Where to find good whole beans affordably

Question: Hello, I live in Nazareth, Pa and just stumbled on your site. I was looking for a way to cut the bitterness of coffee during the brewing cycle. I remember reading somewhere about adding, something, baking soda or whatever and came across your site. I also heard on the radio, Dr. Dean Adale (Not sure how he spells his name) that coffee is actually good for you. I know tea is better for you if you don't use milk, would you know if that is also true of coffee? I hope not, because I like cream in mine. Anyway, any help with buying affordable beans would be great. Thank you. -- KarenAnswer: Hi Karen, Glad you found the site. I'll answer your questions as you've asked them.Good whole beans are available at a local cafe or online. I recommend staying away from the grocery store which is more for products quickly packaged from the manufacturer to the grocer's shelf to your kitchen. If a grocery store gave coffee the care of produce (provided some airtight storage), I would change my tune. If you don't have a local cafe or if Starbucks is your only choice and not your preferred choice, I cannot overstate the benefit of buying coffee online. "Coffee clubs" are a great way to select good coffees to be delivered to you fresh and in a plan customized by you. Click to read about coffee clubs. Click to read about buying coffee online.A lot has been written about cutting bitterness in coffee. Coffee is a bitter drink, after all, but to cut that down if you enjoy all other aspects of coffee, here are some ideas. Use a coarser grind of coffee or else a paper filter if you are using a mesh filter today. Bitterness in coffee can be attributed to how much coffee solids have been extracted during brewing, and either of these two steps will reduce extraction - albeit potentially at the expense of flavor. Another idea is to stick to medium-color roasts as opposed to the darker roasts, which can seem more bitter. Click to learn more about roast style and flavor. I wouldn't suggest adding baking soda to the brewing process.As far as the health benefits of coffee, it's been debated on both sides. Personally, I believe everything in moderation and while I don't believe you'll live longer drinking coffee, I don't believe there's any correlation. Milk is probably better for you than cream, only because they have the same dairy benefits but there is more fat in cream than in milk.I hope I've answered your questions, and was happy to hear from you.