A lot of American coffee tastes bad because they use bad beans. This is a very price sensitive market, where so many people or companies will buy what's cheaper rather than what's better - Starbucks is a great example! But where's their competition to force them to offer a better product? Many consumers also buy the pre-ground coffee, which is even more likely to contain cheap robusta beans or unaged beans that are highly acidic. This is also one of the few countries where flavoured coffees are popular. As I'm sure you've found in Europe, the menu usually just consists of short black, long black, late, cappuccino, macchiato, flat white, ristretto etc... no huge range of flavours, and quality over quantity. The largest coffees I used to get back home were smaller serves than than the smallest offering and Starbucks.

My experiences in Europe and Australia are that barristas are very proud of the coffee the serve, so they buy the coffee that tastes better even if it's more expensive. The consumers expect this, too. Being a barrista is often more of a career, rather than something you do for money while you're studying.