$20 is now average for a 1lb bag of whole beans. That is up from about $18. Our coffee at work isn't great, so I make mine at home.
Sightlglass is supposed to be good stuff. When they started, they were competing directly against Four Barrel and Blue Bottle in The City... I never liked Ritual, but they were the other major force to contend with, and Verve down in Santa Cruz...
Beans are definitely not cheap. I'm getting 2# bags from LAMILL in LA at around $44. Most of the high quality roasters putting out high grade beans are up in this bracket, like you said.
Last yearI helped a dude out that was starting up his new roasting operation and he was always playing the lowball game, trying to keep his product affordable for the masses. Frankly, it showed! His coffee had no depth or complexity, and his market were folk that just wanted "coffee."
In comparison, he hired Scott Rao to come in and consult on setting up his Air Roaster and Scott's style of coffee is
an experience in a mug kind of philosophy. Scott's roasts are very light and delicate and he teases out as many of the complex characteristics of the beans. My buddy said that in conversation, they discussed how the two markets are with them both agreeing that they and their respective clientele have vastly different tastes and wouldn't like the other's coffee.
This is Scotts' operation:
The Prodigal team is just getting started on our mission of bringing you truly remarkable coffees
getprodigal.com
My buddy roasts low-acid style... which is darker by nature. So his stuff is just short of a European dark roast (think French or Vienna style).
