Harold Lee wrote:My main concern with grinding in the mornings is waking everyone else up (heh).
It is VERY noisy, so yes, that link I gave (or any local brewer) will gladly send it to you already ground. Buy smaller amounts and have them send it to you more often (i.e. 1/2 pound twice a month).
Is it cheaper than buying beans?
Maverick's 20 once - $1.16 a day, Starbucks even more than that ... I like the four bean and french roast (dark roast coffees), those are 13.50 a pound (or so from the local roaster). I drink a 20 once mug a day ... a pound of beans lasts me about a month (beans are starting to get stale at end of the month). That’s ½ the cost of a daily Maverick’s.
It definitely has to be fresher and stronger.
you will have a hard time going back to Maverick, Star-bucks or Folgers after getting a local roasters fresh beans/ground beans. As that site I linked will elaborate on (worth looking around on a site like that for facts), beans are like fruit, and have a very short shelve life, grind those beans and it’s even shorter. If you’re drinking coffee where the beans have been roasted, say 30 days or more before you drink it, it’s stale. Once again, grind those beans and that shelf life drops. That Millcreek roasters will typically mail out your beans the same day they were roasted (roast date always stamped on the bag), so typically your beans are 3 days old or so when you get them.
looks nummy (if it’s not been sitting around on a shelve for a month or more already), but ouch of 23.80 a pound (site I linked most expensive is around 15.50 a pound). Consider this (Coffee Roasters Wheel):
http://carolinacoffeeroasting.net/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/coffee_tasting_flavor_wheel1test.303214451.jpgI like dark/bitter, but occasionally like some lighter/fruity for a change … once again see your local roaster for their “in-house” blends. That is the wheel they use to experiment with and develop new recipes/blends. Of course the area where the beans are obtained from play a huge factor as they tend to have natural qualities that place them in various positions on the wheel.
The main thing is I can barely taste the difference between a plain Starbucks and a plain Folgers. It seems to depend more on the brewing and especially the creamer than anything else. Hopefully flavors can mix things up a bit, and half and half and honey/syrup can keep the original flavor intact with having to go with strong flavored creamers.
I strongly dislike star-bucks dark roast … too bitter, too caustic (see wheel), Folgers … can’t say, other than huge manufacturing/distribution systems, high likely hood of stale.
Many years ago, as a teen I lived with my grandmother, a coffee lover. She challenged me to drink her coffee … black for one month and that I would never go back to creamed or sweated coffee again. I’d make you the same challenge … look at that wheel, get a feel for what you might like, get a fresh good local roasters blend of that type, and drink it black for a month … you’ll never go back.
Good thing about going with a local coffee store is you can sample it before you buy it. Not a bad idea.
First time I walked into Millcreek roasters, they sent me home with 4 quarter pound bags of different types for free. I’m not suggesting all would do that, or even they would do it again, but yes, they knew it would hook you and you would become a regular customer. At 13 to 15 bucks, for 4 quarter pound bags … that’s a cheap try four blends.
Enjoy!
Nothing beats putting in a k-cup, emptying a mug of water into the top, and having a fresh brew in 60 seconds with no clean up. Instead of having to get up early or rush out the door, I can actually drink my morning joe while making breakfast. A second one if there's enough time. 
I'd rather not drown it out in creamer though.
