SingleServeCoffee.com Forums

[MichFan]

SacMan offered a great rundown of his personal K-Cup preferences, so I figured I'd copy these over from an Excel spreadsheet I've been keeping. Those with two asterisks (**) are ones I have in my regular rotation, those with one asterisk (*) will be enjoyed occasionally. All ratings are based upon an 8oz. drop.

Rating (1-10 scale)

Green Mountain
9 Double Black Diamond** - strong, dark, nice bitterness on the backend, overall a bit softer than Emerils
9 Hazelnut Dark EB* - fantastic Hazelnut with dark roast base and fuller flavor
8 Hazelnut Cream - great Hazelnut with light roast base
8 Kenya AA* - well conceived medium roast with mild acidity
8 Extra Bold Sumatran Reserve FTO* - full-bodied, spicy, very nice
8 Extra Bold Dark Magic Espresso - deep, dark, rich, nice lingering bitterness
8 Newmans Own Special Blend EB* - silky smooth medium roast with a slightly bittersweet backend at 8oz. cup. Too weak for me at 10oz.
8 Holiday Blend** - great medium roast K-cup
8 Island Coconut** - finally learned what all the hubub was about with this one, delicious
8 Spicy Eggnog** - Says Merry Christmas with every sip
8 Mocha Nut Fudge - Great taste, and I'm not a big fan of chocolate coffee
8 Wild Mountain Blueberry FT - Great Spring/Summer coffee, love it
8 Golden French Toast - Nice flavored coffee for a winter morning, not strongly flavored so coffee taste still there
8 Heifer Hope Blend - definitely not my type of coffee (light, smooth) but very good for what it is
8 Lake & Lodge - West Coast-like blend, a bit weak now with all the EB's
7 10% Kona - good medium roast coffee, better than Tully's and Timothy's Kona KCups, tad weak at standard drop
7 Espresso Blend - toasty with lighter body, nice coffee but not what I was expecting from an espresso blend
7 Wicked Winter Blend - decent medium/dark roast that just didn't have enough character to make me want another cup
7 National Wildlife Foundation Blend - smooth and mild, nice aroma, light body. Good evening coffee.
7 Our Blend - Nice medium blend coffee, smooth, comes across a little weak at 8oz. drop
7 French Vanilla - great flavor, not a fan of vanilla coffee but this is good
7 Caramel Vanilla Cream - Good flavor, not a big vanilla fan but like this
7 Pumpkin Spice - Nice fall coffee
6 Silver Anniversary Blend - Nice blend, but not up my alley
6 Gingerbread - Pretty good, not my favorite
6 Winter Special Blend - pretty good medium roast coffee, nothing stands out though
6 Vermont Country Blend - average medium roast coffee
5 Nantucket Blend - too acidic for my taste
5 Autumn Harvest Blend - too acidic for my taste
2 Rain Forest Nut - blech
1 Raspberry Rhapsody - cloying

Tully's
8 French Roast - robust with a nice burnt/bitter backend
7 Sumatra - spicy, nice body, prefer it a tad bit over GMCR's version
7 Italian Roast - smooth and somewhat rich in the mouth, just a notch below VH Eclipse
7 Breakfast Blend - on the lighter/brighter side but good coffee flavor
6 Full City Roast - nice medium bodied coffee, I like GMCR Newmans a little more
6 Kona Blend - good as a medium bodied coffee to drink black, adding sugar seems to give it a little bit of a sweet offtaste
5 Guatemala - light roast, light body, okay coffee
5 Madison Blend - another medium-bodied coffee, least favorite of the Tully's

Van Houtte
9 Eclipse Extra Bold - Strong, rich, great lingering bitterness; makes an awesome iced coffee with Baileys and sugar
8 Chocolate Raspberry Truffle - tastes like it sounds, my favorite VH flavor
7 Napoletano - loved it at first taste, but now with all the EB's it seems a little weak
7 Kenya Extra Bold - Nice cup, leans a little to the bright/acidic side but I still enjoy it
6 Mayan Chocolate - aroma is terrific but taste falls a bit flat, Timmy's CinMocha much better
7 Honduras Extra Bold - similar to Newmans, lighter roast in the mouth, less dark character on the back
6 Midnight Express - okay, but Eclipse has made it mostly irrelevant
6 Pecan Praline - average flavored coffee, pretty weak
6 FTO Mexican Dark - good taste but no body
6 FTO Amazonia Blend - shows some promise but ultimately too weak
6 Sumatra - GMCR's EB is a much better choice for Sumatran
4 Guatemala - Not for me
4 Colombian Dark - too weak
2 FTO Peru - waterlike and bland
2 Macadamia Nut - Yuck

Gloria Jean's
10 Black Gold EB** - Rich, smooth, terrific. Going EB has made this one my favorite.
8 Cinnamon Mocha* - Mostly mocha with a touch of cinnamon, perfect balance between the two for my tastes.
8 Chocolate Turtle Extra Bold - if the flavor sounds good to you, you'll like it a lot
7 Butter Toffee* - Nice flavored coffee
6 Swiss Chocolate Almond - Okay, but a little on the weak side
6 Mudslide - Don't care for chocolate and coffee
6 Pumpkin Spice - weakest of the pumpkin choices coffee-wise, but pretty good flavor
5 Hazelnut - Too weak
5 French Vanilla - Too weak
2 Cappuccino - Yuck

Timothy's
9 Midnight Magic* - Timothy's best effort so far at a rich, full bodied extra bold coffee.
8 Rainforest Espresso EB* - Soft espresso taste, smooth finish. Go with this if you want a milder coffee, go with Coffee People for a stronger version.
8 Canarino* - Great Winter beverage, awesome with honey
8 Kahlua - one of the better flavored KCups, not exact Kahlua taste but close, should have been extra bold
7 Kona Blend - Very good, reminiscent of a medium roast version of GMCR's Heifer Hope Blend. Would prefer it to be EB.
7 Parisian Nights - Good french roast coffee, not on the level of EB french roasts
7 San Lorenzo Dark - Good dark roast Colombian coffee with a nice bittersweet finish.
7 Colombian - good medium roast, not extra bold so a bit lacking at the regular drop size
7 German Chocolate Cake - Tasty flavored coffee
6 Sumatran Gold - my least favorite of the EB Sumatras
6 Italian Blend - Doesn't work for me
6 Perfectly Pumpkin - Strongest of the pumpkin choices coffee-wise, a little too much pumpkin flavor for my tastes
5 Donut Blend - Light and weak, expected sweetness does not come through, not my kind of coffee
4 Nicaraguan Wiwili FT Extra Bold - Did not like the woody/pulpy aftertaste

Diedrich
8 Italiano Classico - Richest/strongest of the Diedrich's, good dark roast
7 Paradiso - Pretty good mid-palate and finish, but a distracting frontend
6 French Roast - pretty good but too weak at 8oz. cup
3 Colombian - far too weak at 8oz. cup, almost like tea

Coffee People
9 Organic Blend* - very good espresso roast coffee
9 French Roast* - super coffee; fuller bodied than Tully's
9 Jet Fuel* - big, bold, complex, Elipse-ish coffee at the right price
8 French Roast Decaf - best KCup decaf I've had
8 Kona - good dark roast Kona blend
8 Donut Shop* - medium-dark roast coffee similar to Dunkin Donuts, one of my wife's favorites
8 Black Tiger* - earthy, rich, full-bodied, just doesn't seem to harmonize in the mouth. My wife loves it at 10oz.
8 Cowboy Coffee - good medium roast coffee, better black than with cream and/or sugar
8 Kafe Lua - extra bold flavored coffee + Kahlua taste = win
8 Vanilla Avalanche - not a fan of vanilla coffee, have to score it higher than others because it is better
7 Wake-up Call - good morning blend but not a top choice for me

Caribou Coffee
10 French Roast** - slightly thinner mouthfeel than CP's, most prominent French Roast character on backend, fantastic overall
6 Mahogany - disappointing, flavor profile too subtle, hard to believe its extra bold

Emerils
10 Big Easy Bold** - fantastic, big, bold, complex, with bittersweet backend
8 French Quarter Roast* - good medium-dark roast, a little on the darker-side than CP Donut Shop
5 Vanilla Bean Bam - weak vanilla flavor, poor pairing with the coffee bean selected - too acidic

[Sacman]

MichFan

Thanks for the posting. As usual, you are costing me money. I haven't even received my latest purchase and I am already generating a list for my next one.

Sacman

[K Cup Fan]

MichFan - thanks for sharing your thoughts on all of the k cups that you've tried. I've been limiting my "sampling" primarily to the extra-bolds. While I like some of the non extra-bolds that I've tried (especially Timothy's Columbian La Vereda), most of them tend to be too weak for me on the 7.25 oz setting. Accordingly, my choices are somewhat limited (the smaller brew setting just seems too small for me).

I like both the Green Mountain extra-bolds (Dark Magic and Sumatran Reserve). I also like the Gloria Jeans Black Gold which is the only non-extra bold I've found that can handle the 7.25 oz brew setting. Have you found any of the non-extra bolds that are strong enough on the 7.25 oz setting? Maybe I just like mine too strong. In any case, it sounds like the new Tully's k cups may be offered in extra bold so we may have some more options.

Thanks!

[kcupreview.com]

Jeez mitch- are you trying to put me out of business? Reviewing all those K-Cups like that LOL Just Kidding. I think you did a nice job of reviewing those K-Cups. I think based on the ones that you liked you might also like the Diedrich French Roast.

Nice One

-Chris
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[MichFan]

Thanks for the recommendation. I happen to have a variety pack on the way that includes it. Can't wait. From time to time I'll just update this list with the newer coffees I try. I had done a handful of reviews like you do, but they didn't make it in the move to the new server. This way is easier. Good job on your site -- it's filling out very nicely.

Oh, and for the record, my username is MichFan, not MitchFan. I'm a Michigan alum and huge UofMichigan sports fan. Jim always calls me Mitch, but now that someone else started doing it I figured I better clear it up .

[SFL]

Thanks for k-cup reviews Mitch. I a big fan of Gloria Jeans Black Gold myself & I'm glad to see someone tried GM's Winter blend.

[skippylynn]

Thanks for posting your thoughts MichFan.
I haven't tasted very many on your list yet but I did just taste my fist GJ Black Gold & I think it's quite good. I also liked the GM XB Black Magic.
I seem to like the dark roasts best so these reviews are helping me narrow my wish list down.
Sounds like I've got to get Van Houtte's XB Eclipse!


Go Bucks.
skippy

[MichFan]

SFL -- Don't let my score of 6 for the Winter Special Blend detract you if you are a medium coffee drinker. It's a good medium coffee, I just like coffees that are bolder and/or have more character. When compared to the Holiday Blend, I had to leave a two point gap between them.

BTW -- It's Mich (as in Michigan, Ann Arbor, let's go blue!, hail to the victors!, the big house, Bo, the maize and blue, '89 basketball champs, '97 football champs, the leaders and best, the champions of the west), not Mitch. I tried clearing this up in my previous reply, but it's gotten contagious. Look what you started, Jim!

[MichFan]

Skippylynn -- leave it to a Buckeye fan to get my username right - thanks! You guys had a great season this year and you have a lot to look forward to next year. It was really easy to not like them during the Cooper years, but Tressel has but a great program together (post Clarett that is) and it represents the Big 10 well.

Definitely try the Eclipse. If you don't like it, I'll buy the rest from you or swap you for some other K-Cups. Sacman had some good things to say about some of the Timothy's and Diedrich's dark roasts so you may want to check out his post as well.

[skippylynn]

Thanks MichFan for your kind thoughts for OSU. You are so right, as soon as I saw your user name I immediately thought Michigan, that team Way Up North. I guess it's ingrained in our blood lines!

I was not so happy during the Cooper years either. I'm giving away my age but I graduated just before Woody was fired & I remember the Woody/Bo years fondly. DH & I always look forward to the *one* game that really counts...Michigan vs. Ohio State!

I am pretty sure I will like the VH Eclipse. I like dark roasts & this one seems right up my alley!
I do like the Diedrich French Roast & I am considering getting Timothy's San Lorenzo. I just got Timothy's Rainforest Espresso XB but I have not tasted it yet. I will definitely check out Sacman's post.

Looking forward to next November,
skippy aka BuckFan

[MichFan]

Added a few more impressions -- Timothy's Rainforest, Diedrich French Roast and Colombian

[kcupreview.com]

Nice work on the new reviews. Sorry the D. French Roast didn't work out for ya. I thought the quality of the beans was great, but I guess if you like a stronger cup of coffee it is a little on the weaker side.
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[MichFan]

[MichFan]

Added Timothy's San Lorenzo Dark. I really liked it, it's one of my wife's favorites.

[MichFan]

Added three GMCR's -- Newmans Own Special Blend EB, National Wildlife Foundation Blend, and French Vanilla.

Newmans Own Special Blend EB is a great coffee. If I were a bigger fan of medium roast coffee it would easily get a 9 and maybe even be my first 10. It's a very well-crafted blend that will likely please most any coffee drinker. Silky smooth in the mouth with a hint of bittersweet on the backend, it's a nice compromise between styles. Great with a little cream and sugar. Blows away Timothy's Wiwilli EB (only other medium roast EB). Note that I reviewed this at 8oz. -- at 10oz. it is just a little too weak for my taste.

National Wildlife Foundation Blend is a medium-light blend that is smooth throughout with a hint of cocoa on the backend. Very agreeable black or with a little cream and sugar. Though not my style of coffee, it is the best example of a lighter coffee I've had and I will keep it around for evening cups and company.