Bittersweet micro-roasts their coffee beans to maintain more control over the finished product. The coffee beans are small and plump and very fragrant with a classic cocoa mocha aroma. Once brewed the aroma takes on a floral perfume, light and delicate with  citrus top notes. This is one tricky coffee!

The flavor is a little acidic for me…Keep in mind that my heart belongs to intense, dark roasts. But beyond that it has a sparkle that is very light and fresh.  This coffee would be especially good with citrus flavors: orange and chocolate cake for example.

I think this is a good San Francisco Hippie Chick kind of coffee. Think white gauze peasant tops, flowers in the hair,  and bare feet.If you like a light city roast you may like this. I would not buy it but I did enjoy trying it.  The Bittersweet Cafés are located in San Francisco on Fillmore Street, College Avenue in Oakland and the Rose Garden Shopping Center in Danville.

Discaimer: This review is unbiased. The coffee was sent to me for review and no money changed hands. They don’t want the coffee back.  No animals were harmed in the writing of this review. thank you.

image:marye audet

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Starbucks Caramel Brulee Latte

I was expecting a strong, creamy vanilla flavor with a caramel finish. What I got was somewhat tasteless, watery, and not as sweet or rich as I would have expected. If you are expecting something with the flavor of the Gingerbread Latte or the Pumpkin Spice Latte you will be disappointed. It just isn’t here. However, if you are looking for something less sweet this may be the type of latte you are looking for.

Starbucks describes the drink this way on their site:
We’ve combined Starbucks espresso and steamed milk with a rich caramel sauce and topped it with whipped cream and shimmery pieces of caramel topping.

I would suggest starting with a tall to make sure that you like it. The flavor sounds great but doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

image: Starbucks

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Here is my dilemma, of course. I prefer loose tea but the nearest tea shop is Teavana at Northpark and that is a good 30 minutes away. Not far but my days are not so leisurely that I can head to the mall very often. I could order online but I forget..so most times it is choosing something while  I am at the grocers.

Thing is, I think that my life isn’t so different from anyone else’s so I try to bring you reviews of teas that are easily procured.

Tazo Chai is very much a black tea first. Some chai is so spicy that you don’t get the black tea flavor; not so with Tazo. The smoky, tannic, black tea bite is there followed by the spices. After a sip you feel like you have drunk a cup of tea and not a cup of spicy liquid. I must admit to having mine black this morning because I can’t take my medicine within a couple of hours of milk products. I think the flavor would have been gentler with milk.

It is organic which makes me very happy. I prefer organics, as you know. I like to support organic…and I like my tea strong and hold the toxins, thank you.

I liked this. It is honestly hard to hand me a chai that I don’t like. This one was more tea than spice and I liked that for morning.  Give it a try – it is a little different from other chai but that isn’t a bad thing. If you don’t care for black tea you probably won’t like this.

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Hawaiian Prime is smooth and mellow. It has a full bodied fruity flavor reminiscent of a good red wine…it teases you with a hint of cloves and finishes with hazelnut. I am still sitting here sipping in disbelief that it is tagged medium roast. It almost hurts me to say it but this the type of sultry coffee I love…so it can’t be a medium roast.

The beans are tiny. I have never seen beans that were that small. In this case great things come in small packages..because they are full of flavor.

This is a coffee to be committed to; gulp it with breakfast, sip it on a contemplative afternoon, or savor it with dessert…it won’t matter. For Kohana Hawaiian Prime it is all about the relationship, and this one won’t  let you down.

On the Marye Coffee Scale it gets a 4.25

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This morning we tore into the bag of French Konnexion.

French Konnexion is a Peruvian coffee (I just typed Koffee ), French roasted and the site describes it as chocolate-caramel-hazelnut. Hmmm.

As usual, I am tasting something totally different. Geez y’all, I hope my taste hasn’t been affected by the surgery! I just thought of that. Naaah….

I liked French Konnexion but not as well as the Morning Mayhem.. Here’s what I thought:

Very smooth, slightly smoky. Not burnt, mind you, but a nice smokiness like if you were drinking coffee in front of a campfire in the early morning, with a couple of trout fryin’ in the pan along with your bacon. That kind of smoky.

A little more acidic than the Mayhem and not as sweet or rich. Cumin, Cinnamon,Herbs, and Anise make this seem more Aztec than French! Bright finish flavor reminds your tongue you have been drinking coffee. I liked it alot and I am giving it a 4/5. Point lost because it was a little too acidic for my idea of perfect coffee.

While I found Morning Mayhem to be elegant and complex, I found French Konnexion to be straightforward and obvious. Plaid flannel, canoes, and hiking boots, with a day’s worth of beard stubble. My money says that Mike at Daily Shot of Coffee is going to like Konnexion better than Mayhem…

I am going to be ordering coffee at Kinetic Koffee. Although Mayhem will ALWAYS be in that order I am interested in trying some of the other coffees. Added bonus? Organic, and they donate to excellent causes. The price is amazingly reasonable.

image:Kinetic Koffee

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But… I wanted to taste a 16.99 a pound coffee. I expected this post to be sarcasticly biting, somewhat like the flavor I expected from the coffee.

But it wasn’t.  And this won’t be either.

I loved this coffee. It was extra dark, smoothly silky in texture with lingering clove, raisin, and berry flavors. It had none of the usual acrid over-roasted taste that I normally associate with Starbuck’s, but was smooth all the way through, with a pleasant aftertaste that was almost a cardamom, although some might describe it as citrus.

I didn’t think the aftertaste was clean enough to be citrus, it was more mysterious and exotic, thus caradamom. This is a complex coffee, well worth the 16.99 I paid. I know, I am shocked myself, but there you go. Miracles do happen.

Give this one a try. I think it is seasonal so it won’t be around for long.

Image: Starbucks

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Then I read about Mike having the Maple Bacon coffee and I was intrigued..still waiting to get it but intrigued.  THEN I discovered the Farm Town Ap on Facebook and found out if I ordered a trial amount of their coffee I  got 20,000 or so points fo buy farm animals with.  Who can resist a deal like that?

I now have replace my horses that I had to give away last summer with cyber horses.

My experience was not as quick as Mikes.  It took almost a week for the coffee to arrive, although I was contacted and told that it was shipped the day after I ordered.  I ordered four 1/2 lbs.

The first that I tried is the South Beach Rhythm.  It is described by the company as:

Exotic and smoky, this very full bodied dark roast is made from premium Colombian and Panamanian beans.

O.k.  That isn’t helpful.  I mean really.  Yes that sounds wonderful but it tells me nothing about how the coffee tastes. Not really.  It is like sauying a wine is fruity and full bodied.   These companies should stop hiring writers to write descriptions and start hiring coffee writers..right Mike? Oh, and the words chocolate, nutty, and smoky can’t be used. Ever.

Here are my thoughts.

The beans are very dark and coated with a nice layer of oil.  The sheen is incredible.  They are plump and perfect, not broken or fragmented.  They are on the small side. I don’t know if this really matters but I have noticed that the flavor of the smaller beans seems to be better.

The beans smell spicy. They remind me of something …I can’t quite identify.  There is almost a marzipan scent and an underlying sassafras soda smell.  O.k.  Yes, I am sitting here huffing a bag of coffee beans, and your point is? If you ever had a real A &W Root Beer from the real drive in….you are old…but you will also recognize some of the intriguing scent in this coffee.

The coffee is very dark and glossy.  The fresh brewed aroma is less intense than I would have expected and has a slight herbal scent.  The flavor is smooth with a subtle winey note and a pleasant acidity left on the tongue.  If there are chocolate notes they would be chocolate fudge and not anything less rich.  This is a rich and satisfying cup, aptly named.  It brings to mind the velvet and sensual darkness of a tropical night.  The company says that there are notes of caramel but I did not find them.  I think they are just not experienced enough foodies to know the difference between caramel and marzipan.

I wish it had more aroma while it was being brewed but other than that I can’t fault it. It is definitely a complex brew, revealing layers of flavor as you sip, like an exotic dancer taking off veils.

I could not find answers to my questions on the website so I called.  Their customer service is quite good.  My question was whether or not the coffee was organic/Fair Trade/Rainforest Alliance.  The answer? SOME of the coffee is.  If this is important to you, then read carefully.  The majority of the coffee is not.  So, that is my second disappointment with the coffee.

Now, I have to apologize for my images.  I had a decent camera.  My five year old was carefully bringing it to me when she tripped.  Camera case broke.  Had to buy another.  Sadly, I had only the money for a rather (very) cheap camera that does not do closeups.  Since I primarily do close ups this really stinks.   Even photo editing only helps a little.  Bear with me while I save up. :/

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In drinking the tea I was surprised by the lightness and delicacy of the flavor.  I think I would have preferred a little more apricot flavor but all in all I thought the tea was a nice afternoon tea- something that would go well with shortbread cookies, or a light snack.  I think it is too light for a breakfast cup and not rich enough for an evening cup, if that makes sense.

The liquor is pale golden with a delicate apricot flavor which is followed by lasting notes of light vanilla.  Not theheady bourbon vanilla, but just a hint of vanilla flavor that enhances the sweet peachiness of the apricot. I do not think i would hold up well for iced tea.

I am most impressed by this tea in its ability to flavor baked goods from frosting to scones.  I am thinking of  making a mousse with it.

All of my kids are tea drinkers as you know, and all are sold on this tea.  If you like a flavored white this is a good one to try.  I do not like it as well as I like their blueberry white tea that I reviewed last year, but it comes in a close second.

Image:Amazon

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When Truvia contacted me about trying the new sweetener I was pretty stoked.

I have used stevia a long time. I just am not into chemicals and I don’t trust the FDA.  Well, truthfully I don;t trust the government, medical personnel, or most others that have been corrupted by"the establishment".  Yes, I am a throwbback from the 60s.

Anyway, I am glad I didn’t trust the FDA because there are alot of reports coming out about nurtasweet, aspartame, and even splenda which was the golden ticket to weight loss ten years ago.  Stevia has always worked great for me.

The thing is that it is hard to use in baking and there is a funny aftertaste if you use too much.  So, I always used it in coffee, tea and protein shakes and left the rest ot sugar, honey, agave, and other sweeteners.

Truvia is a combination of stevia and Erythritol,a sugar alcohol that does not effect blood sugar. It does have like 3 grams of carbohydrate so you will need to be careful if you are on low carb, it may or may not effect your carb count depending on how it reacts with your body chemistry.

Truvia has 0 calories, 0 fat, 0 sodium and the Erythritol is in such a small amount it should not cause the gas and bloating that it can cause in large amounts and on it’s own.

This is good stuff.  I gave it the ultimate test.  I poured it into my hand and licked it.  I loved it in coffee and on various foods…I honestly did not try it in baking because I did not feel like opening all the packets to get the right amount.

The Truvia is about double the sweetness of sugar.  Coca-Cola and Pepsi are going to be using it in some new products so watch for it.

They have a e-club you can join and I bet that you can get coupons if you do.

images: Marye Audet

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This was the second coffee that I tried from Community Coffee.  FIrst of all, if it has been awhile since you tried their coffees they ahve a totally different flavor than they used to.  I loved the Sumatra that i got.

The Rwanda is a medium roast.  I was interested to read that the coffee trees used were form fifty year old root stock.  That guarantees that there has been no tampering with the DNA!

But there is more.  This is from the website:

After the civil war and genocide of 1994 in Rwanda, Community Coffee Company took steps to cultivate personal and business relationships with the country’s coffee growers. In fact, we were the first U.S. coffee company to import Rwandan coffee beans. In order to help with the recovery, we offered to pay premium prices for Rwandan beans. Our partner, the Maraba Coffee Cooperative, distributes these proceeds responsibly and evenly throughout its local community with one-third of the monies received used for medical, educational and social programs.

I was all set to love the Rwanda coffee even though it was a medium roast.

The beans were dry looking and less oily than the Sumatra that I tried.  In fact there was no oil visible.

This has a nice aroma with a faint smokiness and the coffee brews up dark.  The coffee has a distinct flavor and a definite acidity.

In trying to come up with the flavors I have typed and erased several words.  It is very unique.  Herbal and woody come to mind, with an aftertaste that is almost like grapes. This is not the rich coffee that the Sumatra was.  This is an afternoon pick me up cup, bright and lively.  Definitely not one to pair with pastries or sweets.

This would be a good coffee to enjoy with a full flavored sandwich ( maybe rye and swiss).  It is not my favorite.  I prefer the rich, smooth coffees and this one is too in your face for my taste.  But it is an excellent coffee in its own right, and well worth trying.  But try it soon.  This is a seasonal coffee and will only be available through March.

images:marye audet (c)2009

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