An acquired taste, to be sure. Tea seems to be more popular in Europe, coffee in the States.
I am an avid fan of buying green coffee and roasting it at home. Commercial bulk coffee is totally different from fresh roast. I will not drink stale, pre-ground coffee any longer -- guess that makes me a coffee-snob?
There are many reasons for my fanaticism, not the least of which are the huge number of available coffees from virtually every coffee-producing country, the fact that green coffee keeps for a year or more when properly stored (as opposed to the very rapid deterioration of roasted coffee); the fact that my supplier buys directly from the farmers and pays them a fair price without the middle man (not something the mega-corporations do); and because I roast only what I will use in a few days' time rather than keeping stale, ground coffee on the shelf well past it's prime.
Off soapbox. Thanks for another coffee drinker!
