How’s this for irony; a French-Canadian coffee company using vanilla from Madagascar in their coffee?  Maybe Van Houtte knows what I’ve known to be true all along: big curly mustaches are cool, also French vanilla, especially in coffee, sucks.  There I said it.  Now I’m fairly certain my friends at Keurig would prefer it if I didn’t launch into one of my anti-French diatribes, at least not in response to a box of K-Cups they sent me, so instead I’ll use this space to say “Thanks for the samples, Keurig”, and then make my way into the actual review…

The Description

The finest vanilla in the world comes from Madagascar. Creamy, sweet and velvety, its flavor is enhanced by the roasted nuts.

The Aroma

No huge surprise here, it Madagascar Vanilla Nut has a nutty smell infused with Vanilla.  It’s extremely aromatic, especially when compared to something a little more muted, like Van Houtte’s Colombian Medium Roast).

Drinking it Black

The vanilla and nut blend harmoniously with neither one overpowering the other.  As I’ve stated about a dozen times already in the K-Cup Challenge, I’m not huge fan of flavored, and more specifically, vanilla coffee, but this blend works exceptionally well when served black.

The vanilla gives it a bit of sweetness, which is balanced by the nut.  All the while, true coffee flavor remains.  I detected a bit of smoky flavor that scratched on the tip of my tongue like the claws of a playful kitten (for those of you who have tongue scratching kittens at home).  That’s ok though, because I like kittens, and well, I like this coffee too.

My one complaint is that, for a medium roast, I feel like the body is a bit lighter than it ought to be.

With Cream and Sugar

Flavored coffees like sugar (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it), and Madagascar Vanilla Nut is no different.  The perfect blend of cream and sugar only enhances the near perfect balance of vanilla and nut (neither of which I particularly care for on its own).  While drinking my most recent sample of the stuff, I became otherwise occupied.  When I returned I found my cup chilled by the winter air (and my general unwillingness to heat my own house), but the flavor was still solidly intact, if not improved.  My suspicion is that when temperatures warm up again (in about 5 months), Van Houtte’s Madagascar Vanilla Nut is going to taste mighty good over ice.

Final Thoughts

Ok…I don’ t often like vanilla coffee.  I less often find myself liking overly nutty coffees (think Hazelnut), but in this case my mama was mistaken; two wrongs do in fact make a right.  In truth, I don’t really think of this blend as being flavored at all.  Call it offsetting, or complimenting, or whatever, but the two flavors work very well together with neither so dominant as to make me want to spit it out.

The problem with a good bit of the flavored coffee I try is that after trying it 2 or 3 times, I’m completely all set; content never to put it near my mouth gain.  As a result I have several boxes of 20 or so K-Cups sitting on a shelf that will probably never make it anywhere near my brewer.  That’s not going to be a problem with Van Houtte’s Madigascar Vanilla Nut.  While it’s not something I’d want to drink every day, I do find myself answering the occasional craving.

Shameless Plug

I’ve been doing the K-Cup Challenge thing for a while now.  In fact, Qwowi.com’s K-Cup Challenge may very well be the single largest collection of of K-Cup reviews anywhere on the interwebs.  I tell you this for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I’m absolutely shameless when it comes to self-promotion.  Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I’ve sampled close to 50 different varieties of K-Cups.  Sure, that sounds like a lot, especially if you spend your mornings at Dunkin Donuts.  I mean, who is going to brag and say, “I’ve sampled nearly 5 varieties of coffee from…”  In truth, however; 50 varieties barely scratches the surface of what’s available to the proud owners of Keurig Brewers.

If given the choice between losing my Keurig or my microwave, the microwave would lose every time.  So would the toaster oven, the cable box (all that’s ever on in my house is Jon & Kate +8 anyway), and maybe the furnace.  There simply is no easier way to make a cup of coffee or tea.  And with well over 200 varieties to choose from, you won’t have a problem finding 2 or 3 dozen varieties that you like.  Of course, Keurig offers a 30 day money back guarantee, so if you think I’m wrong, you’ll have a full risk-free month to prove it.