Sarah,
I have tried grinding my own coffee and do prefer it. However, buying only a few pounds at a time I found that the beans cost more than buying the ground coffee! That goes for the green coffee beans too. It reminded me of the old Heathkit radios that everyone said you paid for the privilege of putting together. Perhaps they would be cheaper if bought in volumes of 100 or 500 pounds, but I can not afford such a purchase on my own and there is no one in my family, friends or acquaintances who are willing to even try coffee beans; they are happy with their store bought coffee. I finally had to give up, after the price of under 10 lb quantity kept increasing, and I went back to store ground coffee. So, in a TEOTWAWKI situation I guess I will have to live without coffee! – Jim
HJL’s Comment: I usually buy 20lbs of green coffee beans at prices ranging from $3 to $7 per pound. While there are numerous places to make such purchases, I have always used Sweet Maria’s and have been very satisfied with the transaction. I typically drink a total of 32oz brewed coffee and use about a tablespoon of roasted beans per 16oz cup. I do use the infusion method or steeping method, as drip coffee machines do not achieve the temperatures required for optimal flavor extraction and are horribly inefficient and hard to clean. My favorite method is the Clever Coffee Dripper, though I have used tea bags when on the go. This morning I had fresh roast from coffee beans that I put up in 2013, and it was good. I also find that using these preparation and storage methods, the coffee costs me about $0.10 per 16 oz cup and 20lbs of coffee will last nearly a year. I’ll never go back to grocery store coffee.