Our good friend’s at Shoffee.com were kind enough to provide us with the sample of Caribou Coffee’s Sumatra Blend (the subject of this review).  I enjoyed the sample of Caribou’s “Caribou Blend” so much that I asked Joe at Shoffee to send me more from the company…well that, and if I’m really going to review every single variety, I’m going to need some more Caribou - period.

I’m not sure if it’s the earth-toned boxes, or just the word “Caribou” (it’s fun to say…Cari-booooo), I’m drawn to the brand.  So yeah, I guess they did their market research, because I found myself wanting to sample all Caribou Coffee I can without regard to what it might actually taste like.

What it says on the Box

“The aroma of fresh autumn leaves and fragrant cedarwood laced with clean butterscotch sweetness and bittersweet chocolate.”

I find myself wondering if I’m about to drink a cup of coffee or down a mulch sundae.  Do I need a spoon?  Whatever, I’m game.

Additional Description (lifted from the Caribou Coffee Website)

Grown in northern Sumatra, this special coffee is alive with intense flavors. The creamy body of the coffee is infused with a sweet herbal note and delicious aromatic woodsy tones - Sumatra Samosir Batak finishes with a rich butterscotch creaminess.

The Aroma

I can’t say with any degree of confidence that Caribou Sumatra actually smells like autumn leaves (and I’ve raked a few in my day), but it’s a pleasant enough aroma, that’s almost velvety on the senses.  And yes, I suppose there’s a hit of something herbal in the air.

Drinking it black

Spare me a moment for a rant.  Maybe I’m just not palate isn’t sophisticated enough to taste some of the flavors some manufactures tell me I should be experiencing in their coffees.  In the descriptions they’ll put things like “the sweetness of boysenberry with the earthy flavor of pine nuts, and a citrus finish”.  Granted, I just made that one up, but you get the point.  People…it’s a bean, it grows in dirt.  How come I never see “bitter with the taste of dirty bean with an earthwormy finish”?  Sometimes, after all, that’s the truth of it.

All that said, however; there are occasions where the descriptions can act as a legitimate guide when you find yourself playing “name that flavor” with a cup of coffee.  Such is the case with Caribou’s Sumatra.  Now once again, I’m not buying into the autumn leave aroma thing, but it is indeed a creamy cup of medium-roast coffee.

The flavor is indeed earthy, with just a hint of cocoa.  It finishes with just a bit of spice.  Caribou Sumatra is a good, although not spectacular cup of black coffee.

With Cream and Sugar

As is my way, I tried a few cups with cream and Splenda, and well, it was ok.  Truthfully, I could take it or leave it, and well, I figured I’d spent enough time with it.  It was time to write the review and move on.

As I sat down this morning, however; I figured I’d try one more cup of the Sumatra.  This time I passed on the Splenda in favor of actual sugar.  Now I’ve said it before; in most cases Splenda will work just fine, but there are some blends that really need the real stuff.  Caribou Sumatra is most certainly one of those blends.

Granted, I used more than sugar than I normally would (Sumatra wants to be sweet, I think), but the result really improved my perception of the coffee.  For me, things like caramel, and indeed, butterscotch are difficult to taste in black coffee.  With a bit of sugar, however, things can change.  Make no mistake, my Caribou Sumatra didn’t miraculously transform itself in to a butterscotch candy, but I did discover the slightest hint of what I’ll call “butterscotch commonality” - and well, I enjoyed it.

Final Thoughts

In this coffee drinker’s opinion, Caribou Sumatra is a bit of enigma; a near-dark roast coffee that desperately wants to be light and sweet.  As a black, it’s just ok, but when it’s light and sweet, it’s very good.

I cannot in good conscience recommend Caribou Sumatra to you folks out there who like a hearty cup of black joe.  There are, after all, better choices among the deep and darks.  For light coffee drinkers looking for perhaps a bit more body than what they’re getting now, I’d say give the Caribou Sumatra a try.  It’s extremely well suited to generous helpings of cream and sugar.

Shameless Plug

We’re very grateful to have great sponsors like Joe and the rest of the team at Shoffee.com helping us out with the K-Cup Challenge.  And while I can only say “thanks, Joe” so many times, you can certainly help me out by thinking of Shoffee.com for your K-Cup needs.

Shoffee has one of the best selections of K-Cups anywhere on the web, and great prices.  So why spend your money at one of those huge online warehouses when you can buy your Caribou Sumatra (and any other variety you might like) from the relative little guy who’ll give your order the personal attention it deserves?  Besides, do the big guys have anything like CupofTheWeek.com where you can get great deals on a different box of K-Cups each and every week?  No they don’t, and you know why?  It’s because the big guys (like Amazon for example), suck… at least for coffee.  You are, after all, buying a staple of your morning routine, not a freakin TV.

While you’re here, checking out the growing list of reviews in the K-Cup Challenge.

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