title_body: Quality of ground coffee
upvoted_answer: My first thought would be stale coffee rather than commercial conspiracy but, assuming you live in North America, I don't blame you for that.  The time since roasting is important and, compounding on that, the time since grinding, thence finally how you brew it.
  
  So your questions should be:
  
  
  What did I do different in the way I brewed this time?
  How long since this coffee was roasted?
  How long since this coffee was ground?
  
  
  Don't be afraid to ask the source when it was ground, and when it was roasted.  Time from roasting to now should be measured in days (not weeks), and time from grinding to now should be hours, minutes, or even seconds!
  
  Even if the attendant cannot answer you it illustrates the fact that they don't know and you do care. Thence maybe one day you'll find a source where the attendant both knows and cares, so shop around.
  
  Finally, there are different beans, different roasts, and different tastes. So, once all of the above is attended to, you may still, quite reasonably, conclude that the taste of that particular roasted bean is not for you. Again, exercise your options: go elsewhere, roast your own, etc.  
  
  Welcome to the endless search for something better.