April 19, 2012
French Roast. The first thing that comes to mind when coffee drinkers hear those words is "intense & smoky" and indeed, some of the coffees we've had over the years which employed this roast style have been quite intense and often smoky in nature. Billed as one of the strongest roasts in Starbucks' line-up, we continue our review series of Starbucks K-Cups today with their Starbucks French Roast K-Cups.
Brewing these K-Cups resulted in rather strong aromas of smoky hickory nuanced by tinges of molasses & dark chocolate. After trying a greater portion of the line-up, we're starting to suspect they all have very similar aromas and just about every one we've tried had the "signature" Starbucks coffee shop aroma (the scent you get when you walk into one of their retail shops). We also detected faint oily aromas hiding underneath but the thing that was the most present was definitely smoky hickory.
Continue reading: "Review: Starbucks French Roast K-Cups"
April 18, 2012
The Sumatran region of Indonesia is famous for some of the dark roast coffees it produces and depending on how they're blended, the final results can be anywhere from earthy & herbal to sour & intense. We decided to see which route Starbucks decided to take and continue our Starbucks K-Cup reviews today with their Starbucks Sumatra K-Cups.
Brewing these K-Cups resulted in aforementioned earthy notes with subtle hints of herbal and even floral notes in background. Once again, cocoa is present but oddly enough, the smoky hickory notes seem subdued. Seeing as how this is a dark roast, we were expecting the exact opposite. Hmm... strange.
Continue reading: "Review: Starbucks Sumatra K-Cups"
April 16, 2012
Starbucks got their start back in 1971 in Seattle, Washington. Their first store opened on Western Ave. and was later relocated to Pike Place in 1976 where it remains to this day. Despite being the 2nd store to bear the name, many still consider this to be the 1st and longest-operating Starbucks location in the World. Today we continue our Starbucks K-Cups review series with a K-Cup which was named after this historic location: Starbucks Pike Place Roast K-Cups.
Something we've noticed with the Starbucks K-Cups is that the aroma during brewing seems fairly consistent with only intensity & some subtle nuances being the key differences. Such is the same here as brewing these K-Cups resulted in the signature Starbucks aroma filling the room once again. A closer inspection of the final brewed cup revealed smoky notes of hickory in the foreground with scents of cocoa underneath. We also detected a slight oily characteristic present in the aroma at times.
Continue reading: "Review: Starbucks Pike Place Roast K-Cups"
April 12, 2012
We continue our Starbucks K-Cup reviews today with their Starbucks House Blend K-Cups.
Brewing these K-Cups resulted once again in the signature Starbucks aroma filling the room (we've been seriously considering installing a neon Starbucks logo sign in the Single Serve test kitchens lately). A closer look at the final cup reveals woodsy notes with faint hints of cocoa & hickory hiding underneath.
Continue reading: "Review: Starbucks House Blend K-Cups"
April 3, 2012
Long before there were Folgers K-Cups & ages before there were Dunkin Donuts K-Cups, the one coffee brand most people wanted in single serve format was Starbucks. The company went through quite a bit over the past few years. They tried creating pods which were sold primarily in limited quantities within their own stores but that failed to take off as most people weren’t even aware Starbucks pods existed. Then many a wish was answered when they announced they’d be partnering with Kraft to release Starbucks Tassimo T-Discs.
Fans rejoiced as the various T-Discs hit the market, however, not all was perfect… many complained that the coffee was way too strong/intense while others complained that it was more than living up to the Charbucks reputation by tasting extremely “burnt”. Before things could be fixed, both Starbucks & Kraft stopped seeing eye to eye and the partnership was dissolved. Those who loved the T-Discs bemoaned the loss while others panicked at the prospect of not having Starbucks in single serve format anymore. So, fresh off being burned (pun intended) by Kraft, Starbucks decided to give the single serve market another try with the largest entity in the business… GMCR. Starbuck & GMCR announced with typical fanfare that Starbucks K-Cups would be sold not only in their own retail stores but also in various grocery stores & online (something which Dunkins fans are still wishing for to this day). The announcement also revealed that Tazo Teas would also be returning to the K-Cup format with the new addition of their Zen green tea blend.
Continue reading: "Review: Starbucks Veranda Blend K-Cups"
March 29, 2012
When chocolate meets coconut we stand up and pay attention, and the soon to be released Donut Shop Coconut Mocha coffee K-Cups warrant such attention. The artificially flavored coffee doesn't have the calories, but it sure does have the taste of that favorite chocolate bar you know, and the packaging it came in as a promotion was quite fetching as well.
Continue reading: "Review: Donut Shop Coconut Mocha Coffee K-Cups for Keurig Brewers"
March 27, 2012
Brewing a cup of French Roast coffee from La Pod coffee pods.
The SunCana (formerly SunCafe) coffee pod brewer has recently received several upgrades. Though coffee pod brewers using this design have have failed to impress us in the past, the current iteration of the SunCana coffee pod brewer impresses us with 3 key upgrades that make the coffee produced excellent.
The SunCana brewer improvements include:
- Brew Temp
- Coffee Pod Drawer
- Better pre-wetting cycle
Continue reading: "SunCana Single Serve Coffee Pod Brewer Improvements Impress"
March 7, 2012
The Keurig Vue V700 Single Cup Brewing System uses Keurig's Vue Packs, and is a single cup brewing system capable of making coffee, tea, hot cocoa, and even lattes and cappuccinos. The Keurig VUE brewer can only use Keurig Vue Packs, and not K-Cups, which are meant for older Keurig systems. Also unlike the older K-Cups, pulling off the top of the foil lid with the filter attached to a VUE Pack one can recycle the cup part of a VUE pack.
Continue reading: "Review: Keurig VUE V700 Single Cup Brewing System Makes Amazing Coffee, Tea, and Café Style Drinks"
February 23, 2012
We continue our reviews of new Canadian T-Discs today with another entry submitted by our Canadian Correspondent, SH. Today he reviews the recent Carte Noire Long Espresso T-Discs. A "long espresso" is pretty much similar to a "lungo" whereby you use the same amount of coffee at the same extraction level but increase the final amount of drink volume in the cup. As a result, you get a super-sized espresso with all the same amount of kick. Sign us up!
Continue reading: "Review: Carte Noire Long Espresso T-Discs for Tassimo"
January 18, 2012
CBTL has introduced the Americano single serve coffee, espresso, and hot beverage system recently, and it's packed with features you'll love in a single serve coffee maker. We received the CBTL system from them (thanks for sending) a few weeks ago and have been using it daily since. The machine look and feel is modern, and there's even an adjustable cup stand that just makes sense when you make coffee, espresso, and also hot chocolate with such a machine. We also really love the fact you can use a really tall travel mug to make coffee to go.
Continue reading: "Review: CBTL Americano Single Serve Coffee, Espresso, and Hot Beverage System"
Review: Starbucks French Roast K-Cups
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Review: President's Choice Gourmet Medium Roast T-Discs
