There are plenty of ethical options.

I'd actually say $12 coffee could be more ethical than cheap coffee if that money is going to paying people a decent wage and treating them well rather than straight into the company's profits.

That's something you have to research though. You can never just assume more expensive is better. For example designer branded clothes are mostly made in sweatshops in the Far East then they will ship them to Europe, add a motif or something and that allows them to slap a "made in Italy" label in it.