb of coffee per week. Any ideas and thoughts?

~~~You'll have to buy unroasted beans to find quality at your six to ten dollar/pound price point. As has been said in replies to you in this thread, quality specialty level coffee can be had in this price range. Understand that specialty coffee has been cupped and found to be judged 80 points and higher on an empirical cupping scale. Lower than 80 points is not specialty grade but referred to as commodity coffee as Mr. Schulman stated


Noticing in your profile you asked for help. My suggestion to you would be to read up on home roasting if you're wanting to drink good coffee for under $10/lb. As has been mentioned in this thread, you will have to make an investment in time to roast your own coffee but the rewards are well worth the effort. You'll also have to invest in roasting equipment, making or buying that equipment. Home coffee roasting is a lot of fun and is easy to do but it's not for everyone. You'll have to try and decide for yourself. Read, read, read! sweetmarias.com is a very good source for information and to buy quality specialty grade coffee delivered at the price point you are seeking



Jake
Reddick Fla.
No matter how far a jackass travels, it won't come back a horse

My wife and I go through two to three lbs. of coffee a week so I was also on the quest for decent roasted coffee at that price point.
I tried Coffeebeandirect.com, Porto Rico Importers, CCM, and Geisha Coffee Roasters. Returned the shipments from the first two places because they both were either stale or baked, wasn't sure.
CCM was mediocre at best, Geisha was the best of the lot, but still not top notch. I ordered at least four different origins from each place.
These results drove me into home roasting.
I pan roasted one batch and didn't like the scorching. Switched to a heat gun and bowl and got MUCH better results. I just cupped two different batches of Roastmasters Brazil Fazenda Santa Ines 2007 ( City+, Full City) and a batch of Sweet Maria's Sulawesi Tana Toraja Ke'pe, and all three were better than anything I bought roasted from the above places. Cheaper,too,even with the loss of weight due to roasting.
And those were "rookie roasts"! I don't even know what I'm doing,yet!
So my advice is take up home roasting. It's a great hobby, you save a little cash, and drink better coffee.
I plan on buying a roaster, probably a Hottop, after I get a little more educated and experienced at roasting.

Hope this helps. I wish I knew all this before I spent all that money trying to find quality "cheap" roasted beans.


Glenn K.