The Best Coffee From Costco In 2023: What To Buy Now

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Searching for the best coffee at Costco can be daunting, with countless choices of beans, grounds, K-cups, and more. To narrow your search, we’ve tested out a variety of coffees from the warehouse store to help you find the perfect brew.

The Best Costco Coffee

When you shop at Costco, you’re almost guaranteed to get the best price on any product you buy. These savings come at a cost, however.

Membership fees aside, shopping at Costco means, in most cases, you’re buying in bulk. This is ideal for large households or items that don’t expire quickly.

But when you think of where to buy the best coffee, you may not immediately think of Costco. Purchasing coffee beans in bulk can be a bit daunting. Choosing a few-pound bag of coffee beans is a commitment, especially when you’re not sure you’ll love the roast you selected.

That’s where we come in. We’ve tested countless coffee roasts from the big-box retailer and narrowed the list to only the best coffee from Costco.

How We Selected The Best Coffee At Costco

Coffee is a very personal choice, and no two people will agree on which type of coffee bean or roast is superior. One coffee drinker may prefer the bold, full-bodied characteristics of a medium roast or dark roast, while the fruitier notes of a light roast appeal to another. 

But while we disagree on which is the absolute best coffee roast, we can agree on which coffee beans offer the best quality and flavor nuances within a specific category.

For this coffee review, we set out with a team of fellow coffee lovers to brew, taste, and debate the best coffee from Costco. As a group with seriously varied coffee personalities, it was no easy task.

We tested the Costco coffee beans under identical conditions and brewed each using three different methods (drip coffee maker, pour over, and French press) to ensure consistency in testing. All beans were purchased as whole-bean coffee and ground using a burr coffee grinder before each brew.

A Note On Costco Ground Coffee

If you’re a person who prefers to buy pre-ground coffee, you may want to consider changing your ways. There are several reasons to consider switching to whole-bean coffee instead of buying the pre-ground stuff.

First, according to Javapresse, ground coffee begins to lose its natural flavor just 20-30 minutes after grinding. Minutes!!

Combined with the fact that it was likely roasted months beforehand means a seriously harsh and bitter brew. (peak freshness is within 1-2 weeks after roasting)

Secondly, if you purchase pre-ground coffee or grind all of your coffee at one time at the store, you’re stuck with one grind size for the whole bag of beans.

What does this mean? Each coffee brewing method requires a specific grind size to optimize the flavor and quality of the coffee brewed.

For example, a French press uses a coarse grind, while an espresso machine uses a fine grind. Why limit yourself to only one coffee brewing method? 

Organic Coffee vs. Regular Coffee

You may notice that all of our picks for the best coffee at Costco are organic varieties. But are organic coffee beans better? In a word, yes.

Coffee is one of the most heavily chemically-treated crops in the world. There are over 200 pesticides used in the coffee industry today.

This means that conventional coffee can be potentially dangerous to both the farmers who handle the coffee cherries and to us as consumers.

These chemicals also harm the environment (and those who live near areas where conventional coffee is farmed), which we take very seriously around here.

So while conventional coffee still offers some health benefits despite the chemicals used to farm it, we prefer to avoid it when possible. Plus, organic coffee is said to have higher levels of antioxidants. Bonus!

How To Store Costco Coffee Beans

Unless you’re buying whole-bean coffee for a bustling office, a retail environment, or a big family of avid coffee consumers, it’ll likely take a little while to get through that two-pound bag of Costco coffee beans.

But how should you store coffee beans?

It’s pretty simple, actually. If your beans came in a foil bag with a one-way air filter (let’s air out but not in), like most of the best Costco coffee, leave it there. Simply seal the bag with a couple of clips and store it in a cool, dark place away from any heat sources.

The coffee will last you up to 2 weeks by doing so. If your Costco coffee comes in a paper bag, transfer it to an opaque, airtight container and then store the container in a cool, dark place.

If you went crazy at Costco and really stocked up, resist the temptation to refrigerate your coffee beans. Refrigeration actually ages the coffee faster when condensation pushes the oils to the surface of the beans.

The freezer is your best option if you really need to store your Costco coffee for longer than a few weeks. We recommend dividing the coffee beans into small, airtight containers to avoid freezer burn. The catch?

You’ll need to fully thaw the beans before grinding and brewing. What was once a convenient morning beverage is not quite so anymore. So now that you know what you should look for when buying Costco coffee beans, let’s get to our top picks for the best coffee at Costco.

Best Coffee From Costco: Our Top Picks

Best Costco Coffee: Full Reviews

Overall Winner – Mayorga Organic Cafe Cubano

Don’t let the dark roast label deter you from trying this coffee. While the Mayorga Organic Café Cubano is a dark roast, it is complex, sweet, and incredibly smooth.

This roast performed well in every brewing method, making it the perfect choice for most homebrewers and definitely some of the best coffee from Costco.

We especially like this blend for iced coffee because of its rich, complex flavor but found it made a pretty epic cold brew as well. If you have an espresso machine or Moka Pot, we highly recommend making espresso with these coffee beans as well.

Best Value – Jose’s Organic Mayan Coffee Blend

Jose’s Organic Mayan Coffee Blend is an outstanding value and should not be overlooked. This medium-dark roast is subtle, with chocolatey undertones and an almost floral aroma reminiscent of a light roast.

Costco coffee prices are notoriously fair, but at $8.99 for a 2.5 lb bag of certified organic coffee beans, it’s a steal if you ask us. This is undoubtedly the best coffee from Costco for the money.

This roast performed well in all of our tests, but we like this Costco coffee best brewed using the pour over or French press methods. We found some subtle nuances and flavors muted when brewed using a traditional drip coffee maker.

Best Dark Roast – Jose’s Organic French Roast

Jose’s Organic French Roast is for you if you’re a fan of dark roasts. This roast is a near-perfect example of what dark roasts aim to be.

This French roast is rich, full-bodied, and layered with notes of caramel and dark chocolate. It has a smooth, lingering finish without the harsh or bitter taste that many people associate with French roasts (us included).

We loved this roast when brewed in our French press (appropriately so) and found it also made a pretty fabulous espresso. 

Best Medium Roast – Kirkland Organic Whole Bean Blend 

Despite its modestly vague name and packaging, we love the Kirkland Organic Whole Bean Blend. Don’t let it fool you. But is Kirkland coffee good?

(Costco insider secret: any product slapped with the Kirkland branding is typically a lower-priced “generic” version of a high-value item. Aka, it’s a quality product at a great price, and this Kirkland coffee is no exception.)

This Kirkland coffee is a high-quality blend of specialty-grade organic South and Central American coffee beans grown at higher altitudes and matured slowly. This growing technique, combined with the small-batch roasting process, results in a complex and refined flavor that is exceptionally balanced.

This is a versatile medium roast that is sure to please most palates. This roast performed exceptionally well in all brewing methods. We snag this bag of Kirkland coffee anytime we come across it at Costco because it’s a solid value and highly versatile for everyday brewing.

Best Light Roast – Mayorga Organic Costa Rica Las Lajas

The Mayorga Organic Costa Rica is a single-origin coffee bean from the Las Lajas farm in Costa Rica. While this particular bean isn’t always available, we would be remiss to omit it from our picks for the best coffee from Costco.

If you see this Costco coffee online or in-store, we suggest you buy it immediately because it comes and goes (like so many of our favorite Costco items, but we digress)

The Las Lajas farm is one of the few certified organic coffee farms in Costa Rica and is family-owned and operated with a commitment to the environment. This farmer-direct coffee is exceptionally smooth with fruity, almost tropical notes. It is a beautiful light roast, perfect for various brewing methods.

We particularly enjoyed this roast as a pour over and found the sweetness to be quite unique and exciting. We would also recommend trying this roast as a cold brew.

Tip: if you can’t find the Las Lajas, give this variety from Mayorga a try instead. It’s another exceptional Costco coffee that is rarely seen in stores but is typically available on Amazon.