Most local roasters really are garbage, though. Telling people to do this will make sure that people miss out on a lot of what "coffee can be" and will end up with something that is probably better than the worst of the worst coffee, but still tastes pretty awful in comparison to a great coffee roasted adequately.
"need to drink it fresh" is a red flag about the roast, usually, unless you really do prefer something fairly dark. Light roasted coffee should be let to gas off for at least a few weeks.
True. The most popular local bean in my area tastes like battery acid, but there's a roaster about 20 minutes from me who is only ~20% more expensive than Lavazza (my go to large roaster) who produces a variety of good roasts.
Not sure on the off gassing comment, I drink what I think tastes good. Espresso pretty much exclusively, lightly fruity, low acid, with a rich sip and a non-bitter aftertaste.
Coffee that isn’t acidic is realistically the weirder thing, considering what coffee is.
Decades of bad coffee have created the expectation of every coffee having to taste like low-grade coffee with all the acidity burned out of it.
Taste is subjective and you can call them snobs but they have a great point. Even if you love burnt flavors, there are far more ethical options than Lavazza.
"need to drink it fresh" is a red flag about the roast, usually, unless you really do prefer something fairly dark. Light roasted coffee should be let to gas off for at least a few weeks.