This is the first coffee that Marc and I tried from Kohana Coffee. The beans have a strong traditional coffee scent, with a very faint but pleasant tobacco aroma. When I smell this particular combination in coffee it reminds me of misty country mornings and percolated coffee.

By the way, if you ever want to make my husband very..very…VERY nervous..just set a cup of coffee on the edge of a laptop while it is on the bed. And look how pathetic my keyboard it..about fifteen  of the keys have worn off and it isn’t even a year old yet.

The coffee is fragrant when brewed, and very shiny in the cup. It reflects like a mirror. I have heard that is a sign of good coffee and I am not going to argue. The aroma from the hot coffee is like nougat and citrus at the same time.  Antigua Bella Carmona is a medium roast coffee, by the way. It is bright and has a medium acidity. It is what I like to call a “perky” coffee. Sort of like a cheerleader on mood enhancers.

The flavor is citrus and walnut and the body was less rich than I usually like . Remember, I am a fan of dark, sultry Italian type roasts. I like my coffee to wink at me from the cup with a “hey, how you doin’?”

This was not that type of coffee.  With cream and sugar added the citrus notes held up well and the cream added the body and richness that I crave.

I am giving this a 3.75 out of 5. It is above average for a medium roast coffee. If you are a fan of dark roasts you probably will not be thrilled with this but if you like a medium roast with a bright, bubbly personality I think you will love it.  Great afternoon coffee with a Fig Newton cookie or simple cake.

Dear Lord, I just realized I like my coffee emo.

Image:Marye Audet

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I picked up a bag of this the other day when I was getting the tea.

I am still trying to decide where to get some other coffees to review…and still leaning toward a roaster and green beans when time and money allow.

Have you noticed that most of the coffees on the store shelves are still being pregound? What’s up with that? You would think we lived in the dark ages or something!

Even the Starbucks at the store is often ground coffee.  Sigh.  What I wouldn’t give for a local coffee shop.

Starbucks Guatemala Antigua is a medium roast.  It is grown in south central Guatemala in an area that has a lot of volcanic ash in the soil.

It has a cocoa flavor which I normally expect to find in a dark roast and I found that to be surprisingly pleasant.  Of the medium roast coffees this is a favorite.  Light acidity, a little sparkle on the tongue, the cocoa flavor is fantastic.  There is nothing nutty or fruity about this coffee at all and it handles the rigors of cream and sweetener well.  If you are partial to dark roasts but want to try a medium one this is a good one to try.

image:Starbucks

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When I was in Starbucks last Friday morning it was pretty obvious that the Christmas faeries had been there in the night and turned the entire store from a Harvest Home to a Winter Wonderland.  Wreaths, doves, and huge balls of green  yarn were arranged around the store most artistically.  You could almost see the snowflakes falling softly outside…except this is Texas and it was about 50 degrees.

Hey, I said …almost.

Any thoughts I had of picking up a bag of the Thanksgiving Blend on clearance for a ridiculously low price were soon quelled as I saw row upon row of bright red bags filled with the Christmas Blend coffee beans.  Being the suspicious sort that I am I immediately wondered if perhaps they had taken the Thanksgiving Blend and reincarnated it into the Christmas Blend.

 I grabbed a bag (have I ever told you that I am particularly partial to red?  The bags are…red) and took it home for the ultimate test.  Would it taste the same as the Thanksgiving Blend?  Did I have a scoop?

 I did have a scoop…several of them.  Well, Marc did.  Remember, he is the official coffee maker guy.  But the truth is that the Christmas blend is really a different coffee.

 It is a lighter roast, I believe.  Smooth and clean, with a slight spice in the aftertaste followed by almost a black currant flavor. An odd combination of light roast and ripe fruit.

Although it is not a dark roast I did like it a lot.  It seems more of a breakfast blend type coffee to me, though, not one to have after a heavy and rich Christmas dinner. I think more of a cup to sip with Christmas breakfast.

 It handled cream and stevia well, not losing flavor but becoming smoother and richer.  Give it a try.  But don’t expect bold.

image:marye audet

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Of the coffees that Green Mountain sent me, this one was my favorite.

It really surprised me because it is a lighter roast than I like but it is smooth and aromatic with a balanced acidity.

The primary flavor was nutty with a fruity overtone. In fact it reminded me alot of the ripe, fat hickory nuts I used to collect and eat as a kid. There is a light and lingering acidity after you swallow which is nice. For that reason I think it would be especially good with sweet desserts. This is a great pie and coffee type coffee.

The Newman’s Own line at Green Mountain Coffee is Fair Trade Certified and organic. I appreciate that so many roasters are striving to create a really exceptional organic coffee. This one is right up there with the best.

Green Mountain shows it as having a 5 star customer rating. I would definitely give it a 4 to a 4.5….I just don’t give 5 stars that easily.

Now, you all know that I think that the ethics are just as important as the taste and here is where this coffee racks up points:

Newman’s Own Organics, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, and Coffee Kids™ have teamed up to help women in Oaxaca, Mexico through an innovative agricultural program which helps women raise chickens. The project provides them with a means to diversify and strengthen their household economy as well as improve their family diet through organic meat and eggs.

THAT I can get excited about. SO kudos to Green Mountain and the Newmans for this awesome project!

Image:MaryeAudet 

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I have been putting off this review. Honestly I have.  And I will tell you why.

I have been reading reviews all over the internet and they all seem to say the same thing. Exciting fruity notes.  Chocolate notes.  Notes of tobacco and wood.  Tastes of cherry, blueberry and spice…Exotic, complex.

Scroll back.

Last week Marc and I had to pick up a new flour canister at the restaurant supply house. O.k. I bet you want to know why I am heading off, 45 minutes away, to pick up a flour canister? Gosh, you are nosy. 

It is because I buy organic white flour by the #50 bag. Yes. 50 Pounds of flour. I am able to get it for under $40  and we use that much easily in a month or less.  I also get wheat berries in bulk like that. Anyway.  SO, one cannot just set 50 pounds of flour in a vintage enamelware canister on the counter can one?  My canister set rivals what the Jolly GreenGiant’s wife must surely have in her pantry.  I bet her kids don’t eat more than mine either.

Coffee. Right.

So, since we were up in the wealthy part of town, as opposed to the ghetto part that we live in, we were thoroughly enjoying the landscape.  I said, “Hey! Isn’t there a Whole Foods up here? ”

Marc said, “Yeah, I think so.”

Me, “Can we stop there? ”

Marc, “Sure.”

So we did.

I need to write a whole post in Baking Delights on the joys of Whole Foods, especially the one on Preston/Forest in Dallas. Wowza.  They have a SPA, people, a SPA upstairs, o.k.?

Anyway, you are interested in the coffee, I know.

So all of the areas are set up like an exotic bazaar and the coffee area has loads of bulk coffees. Picking through I saw many that piqued my interest, but the Red Sea blend really seemed to be the coffee I wanted most.  It spoke to me, people, seriously.

I opened the bag as soon as we got home and took a deep sniff of the beans.  The aroma was medium. Not intense, not overpowering, just coffee like.

The beans are a medium roast, a blend of East African and Arabica beans.  They were roasted on the day I got them, very fresh.  I love the fact that it is sustainably grown but I am unsure if it is organic.  On the Allegro Coffee website it is not listed among the organic coffees.  I found that to be kind of a bummer because when I buy something at Whole Foods I sort of expect that it won’t be full of toxins.

So Marc brews the pot, he is the official coffee maker at our house. I don’t know why.  I can make it but it seems so luxurious to have him make the coffee for me and serve it to me in my mug. If only I could get him to wear like a gladiator slave outfit when he was serving it….

O.k.  cupping the coffee.  It has a citrussy smell to me but very faint. The coffee flavor is  mild, with a slightly acidic aftertaste. It did not taste complex or exotic.  It did not remind me of blueberries, tobacco or chocolate.  It tasted like a decent cup of coffee, but not a great one.

The beans were, admittedly, a medium roast and you know I prefer a dark roast but even so this was not a coffee I would buy again.

It is much better than Dunkin Donuts coffee though, and we are drinking it. I think I am going to use the Dunkin Donuts beans as a preschool craft.

Anyway.  Sometimes I feel like a real coffee dufus.  I read what others have said and it sounds so very eloquent …but when I read a review I want a bottom line. Should I try it or not?  In the case of Allegro Red Sea Blend give it a shot, you may like it.  If you do try it let me  know..I am curious if I am a dufus or just more honest than everyone else.

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