Review: Hot Cocoa K Cups from Green Mountain Coffee

Review from Single Serve Coffee.com - Coffee Pod Reviews Hotcocoa-Box-Kcup-1

Yes - the sky has fallen and finally Green Mountain and Keurig have produced Hot Cocoa K Cups. Since the beginning of SingleServeCoffee.com history, there has been a weekly question someone will send in from reader write ins or from the Single Serve Coffee Forums, "Can I get hot chocolate or hot cocoa k cups for my Keurig?" Well - now you can.

From what we've been told, the Hot Cocoa K Cups from Green Mountain have been in development for many years. Green Mountain assures us this isn't because there was ever a doubt they wanted to make Hot Cocoa K Cups, but that they wanted to get it right, and make sure there wasn't any cocoa contamination in the Keurig Brewer.

Tasting the Hot Cocoa K Cups from Green Mountain

Ready to make some Hot Cocoa

We've been sampling these Hot Cocoa K Cups over the past few weeks and have compared them to our findings from Tassimo's Hot Cocoa offerings and from the Flavia Fusion's drinks. Our take? The Hot Cocoa is good, but not the best cup of single serve hot cocoa we've had. We like the fact we can use our Keurig to whip up a cup of the Hot Cocoa from a K Cup, but because you don't have the option to use hot milk, you're going to get a cup of water based hot cocoa.

Now, some people actually prefer water over milk due to calories, and for those Hot Cocoa drinkers you'll find this to be a perfect option. We also think using the recommended 8 oz setting made the best cup of Hot Cocoa from the Hot Cocoa K Cups. We opened up several of the used Hot Cocoa K Cups and found you could even mix in the left over Hot Cocoa to get an ever better cup of Hot Cocoa.

Brewing up a cup of Hot Cocoa

We did brew up a bit of Kona 100% extra bold coffee from the new Extra Bold K Cups, and mixed in a little hot chocolate, and found this to be a nice twist. We've done similiar mixing when using Tassimo and our Flavia Fusion.

Hot Cocoa from a Keurig Brewer

In comparing the Hot Cocoa produced from the Tassimo using Suchard Hot Chocolate T Discs or any of the M&M Mars chocolate packs in our Flavia Fusion - we prefered the liquid based hot chocolate over the powder based Hot Cocoa K Cups. However, since this is your only option for Keurig, it's a pretty decent cup of hot chocolate.

Wrapping Up

So what do these K Cups really hold for the average Keurig owner? Quick and easy hot cocoa. And if you don't have the ability to get your hot cocoa in any other format, we think this is the best and only option you can get for your Keurig single serve coffee brewer. These K Cups will work in your Keurig Elite B40 Brewer, Keurig B50, Keurig Special Edition Ultra Elite B60, and the Keurig B70 Brewer.

Inside the Hot Cocoa K Cup from Green Mountain

And to recap our tips and tricks for the best Hot Cocoa from the Green Mountain Hot Cocoa K Cups: use the 8 oz setting on your Keurig brewer and also run a brew cycle after making hot cocoa to make sure there is no left over hot cocoa in the delivery area. Also, you can open up the K Cup and mix in the leftover hot cocoa to get a stronger cup of hot cocoa or just remember to always use the 8 oz setting for the best extraction.

At Hot Cocoa K Cups from Green Mountain

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Quick Coffee Picks: Kona 10% Blend Extra Bold K Cups for Keurig - Apr 06, 2007

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Posted by Jay Brewer at April 9, 2007 7:51 AM

I like to make a Hot Cocoa K Cup, on small serving, and any 8oz coffee K Cup in one large cup. I've got a ceramic coffee mug that I use (though it came with candy and other Valentine gifts, and there's a spot that didn't get glazed in the bottom of the cup, so I wonder if it's safe.) The cocoa is sweet enough that I don't add any sweetener to the coffee/cocoa mix. It's way too sweet, even for me, for me on its own, actually--Fructose is the first ingredient (not found on the package, but online) and coconut oil the second. The cup is 60 calories, with 35 from saturated fat. Not great nutritionally, but one a day probably isn't too bad. I'm an odd duck here, though, as I can't drink hot hot beverages (Rosacea!), so I'll usually make smaller cups and mix them in regular glasses til they cool. Often I'll make a frappuccino with coffee ice cubes I've made. I'm constantly trying new mixes. Probably those who said using the packages is smarter are probably right, but I'm still in the "Isn't this K Cup stuff cool!?" frame of mind. Eventually the novelty will wear off and I'll be more selective. (Sure with these forms would allow for paragraphing!)
Posted by: Karen Hennigan at June 6, 2007 5:31 PM

How do these K cups stack up to the Ghirardelli Double Chocolate pouches that are portioned for Keurig brewers? I've tried the Tassimo ones and if these hot cocoa K cups don't taste as well then I'm already fearful of trying these since I thought the Tassimo hot cocoa was terrible.
Posted by: Alex at April 9, 2007 1:57 PM

I like the Ghiradelli - and I think these are about the same if you use hot water. But you had more control using any amount in the pouch you wanted. But the convenience of the K Cup is hard to beat.
Posted by: Jay Brewer at April 9, 2007 2:53 PM

Cost. That's the one thing I would have liked explored. A box of 20 of the new hot cocoa k-cups is about $15 plus shipping. Compare that to microwaving a cup of milk and stirring in a powder envelop, and the cost factor and quality just doesn't match up.
Posted by: Sean at April 13, 2007 4:54 PM

I didn't like the Ghiradelli at all - too bitter. The new GM cocoa k-cups are ok, but not worth the price when there are much better tasting pouches out there. I personally like the variety of the flavored Land o Lakes cocoa pouches. Individually in the supermarket they're expensive, but you can sometimes find them in variety packs at the warehouse places for a good price.
Posted by: Scott at May 12, 2007 8:43 AM

Just got 2 boxes and have been testing them out. At first I thought it was too weak. Tried the shaking up the K-cup and seemed to do some good, but not a big change. THen I, for some unknown reason, thought of trying a sum half and half, about the same amount Id use in a cup of coffee, and that did the trick!! Much creamier in texture and tastier, what a little FAT buys you these days!! LOL Cheers!
Posted by: Tim at December 1, 2007 9:33 PM

I paid a little over $11. for a box of Gm hot cocoa k-cups. Understand, I'm a newbie to single serve coffee, and utterly smitten with this marvelous technology, but I like them. I didn't shake the k-cup, but had read another review that recommended opening the k-cup after brewing and stirring in any left over chocolate. I found very, very little left inside. Always preferring milk-based cocoa, but trying to avoid the fat and still take advantage of the k-cup convenience, I simply added a couple of teaspoons of Fat-free Coffee Mate in the bottom of the cup before brewing. Overall, I was very satisfied with the result.
Posted by: Brenda at December 11, 2007 1:11 AM

My whole office had been waiting several years for the Hot Chocolate to come out. As soon as they did, we immediately ordered up a box. Afterwards, we reached a universal conclusion- it sucks. It is just to darned watery, and has practically no chocolate flavor. We tried mixing it with half and half, using less hot water, using non-dairy creamer, mixing it with coffee, etc. It's just a poor formula. And this is an office which is no stranger to instant water-based hot chocolates. After wasting our money on the one box, we went back to ordering Swiss Miss. It may be slightly messier, but the difference in flavor is unbelievable.
Posted by: Andre Virul at February 13, 2008 10:35 PM

Marci: "Oh please... Is it really that hard to open a canister, spoon cocoa into a cup and add water? " Is it really so hard to make a traditional cup of coffee? Get over yourself. As for this product. I was more than amazed at the quality. We used to get Swiss Miss (which Andre, above, claims is better) and I definitely prefer the GM Cocoa.
Posted by: BP at March 24, 2008 3:49 PM

The GM hot chocolate is extremely watery and not worth a try. Tried the 5.25-ounce setting to see if that improved the taste…still, not even close to a good cup of hot chocolate. Even tried microwaving a small portion (1/4 cup) of milk in a cup then brewing a K-cup of GM hot chocolate on the smallest water portion possible. I do believe it's possible to make a single serving hot chocolate, but GM has not done it, not even close!
Posted by: Jeannie at April 2, 2008 4:59 AM