Review: Timothy's Perfectly Pumpkin K-Cups for Keurig

Review from Single Serve Coffee.com - Coffee Pod Reviews

S.H. continues his quest to find the perfect K Cup. Will he enjoy the pumpkin spice K Cups from Timothy's World Coffee?

With the opening of their first store in 1975, Timothy's World Coffee set out to become one of Canada's premier coffee houses. The company operates over 100 coffee/bakery restaurants across Canada under 3 distinct brands: Timothy's World Coffee, Mmmarvellous Mmmuffins & Michel's Baguette. In addition, the company operates a 35000 sq. ft. coffee roasting facility in the Toronto region and a bakery commissary; these guarantee the superior quality and freshness of all the coffee and bakery products served both in their retail stores and by co-branded partners.

Timothy's source pure origin coffee from countries around the world that grow specialty grade Arabica beans and only the top 5% of any harvest will meet their strict standards for quality. Over the years, the company has developed over 35 blends, various flavored coffees, teas and decaffeinated coffees. To ensure freshness, all coffee beans are brewed or sold in their retail locations within 20 days of roasting. They also service & supply offices, hotels, theatres and hospitals.

With Halloween just around the corner, I decided to review Timothy's Perfectly Pumpkin limited-edition K-Cups. These K-Cups will only be available during the Fall season, so now's the time to grab some if you want to try them out. When brewing, familiar scents of pumpkin pie start to emerge… all-spice, nutmeg & hints of pumpkin are all present. The body is medium with a usual brown/amber color.

I chose the 5.25oz brew size on my B50 Ultra to extract the full flavors. The first thing you taste is the all-spice/nutmeg but as the flavors develop, you also notice tones of cinnamon, cream and pumpkin hiding underneath. You obviously wouldn't taste pumpkin as much as you would with actual pumpkin pie, but Timothy's somewhat succeeds in recreating the flavor experience in coffee form. I haven't had the chance to try the Green Mountain Coffee or Gloria Jean's versions of pumpkin K-Cups, so I can't really compare if they have stronger or weaker pumpkin flavoring and even though I knew to expect the spices, I was still hoping there would be more of a pumpkin flavor (you can read our earlier Single Serve Coffee review on a variety of these K Cups here).

Aroma – 7 – Strong notes of all-spice & nutmeg but the scent of pumpkin eventually makes its way through.
Acidity – 6 – At a 5.25oz brew size, some acidity is present but it's not really that strong. The spices keep things in balance.
Body – 7 – Medium body, brown/amber color. No extra added coloring to note here.
Flavor – 7 – Timothy's would have scored higher in this category if they could have added more pumpkin flavoring… it seemed as if it was fighting too hard to overcome the taste of the spices.
Mouth Feel – 7 – Smooth, although the spices add a bit of a bite. Almost no aftertaste present.
Coffee Drinker – Suited best for folks who like added spices in their coffee or perhaps Mexican-style hot drinks.

Overall Rating: 84 – Average

I'm hard pressed to think of anything else I've ever tried that had pumpkin flavoring in it so maybe Timothy's can't really be held at fault for not adding more pumpkin flavors to this K-Cup variety. After all, it's not as common a flavor as say, chocolate or vanilla. I guess my best advice would be to at least give this K-Cup flavor a try and judge for yourself. Each person will have a different tasting experience, so use this review only as a guide.

Timothy's Perfectly Pumpkin K-Cups will work in any Keurig single serve coffee machines. Pricing is $10.69 USD for a 24-pack at www.coffeewhiz.com or $13.99 CAD at www.tweedandhickory.com

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October 30, 2008

Review: Timothy's Perfectly Pumpkin K-Cups for Keurig