In contrast coffee in general is vastly underpriced. In a shop you are lonely going to pay a premium but beans are generally produced by an underpaid labour market that allows for coffee to maintain such a low value.

So, it’s like most clothing, and consumer electronics, jewelry, and so on?

Think wine is bad .. wait until you look at the olive oil business!

Oh yeah, the mafia is deep in that one too. The best advice I’ve gotten for olive oil, coffee, wine, beer, and chocolate is to satisfy your palette. If you like it, great! It doesn’t really matter if a group of “experts” disagrees, although it can be helpful to try a wide spectrum at first.

I don't think it is. I don't give a flying fuck about coffee or food or wine or any of that shit, but I can genuinely taste differences in coffee. I'd be surprised if you couldn't.

There's a little roaster in St Lawrence Market where I go and I pickup random bags of whatever coffees for fun, and they are extremely different.

Wine I've never been able to discern. I don't think coffee is in the same league at all.