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For great coffee I would stay away from large brands or national coffees such as SBUX, Dunkin, 8'o Clock, and even Illy. Many of these coffees are over-roasted, overpriced, and are not high quality (especially for espresso making). The taste you are tasting is not actual coffee, it is a concoction of strange flavors and burnt-ness.
The best way to get great coffee is to go to a local, independent coffee shop that roasts their own coffee. Always pick up the most fresh bag (depending on the date) of whole beans, preferably ones that say in-season. For espresso drinks choose dark roasts... for pour over, solo, chemex, french press use what ever flavor you like... don't make coffee with a regular coffee machine. Use a burr grinder (not a slicer) to grind the coffee.
Coffee is like making wine or beer, you have to start with good raw ingredients but every step can make or break the taste. Most people are accustomed to poorly made coffee from SBUX, gas stations, work's break room which is a shame seeing that there are so many kinds of coffee to try. Have a conversation with your local cafe's barista and ask questions if you don't really know.
Sorry if this all sounds pretentious. Really just try to help since I was a bit spoiled with good coffee for 6 years living in Chicago. The big roaster there is obviously Intelligentsia as direwolfM3 mentioned. A hidden gem in Chicago (if you ever go there) is Asado on Irving park... They bought a Kees van der Westen espresso machine and make better drinks overall than Intelligentsia.. although they lack the vibe.
I moved to DFW 2 months ago and getting into coffee down here. My Colombian neighbor gave me a bag he got while he was back visiting, picked up a bag from Weekend Cafe (although they get theirs from Seattle), and looking forward to trying Addison Coffee Roasters.
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