Qwowi’s sample of Green Dark Magic Extra Bold comes to us directly from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. As I mentioned when I first announced the partnership with Green Mountain, I’m a big fan of their coffee. More importantly, however; I’m a fan of of how seriously Green Mountain takes the notion of corporate responsibility. The company proves that you can be a model corporate citizen; support the planet, the environment, and the people in both your local community, and the developing world; all while still managing to turn a profit. It’s an ideal I think we don’t see nearly enough of.

There’s a wealth of information about Green Mountain’s commitment to Brewing a Better World on the company’s website. While I encourage you to check it out in detail for yourself, I’ll be including the occasional bits of Green Mountain information as I work through these reviews. Stuff like this…

Our vision is for all businesses, especially ours, to be agents for positive change in the world. Our long-term viability as a business is inextricably linked to the ecological and social viability of the communities where we work. We embrace our economic and moral obligation to do business that creates opportunity, stability and hope.

Now on to the review…

The Aroma

Green Mountain Extra Bold Dark Magic is a fairly heavy bodied coffee with a smoky aroma with hints of chocolate and caramel. The complex aroma also has a spicy characteristic to it. Like freshly ground pepper, it gives the nose a little bit of a tickle.

Drinking It Black

By now you’re probably growing accustomed to me saying that I wouldn’t drink an entire cup of, well, pretty much anything, black. That holds true for Dark Magic. I find the smoky flavor and spicy notes a little too powerful when left in their natural states. Whatever it is that gives it that bit of spiciness really works its way into your nasal passages. Call it coffee for the sinuses.

With Cream and Sugar

Mix in just enough cream and sugar to turn Dark Magic a nice shade of dark brown, and you’ll start to understand the “Magic” behind the blend. It doesn’t take much of either to bring the flavor to life. The kick-you-in-the-mouth, smoky, powerhouse is transformed into a gentle giant of caramel and chocolate flavors. It’s still powerful, but the flavor is so tantalizingly sweet…it’s the first K-Cup to leave me with the “that’s the junk” feeling I mentioned once before.

Final Thoughts

When I started this K-Cup Challenge I didn’t like dark roast coffee, and I certainly didn’t see myself wanting to drink it extra bold. Green Mountain’s Dark Magic Extra Bold single-handedly changed that. It is my favorite of the K-Cups I’ve tried thus far (though admittedly we’re very early in the game). While the previous K-Cup dark roasts have been seemingly dark for darkness’ sake, the Darkness of the Green Mountain Magic blend is purposeful and near perfectly executed. Unfortunately, my love of Dark Magic is causing a bit of dilemma as I try and work my way through other varieties. It’s increasing difficult to try new and different K-Cups when I’ve already found one that leaves me totally qwow’d.

If you haven’t already followed one of my links and bought yourself a brand new Keurig Brewer, or you flat out refuse to be swayed from your favored method of brewing coffee - it’s okay, I understand. You might want to at least consider the Green Mountain Blade Grinder for all your coffee grinding needs.

The stainless steel blade of this grinder has been specially designed to generate less heat. This preserves the aroma and taste of the beans. It features a pulse action, a 12-cup capacity, and of course, the Green Mountain logo.

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