SingleServeCoffee.com Forums

[ecoaster2]

I'm a new user of the site. Just acquired a Keurig mini-brewer for the office and love it so far! I want to try different brands/roasts/flavors but need some guidance. Here's my most pressing concern: I hate Starbucks coffee (to me it tastes awfully bitter) and I want to avoid any k-cups that are similar in taste to that. Can someone clue me in as to what NOT to waste my money on? I like a medium roast, nothing too bold or strong, and I do like some of the flavored types. Love the Gloria Jeans Hazelnut! And in my home brewer, I've used First Colony coffee for years. Thanks for any help in choosing!

[jbviau]

Welcome! I'd strongly recommend looking through the various k-cup review threads. NDJollyMon's might be a good place to start since he prefers medium roasts.

I'd avoid the Tully's Italian Roast and the Coffee People Organic in particular if you don't like the bitter notes.

Otherwise, here are a few to consider trying if you haven't already:

GM Autumn Harvest (in season)
GM Breakfast Blend, Our Blend, or Vermont Country Blend
GM Colombian Fair Trade Select
GM Summer Safari (seasonal, hard to find right now)
Timothy's Mexican Organic
Timothy's Original Donut Blend
Tully's Evergreen or Madison Blends
Van Houtte Costa Rica Tarrazu
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Grindmaster OPOD, Keurig B40, Nespresso D90, Clever Coffee Dripper + Hario Skerton mill
Josh's Pod Guide, K-cup Line-up, and Nespresso Encapsulation

[starryeyes]

You might like Green Mtn's Heifer Hope Blend. It's too weak for me but it might be suitable for you.

I can also recommend Van Houtte:
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
Creme Brulee
Costa Rican Tarrazu
Ethiopian Limu
Pink Ribbon

My favourite in this list of Van Houtte would be The Costa Rican and the Raspberry Truffle.

Timothy's has a couple that you might enjoy as well:
Kona Blend is very good for a blend
Columbia La Vereda is nice and smooth and flavourable.
Also the Mexican but with reservation.

That's all I can really recommend since I'm really more of a dark roast gal. Hope you find something you like. Read the K-cup reviews from this site because this is a descerning group of coffee nuts/addicts.
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Keurig B66
Nespresso Le Cube----oui, oui
Bunn My Cafe (Refurb)

[starryeyes]

Oh, I meant to say Welcome. I second Josh's suggestion to read Jolly's reviews. He's a light/medium roast drinker.
_________________
Keurig B66
Nespresso Le Cube----oui, oui
Bunn My Cafe (Refurb)

[Eggman961]

I'd say (as a new Keurig user myself) it depends on how you drink it - do you do black coffee? Or do you load it up w/ cream and sugar?

I load mine up, and while I've had some bitterness, the cream and sugar definitely take the edge off them.

The Newman's is particularly good, I used to buy it in ground form all the time and the k-cups taste exactly the same.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[starryeyes]

Your right. The addition of cream will make other darker roasts more acceptable to you. For the purpose of a review, I drink half a cup black and then will add cream to the rest of the coffee to see how it changes. Normally I drink my coffee black but on occasion I'll add cream. I've never liked sugar in coffee or tea. I added a tiny bit of sugar once to a flavoured coffee to see if it would enhance the flavour as was suggested my someone. I had to pour it down the drain. I'm the only one in my family that drinks coffee black. Everyone else loads their coffee up with cream and sugar. My brother puts 4 spoonfuls in his coffee. Yikes!
_________________
Keurig B66
Nespresso Le Cube----oui, oui
Bunn My Cafe (Refurb)

[ecoaster2]

I realized after posting that I didn't specify how I take my coffee--most often, it's just black, no sugar--but I do sometimes like to add some of the sugar-free flavored creamers like hazelnut. I'm not a fan of dark roast/french roast.
I admit to finding it hard to understand some coffee terms! So I try to look for some key words like 'blend' and 'mellow' and 'smooth' and stay away from 'dark' and 'bold'. I never understood the appeal of Starbucks, because to me it's just burnt and bitter, so I wouldn't want to buy anything that tastes like it. Hope this helps. Thanks for all the great input so far--looks like I have some research to do!

[starryeyes]

Some people like char tasting coffees. I'm one of them. Though I've purchased a couple of sugar-free syrups from Starbucks shortly after I bought my Nespresso, I've never tried their coffee so I can't relate other dark roasts to it unfortunately.

Have fun sampling and let us know what you think.
_________________
Keurig B66
Nespresso Le Cube----oui, oui
Bunn My Cafe (Refurb)

[taltos]

I think that I agree with Starry, I like the dark, almost char roasted stuff but I am not a fan of Coffee People since their stuff always seems burned. To give you an index of my taste, Black Gold, Double Black Diamond, Eclipse, and Tully French Roast with Emeril taking up the rear are my favorites. I drink everything black with no sugar. This started in the Marines when it was a pain to grab sugar and creamer to season the stuff that they called coffee. Have recovered and love the Keurig machine.

[Alice2]

Don't forget Van Houtte Columbian Medium.

They seemed to have seriously raised their prices since I bought last by $2.00 per box. If you join Club Javanation it's a lot cheaper, but I think the discount is now outweighed by the price increase.

I have to think about whether it's worth it now. But that remains my favorite K-Cup.

Caribou Columbian medium is good
Timothy's Kona Blend is good
Timothy's Mocha Java is good

I found the Timothy's la vereda to be a bit watery.
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Cafe My Bunn! ~~ Keurig B40 ~~ KitchenAid Compact 4-Cup Coffeemaker ~~ Keurig B30

[jmmather]

If you aren't afraid to try an extra bold coffee I would recommend you at least try GM's Kenyan AA Extra Bold It has a robust flavor but doesn't taste burnt or have to much acid so it is smooth. I enjoy it as an after dinner coffee.

[taltos]

Also try the Green Mountain Sumatra and their Breakfast Blend you might like these. I would search out sites that offer 5 pack samplers to see if you like the coffee. I often do this with cigars before I commit the money to a full box. Same principle.

[ranin02]

[phoofy]

I'm just getting back into K-Cups, but my tastes seem to be similar to your (hate Starbucks, prefer medium/light roast coffees) - I normally leave all the Extra Bold K-Cups for my husband (who uses them to fill his travel mug).

However! I'm excited to try all the newish Donut Shop varieties, including the one by Coffee People which is supposed to be an EB!
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Breville BKC700XL
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