[regulation_d]

Point 1 is very similar in high end coffee. Sometimes very expensive coffee in the US is substantially better than what you get in the grocery store, but often it's just much different. It might taste like blueberries or strawberry candy or wine. Not necessary better, just weird, hopefully in a whimsical way.

[ethanbond]

Coffee is definitely one of the items that I've found the lowest correlation between price and perceived quality (as a quasi-distinct measure than my own subjective enjoyment). Even among wines, things on the expensive end that I really don't personally like, I can at least convince myself that there's a reason it has the price that it is. Coffee: no discernible relationship.

[regulation_d]

I spend a fair amount of money on coffee, but I know what styles and roast levels I like, and I know roasters that do those things well. If you like weird varietals processed with some experimental anaerobic processing method and a light roast, Onyx and Black & White, for example, both do really well with those styles. And they aren't cheap, but I enjoy them. If you favor medium to dark roasts, then Dunkin Donuts brand coffee in the grocery is pretty darn good.

[asah]

I used to think that about everything that was "better than Starbucks" and then I had fresh civet coffee from a legit place in HCM.

It's... the sh*t!