When my family lived about an hour out of New Orleans on the Mississippi/Louisiana line, I learned that coffee- good coffee- is a religion, not a beverage. The big secret in south Louisiana is a Filtron. When I was a boy, it was a huge glass bowl with a filter at the bottom, into which you put a pound of ground coffee, and the amount of water required to fill to the line on the big glass bowl. After 12 hours, the coffee syrup that this produces make the most amazing coffee I ever tasted anywhere in the world. You put a tablespoon or so of the syrup in a cup, hit it with hot water, and poof! the best damned coffee anywhere from any bean, any roast, any grind. Every quality restaurant in New Orleans knows the secret- now you do, too. You refrigerate the syrup in a carafe and use it one tablespoon at a time, so you get 10 times the amount of coffee (with no bitters at all), from a pound.
http://www.filtron.com/As for brands, I like Community Coffee from- you guessed it, New Orleans. My favorite grind is drip, my favorite bean blend is Evangeline.
Don't waste time or money on Starbucks for anything. They suck.