The 12 Best Ground Coffees of 2024

Best Overall

Stumptown Coffee Roasters Holler Mtn. Coffee

$13 at Amazon $15 at Walmart $13 at Target

Stumptown has long been a reliable brand that coffee lovers can count on for a quality cup. While there are many great options to choose from, one of our favorites is Stumptown's Holler Mountain blend. It combines coffee beans from all around the world to create a unique yet palatable brew. The dominant notes that stand out are citrus, caramel, and jam. There are also chocolate undertones to balance the bright, tart flavors. It's a medium roast you can enjoy at any time of day. The taste is versatile enough to suit a number of brewing styles as well, from drip coffee to pour over and more.

Holler Mountain is generally available in local grocery stores, making it easy to pick up after work, and it's sold by several online sites too. Bags contain 12 ounces of organic ground coffee. Like many Stumptown products, this blend leans toward the more expensive end, but it's a reasonable price if you're looking for something a clear step above an average bag of beans.

Roast: Medium| Size: 12 ounces | Available In: Whole bean and ground | Origin: South America, Central America, and East Africa

Best Dark Roast

Death Wish Coffee Co. Ground Coffee

$17 at Amazon

Hailed as the world's strongest coffee, Death Wish delivers a caffeine punch two to four times stronger than a normal cup of joe, depending on the grounds used per brew. The high-energy hook has attracted many customers, but the flavor is what truly makes it a best seller. It's surprisingly smooth, despite the caffeine content, and filled with rich notes of dark chocolate and cherry.

Death Wish isn't your traditional dark roast (and it's certainly on the expensive end), but it's truly delicious, and the caffeine keeps you alert without any shakes or jitters. You can purchase bags in sizes of 1 or 5 pounds, as well as in whole bean variety.

Roast: Dark | Size: 1 and 5 pounds | Available In: Whole bean, ground, and K-Cup pods | Origin: India and Peru

Best Medium Roast

Kicking Horse Coffee Smart Ass Blend

$16 at Amazon $10 at Thrive Market View on Vitacost

Kicking Horse makes six ground coffee varieties, including another medium roast that falls slightly on the darker side, but the Smart Ass blend strikes a terrific balance of flavor. The aroma is sweet and fruity, but as soon as you take a sip, you'll also find rich undercurrents of milk chocolate. Though slightly more expensive than some of its grocery-store competitors, this is a great option for the coffee drinker tired of making the same run-of-the-mill medium roast every day. All Kicking Horse Coffee is organic and fair trade, but keep in mind that the ground coffee is only available in one size: 10 ounces.

Roast: Medium | Size: 10 ounce or 2.2 pounds | Available In: Whole bean and ground | Origin: Africa, Central America, and South America

Best Light Roast

Intelligentsia House Blend

$11 at Amazon $11 at Walmart $15 at Target

There's a minor misconception that light roast coffee has less flavor than dark roast. While light roasts don't pack the same smoky punch, they can be just as flavorful. In fact, they often have a more nuanced taste, which allows multiple notes to stand out in every sip. That's exactly the case with Intelligentsia's House Blend. It has some medium-roast elements due to an underlying milk chocolate flavor, but it separates itself with bright, crisp notes of apple and citrus.

The House Blend is a terrific option for those who own a pour-over coffee maker, as those brewing devices tend to accentuate lighter flavors. Some sites, including the Intelligentsia website, offer a variety of grind size options from fine to coarse. The standard pre-ground version is a medium grind, which is ideal for drip coffee makers.

Roast: Light | Size: 12 or 60 ounces | Available In: Whole bean, ground, instant, and K-Cup | Origin: Burundi, Guatemala, and Honduras

Best for French Press

La Colombe Corsica Dark Roast

$14 at Amazon View on Lacolombe.com

If you're a French press owner and you've experienced a silty, gritty taste at the bottom of your cup, this is generally because the coffee grounds used were too fine. The beloved non-electric coffee maker requires a coarse grind for maximum smoothness and flavor.

You can preselect the ideal grind size when ordering any of La Colombe's delicious blends. Corsica is our favorite for French presses. Named for the island off the coast of mainland France, this coffee mixes notes of deliciously dark chocolate with hints of smokiness and red wine. The main downside is that you have to order directly off La Colombe's website for ground coffee, as most major retailers only carry the boutique roaster's bags in whole bean.

Roast: Dark | Size: 1 and 5 pounds | Available In: Whole bean and ground | Origin: Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, and Mexico

Best Budget

Seattle's Best Coffee House Blend Ground Coffee

$10 at Amazon

With 10 tasty options and a budget price, Seattle's Best is the favorite morning pick-me-up in many households. Those new to the brand (a Starbucks subsidiary) can start with the well-balanced House Blend or find favorite roasts from light to dark. There's also a couple of flavored options like Toasted Hazelnut and Very Vanilla, as well as a decaf blend.

Seattle's Best is not the bare-bones cheapest coffee out there—familiar names like Folgers and Maxwell House are slightly less expensive—but it is perhaps the best value for your money. The brand is widely available both in-store and online.

Roast: Medium | Size: 12 and 20 ounces | Available In: Ground and K-Cup pods | Origin: Latin America

Best Flavored

New England Coffee Ground Coffee

$17 at Amazon

New England Coffee is the go-to choice for variety, offering over 25 flavored blends. One popular pick is this Blueberry Cobbler flavor, a medium roast that balances sweetness with underlying notes of spice.

The century-old company crafts familiar options such as French Vanilla and Pumpkin Spice, but its assortment accommodates all taste buds (and can even get a little wacky). Some of the most unique flavors include sweet-tooth favorites Peanut Butter Banana Milkshake, Vanilla Cupcake, and Cinnamon Sticky Bun; there are also milder options like Pistachio Crème and Hawaiian Macadamia Nut.

We asked Selina Ullrich, the Director of Coffee at East One Coffee Roasters, how flavored coffee is made, and she told us: "Flavor oils are added when the coffee is cooling. During that process, they spray the coffee when it’s hot with the oils so it locks into the cell structure."

As for perhaps the best part about New England Coffee, it's a budget-priced brand readily available in grocery stores and a number of online retailers.

Roast: Medium | Size: 11 ounces, 1 pound, and 5 pounds | Available In: Whole bean, ground, and K-Cup pods | Origin: Information not available

Best for Cold Brew

Stone Street Coffee Cold Brew Reserve

$18 at Amazon

Stone Street Coffee is a Brooklyn-born roaster that makes must-try grounds for your home cold brew. The vast majority of customers give the blend five stars, saying it's flavorful and fresh. One nice detail is that the coffee comes in a coarse grind, which is ideal for making cold brew. Surprisingly, the brand doesn't include instructions on the bag. That said, many cold brew recipes can be found online. Stone Street is fairly expensive, but the quality of the coffee makes up for it. You can purchase the Cold Brew Reserve blend in bags of 1, 2, or 5 pounds.

Roast: Dark | Size: 1, 2, and 5 pounds | Available In: Whole bean and ground | Origin: Colombia

Best for Espresso

Illy Classico Espresso Ground Coffee

$12 at Amazon $16 at Williams-Sonoma

A very fine grind is key to getting the most out of your espresso, as well as the coffee from a moka pot or AeroPress. Illy makes it easy for you, evenly grinding robust Arabica beans so that they're ready to be packed into a portafilter.

The Italian company has been crafting espresso for over 80 years. Teeming with the sweet taste of chocolate and caramel, the Classico Medium Roast Espresso is a great place to start; however, illy also makes a delicious dark roast for those who prefer a smokier, more intense shot of espresso. The recognizable silver tins hold 8.8 ounces of coffee, and customers say they keep the coffee grounds extra fresh. Add a milk frother, and you can whip up tasty lattes and cappuccinos right from home.

Roast: Medium | Size: 8.8 ounces | Available In: Whole bean, ground, K-Cup pods, and Nespresso capsule | Origin: Guatemala, Brazil, Ethiopia, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India, Rwanda, and Sumatra

Best Alcohol-Infused

Fire Dept. Coffee Vanilla Bean Bourbon Infused Coffee

$18 at Amazon

Coffee and spirits can be paired in countless delicious ways from cocktails and liqueurs to bags of coffee like this from Fire Dept. Coffee. The brand has a line of nine Spirit Infused Coffees, and our favorite is the Vanilla Bean Bourbon. Note that the coffee does not actually contain alcohol due to the roasting process. Fire Dept. Coffee takes raw coffee beans, infuses them with vanilla and bourbon, then roasts the beans to cook out the alcohol but leave the flavor.

We received a sample of the Vanilla Bean Bourbon blend and found it strong yet well-balanced. The notes of bourbon complement the coffee instead of overwhelming it, so this is not just a gift-worthy gimmick (although, it would make a wonderful gift) but a coffee you can regularly drink without growing tired of it. The whole kitchen will smell great upon brewing too, as the coffee has a strong aroma that's present at the start of every sip. One of the only downsides is that Fire Dept. Coffee's Spirit Infused options are slightly more expensive than the average bag of beans, but it makes sense given the added ingredients and steps in the brewing process.

Roast: Medium-dark | Size: 12 ounces | Available In: Whole bean and ground | Origin: Sourcing locations are proprietary information

Best Blend

VitaCup Genius Ground Coffee

$15 at Amazon

With its Genius Blend, VitaCup takes 100 percent arabica beans (a higher-quality option than robusta) and adds several unique ingredients to make a one-of-a-kind cup of joe. The three central ingredients are turmeric, cinnamon, and MCT oil, which is a supplement made of fats extracted from coconut or palm oil. This medium-dark roast also contains multiple B vitamins and vitamin D3.

One of our writers received a sample of VitaCup's Genius ground coffee and loved the bold flavor and undertones of spice from the cinnamon and turmeric. What really stood out to him was the coffee's richer mouthfeel, likely due to the MCT oil. Users won't have to worry about thin, watery coffee with this blend.

The coffee is a little pricey but a great buy nonetheless. Bags of ground coffee are 10 ounces. The Genius Blend is also available in K-Cup pods and single-serving sticks of instant coffee.

Roast: Medium-dark | Size: 10 ounces | Available In: Ground, instant, and K-Cup pods | Origin: Brazil and Mexico

Best Custom

Zend Coffee Balanced Blend

View on Zendcoffee.com

Zend Coffee offers three "functional blends" that customers can add to the majority of the brand's coffees for different benefits. The functional blends include: Beauty, which contains hyaluronic acid, Vitamin C, and biotin; Serenity, which has L-theanine and rhodiola rosea; and Recovery, with cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, and black pepper. All you have to do is start with a base coffee on Zend's website, then select one of the functional blends for a small additional fee.

After sampling a number of Zend coffees, we think its Balanced Blend is the best base option to start with. It tastes great on its own, combining sweet notes of cherry with rich chocolate undertones. And it has a hint of cinnamon to liven up both taste and aroma. The well-rounded medium roast also pairs well with each functional blend, so you don't have to worry about any clashing flavors when the coffee gets to your cup.

The functional blends are only available as ground coffee; however, all of Zend's base coffees are sold in whole bean form if you don't want to add a functional blend. The coffee is fairly expensive, but the taste lives up to expectations. Zend also offers a subscription service that reduces the price of each bag. Overall, it's a fun and unique way to customize coffee just how you want it.

Roast: Medium | Size: 12 ounces | Available In: Ground | Origin: Guatemala and Tanzania