The best coffee in the world costs less than you think. We often associate the best with the most expensive because with things like cars and houses, the best tends to cost a lot of money but the best coffee is not the most expensive, it’s the one you like the most.
We all have different taste preferences and what one person loves another dislikes.
In the UK, Marmite is famously known as something that you either love or hate. Personally, I think Marmite is one of the nastiest things I have ever had the displeasure of tasting but other members of my household spread it all over their toast daily and swear by it.
Coffee is exactly the same principle as Marmite but coffee is a lot more popular.
According to the British coffee association, coffee is the most popular drink in the world with 2 billion cups of the black nectar consumed every day and around 95 million cups a day in the UK.
Considering there are only around 66 million people in the UK that’s a lot of coffee and with demand that huge there is a lot of choice out there.
But because we are creatures of habit we tend to stick to what we know and if you do that with coffee then you are definitely missing out as there many hundreds of different coffees out there readily available for trying out.
Most people get their coffee from the supermarket and the supermarket shelves are dominated by instant coffee which is the least enjoyable and lowest quality coffee.
If you currently drink instant coffee then switching to ground coffee and using a cafetiere or buying whole coffee beans and using a coffee machine to make your coffee will make drinking coffee a far more pleasurable experience and is well worth it for something that you drink every day.
One of the key things that makes coffee expensive is how rare it is and the rarer something is the more it costs but just because it is rare doesn’t necessarily make it taste better than a different coffee that is more readily available in larger quantities.
The rarer something is the more desirable it becomes. Gold and diamonds are rare and therefore they cost a lot more than silver which is far more plentiful but we don’t consume these things like we do food and drink.
Caviar is a great example. Caviar is eggs of Sturgeon and only Sturgeon eggs qualify as caviar and they are pretty hard to come by especially the Beluga variety that costs a small fortune.
You can pay hundreds of pounds for a very small amount of Beluga caviar and if you have never tried it then it is perfectly reasonable to expect it to taste absolutely delicious.
I can tell you from personal experience that you will most likely be in for a very nasty surprise.
The price and exclusivity of caviar fooled me into thinking that I would be consuming something godlike so when I got my chance I added a generous portion onto a blini and out it in my mouth slowly so that I could savour this incredible delicacy.
To my horror, my mouth was filled with the taste of seawater and what tasted like rancid fish that had gone off. To say that it was the worst thing I have ever tasted would not be an overstatement.
I struggled to not spit it out of my mouth and that ended up being my one and only experience of caviar, never to be repeated.
The point of the caviar story is that just because something is rare and expensive doesn’t make it the best and that is certainly true of coffee.
Probably the most famous coffee in the world that is both expensive and one of the best is Jamaican blue mountain coffee.
It’s a great coffee but only you can decide if it is the best coffee in the world because it’s not one of those things that can be measured. It’s like Marmite, you may love it but you may hate it as well.
The way to get the best coffee in the world into your cup each day is to steer away from the cheapest supermarket coffee like instant coffee in a jar and spend a little bit more on whole coffee beans instead.
That doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot of money on coffee beans to get great tasting coffee. As a guide, if you are prepared to spend £15 – £25 per kg on your coffee then you are going to get something delicious without breaking the bank.
First, we have some hidden gems for you to consider that provide great flavour and great value for money without breaking the bank.
After that you can read about some of the things that contribute to great coffee and how they can help you find the best coffee in the world for your palette without spending a fortune.
This is the best coffee in the world available in the UK that we have tried ourselves at a reasonable price:
Good Life single origin Costa Rican coffee beans 500g
This may not be the cheapest coffee in our list of recommendations but you’ll know why you paid a little more when you taste it.
It is single-origin and organic so you know exactly where they came from and also that there was never any pesticide sprayed on them whilst the coffee was growing on the tree.
This is a very smooth medium roast suitable for all coffee machines. A real treat that is very highly rated.
You know you are getting the beans as fresh as they can possibly be because the company that roasts them will only roast once your order has been received so they are literally roasted to order.
See the full review of the Good Life single origin Costa Rican coffee beans
Organic coffee beans 1kg
These are 100% Arabica beans and are more reasonably priced than the Good Life beans but they still have a great depth of flavour, are organic and enjoy great reviews over a number of years.
These are a light roast single-origin bean from Columbia producing a medium intensity coffee.
See the full review of the Coffee Masters organic coffee beans
Coffee bean tasting bag, 10 packs, 10 countries
This probably isn’t the best coffee in the world but it certainly allows you to experiment with different coffee from all over the world without spending a fortune in the process.
10 coffee’s from 10 different countries with a leaflet talking you through each one and what to expect from it. Find a few you like and then you can dig deeper into that country to find more you like.
These are great to expand your coffee knowledge and are excellent as a gift as well.
See the full review of the coffee bean tasting bag
Spiller & Tait signature blend coffee beans 1kg
Roasted in the UK in small batches by a company that have been roasting coffee beans for the UK market for decades these are a great value for money medium roast bean that is a blend of 5 coffees from 5 different countries.
Really good value for money great tasting coffee. One of our favourites.
See the full review of the Spiller & Taite signature coffee beans
If you don’t want to grind coffee beans yourself then these are a few great tasting pre-ground selections to consider:
Premium Organic Arabica Ground Coffee
This comes in 2 x 250g tubs to keep the coffee as fresh as possible and reduce the chance of it going stale once the vacuum-sealed tub is open.
Roasted in Spain by a family-owned business this has a lovely strong yet smooth taste to it and is also organic so no pesticides have been used during the production process which enhances the flavour even further.
Beans from South America, Indonesia and Central America have been roasted and blended together to create this medium roast coffee suitable for all coffee makers.
See the full review of the Premium organic Arabica ground coffee
Spiller & Tait Signature Blend Ground Coffee
This is the ground coffee option of our favourite coffee beans for a super convenient way to enjoy great coffee roasted and blended in the UK and is a proven winner over time.
A very easy drinking coffee with full flavour makes it perfect for drinking at any time of the day.
See the full review of the Spiller & Tait Signature blend ground coffee
These are all great tasting, reasonably priced coffee’s but if you are looking for something a little more extravagant then you can check out the top end selections in this article:
The worlds most expensive coffee
Different types of coffee
Instant coffee is convenient and if you live in the UK it’s the type of coffee that your parents had in the cupboard.
It’s hassle-free and can be picked up as part of the weekly food shop either online or in the supermarket.
The only problem with instant coffee is that is doesn’t taste very good because it’s made with low quality coffee beans that have been frozen before being broken down into the granules you add to your cup.
This article explains more:
Next best is pre-ground coffee because at least it’s been vacuum packed after being ground down from whole coffee beans so if you don’t have time to grind your own beans then go for ground coffee over instant coffee every time.
Here is some great pre-ground coffee to consider:
The best way to get the best flavour from your coffee is to buy whole beans and grind them yourself which is a lot simpler than you may think.
The fresher your coffee is the better it tastes and the freshness stays in the bean for longer and starts to decay as soon as the coffee is ground.
These articles break it down for you in detail:
Instant coffee vs ground coffee vs coffee beans
Best coffee roast types
Most coffee shops use dark roast beans because they are the most versatile and are used for espresso and milk-based drinks such as cappuccino and latte.
Lighter and medium roast beans can have an amazing depth of flavour and are well worth a try.
This article explains all about the different roast types:
Light roast vs dark roast coffee
Single Origin Coffee
Single-origin just means that the coffee has all come from one country and doesn’t necessarily mean that it is any better than other coffee that has been blended from beans from multiple countries.
In fact, in some cases coffee beans from different countries can often taste better than single-origin coffee because the roasters have the flexibility to balance the beans effectively for maximum flavour.
Organic Coffee
Organic coffee means free of pesticides and with something as delicate as a coffee cherry it can make a big difference to the quality.
Organic coffee tends to have to be grown in the shade as well to minimise the number of insects that can attack the coffee tree’s and that can also have a positive effect on flavour so paying a little extra for Organic when it comes to coffee can definitely pay dividends.
See this article for more information:
Fairtrade coffee
If coffee has a Fairtrade stamp on it then it has gone through a process to ensure that everyone from the producer to the coffee picker gets a fair deal out of it and no single party is unfairly treated.
Whilst it may not directly impact the quality of the coffee it certainly feels better knowing that the process is ethically fair.
See this article for a full explanation:
