Initial Thoughts (based on the name alone, and before my first sip):

Ahh…the end of winter.  Light, yet bright (do they still make those lightbright things, with the plastic pegs?), smooth, and hopeful.  A warm cup of optimism.

The Description:

Revive your senses.  A balanced and sweetly aromatic blend with a sparkling finish.

The Aroma

Sweet and fruity.  I’m thinking grapes, and berries (or is a grape a berry?), with just a hint of spice.  Spring Revival Blend is nothing I’d consider intensely aromatic, but it’s pleasant enough.

Drinking it Black

Not bad…not bad at all.  Here we are two years in, and I’m still not a black coffee drinker (probably never will be), although I’m definitely a dark roast kind of guy.  Spring Revival blend is smooth, exceptionally so.  Probably as smooth as anything I’ve tried recently, which admittedly isn’t much (it turns out when you don’t review coffee for a bit, your supplies dwindle).  It’s mildly acidic, with a light, bitter-free finish that lingers a bit without souring.  For more than a few of you, I suspect this one will play just fine without cream and sugar, especially if you like your medium roasts a little on the lighter side.

With Cream and Sugar

While Spring Revival Blend will never be my favorite cup, it makes for an awesome, awesome warm weather, Friday-feeling kinda coffee.  It’s light, sweet, with an almost whipped (frou frou coffee) kind a feel, without the risk of your friends calling you a sissy.  Think iced coffee, but without the ice in there watering it down.  Oh…and unlike ice, it’s hot.  Yeah.  I really like it.  Score it a B or a B+.

Final Thoughts

This is normally the part where I sum it all up and tell you why you should be whatever cup of coffee I’ve just reviewed (even if I’m telling you it’s so awesomely bad you have to taste it to believe it).  But since I’ve already pretty much said all I need to say, how about I leave you with this bit of background info on this delicious blend (which serves as reason enough why you should give Fair Trade Spring Revival Blend a try – and yes, I copied and pasted this directly from Green Mountain.  I didn’t write a word of it.

Coffee in Rwanda: A story of survival and revival

Spring Revival® Blend offers sweet aromas, balanced flavors, and a compelling story of hope. The floral top notes of this Fair Trade Certified™ blend come from Rwanda, a country still recovering from a brutal civil war. With this delicious Limited Edition Seasonal coffee, you join us in supporting Rwanda’s economic revival, and small farmers who are producing extraordinary beans.

In the Gikongoro Province of southwestern Rwanda, vibrant coffee fields are reawakening after years of lying dormant. High altitudes, rich soil and predictable rainfalls created a perfect microclimate here, but years of conflict and political unrest had made it nearly impossible to get coffee to market. Today, a partnership of growers, roasters and governments is producing exceptionally fine coffee, and hope for a more peaceful future.

Our connection to Rwandan coffee began in 2002, when we hosted a group of farmers in Waterbury, VT. They toured our roasting facility, participated in cupping, and explored ways to connect with U.S. consumers.

Our head coffee buyer, Lindsey Bolger, then made the first of six trips to Rwanda to train farmers in cupping and sensory evaluation. She helped train them to detect defects and understand the quality expectations of the demanding specialty coffee market. In 2008, Lindsey’s protégées were asked to be judges for Africa’s first Cup of Excellence® coffee competition. Their participation was a dramatic illustration of Rwanda’s meteoric rise on the international coffee scene.

Today, Rwanda is one of the hottest origins in specialty coffee, with a well-deserved reputation for high-quality beans. Fair Trade prices are allowing farmers to make a living off their small plots of land.

We are proud to work with the Clinton Global Initiative, TransFair USA, the Cordes Foundation, and the hardworking, small farmers of Rwanda to bring you Fair Trade Certified™ Spring Revival® Blend.

Shameless Plug

In addition to their own coffees and teas, Green Mountain stocks coffee from Caribou, Tully’s, Newman’s Own, and now (for my Canadian brother’s and sisters) Timothy’s.  They also offer their unique Cafe Escapes lineup, as well as their Donut House Collection.

You can save $2 ($2.50 for a limited time) off every box of Green Mountain coffee you buy through their Café Express programs; which helps ensure that you never run out of delicious Green Mountain Coffee.

Stuff the FTC Wants Me to Say

Neither myself or anyone else at Qwowi.com received any compensation for this review and any recommendations made within.  Green Mountain doesn’t pay me to say nice things about their coffee, which is probably good, because I don’t always say nice things about their coffee.  Just because I like it doesn’t mean you will.  I make no promises or guarantees as to what your own experience with Spring Revival Blend (or any other Green Mountain Blend) will be.

Earlier this week I told you about Green Mountain’s new Travel Mug Sized K-Cups. While the feedback I’ve heard about that has been extremely positive (people really want a bigger cup), I’m not actually much of a travel mug guy myself. The thing is, I’ve got just short of a 1 hour drive to work every morning, and as I probably don’t need to tell you, long drives, and a giant mug full of coffee aren’t always a good mix. I’ll leave it at that; no further explanation necessary I presume.

What I am excited about, however, is Green Mountain’s other new releases, revv™ and revv pulse™. If I’m reading the details right, these new offerings kick up the caffeine beyond that of your everyday cup, to give you an extra boost without the need to add a ton of sugar.

Here are Green Mountain’s descriptions of the new offerings:

“Shift into a coffee that ignites your senses. revv K-Cups® are packed with 100% Arabica coffee to create a stimulating cup of rich body, smooth balance, and high-octane energy, so you can supercharge your day without extra sugar or calories”.

“revv™ packs more rich, smooth coffee into every K-cup®, so you can super-charge your day, without extra sugar or calories. Take a bold move forward. Launch into life with revv™”.

It sounds to me that revv™ is exactly what Keurig users have been screaming for; a seriously hardcore cup of coffee that kicks you flush in the teeth, or at the very least, something to jump start the morning and help lift the morning haze.

revv pulse™, as a famous TV chef might say, kicks it up a notch.  They’ve taken coffee, and sort, kinda, blended it with an energy drink…or at least the kind of ingredients you might find listed on an energy drink’s can.  Here’s how Green Mountain describes it:

“Nature’s original energy drink just got turbo charged. revv pulse™ boosts alertness without compromising on taste. Ginseng and Guarana are natural additions to revv’s high-performance power”.

“When you need to revv it up and keep it going, reach for revv pulse ™. revv pulse gives you a boost without compromising on taste. Ginseng and Guarana are natural additions to revv’s high-performance power. Now you can get to the head of the pack, and stay there as long as it takes”.

Not two days ago I was explaining to my buddy Ken that I was going to have to down a 2nd cup right quick because the first one didn’t take.  The new revv™ lineup looks like it can solve that problem, without having to drink 4 cups of coffee, or down a pound of sugar.  Either way, they’re definitely worth checking into.  I hope to have samples for review soon.

Through June 24th 2010 you can save $1.00 off every 22 count box of revv™ when you enter keycode IGNITE-REVV at checkout.

Café Express members will get an additional $1.00 off your member discount.

A Trip Back In Time

I like to talk about the dawn of K-Cups like it happened right about the time the dinosaurs disappeared, or maybe as if their arrival coincided with the microwave.  The reality, of course, is that the K-Cup and the awesome machines that make them haven’t been around all that long, but nevertheless…please indulge my history lesson, regardless of how inaccurate the timing might be…

Centuries ago long after the last Tyrannosaurus Rex took his last breath, the Neanderthals used archaic tools (like a Mr. Coffee brewer or a French Press) to brew their coffee.  But lo! Cameth the Keurig brewer, which in addition to brewing a great cup of coffee, also freed up more time for all the hunting and gathering that was going on.  While there was much rejoicing (dancing and singing and whatnot) in the caves for days, there was but one, single complaint that persists to modern day; “I like my Keurig, but the coffee is too weak on the larger settings”.

Finally…A Solution

Like I said, my timing might be off a little bit, but regardless of whether we’re talking about eons, centuries, or just the last 5 years ago, just about every Keurig owner has complained about the crappy cup of coffee that come from brewing on the largest setting.  Of course, there were workarounds.  Most people I know brew 2 K-Cups per 1 travel mug.  It’s not the most economical solution, but it works.  What if I told you there was a better way?  Would you send a check or money order (if you would, I’ll send you my address)?  My friends, it’s a pleasure for me to let you know that there is in fact a better way.

Remember that package I (my wife) got last Friday?  Well that package contained 3 boxes of Green Mountain’s new Travel Mug Sized K-Cups.  That’s right…TRAVEL MUG SIZED K-CUPS.  No more drinking weak coffee.  No more “brew 2 get 1″ for the road.  Nope…those days, like dinosaurs and cavemen are gone.  Simply pop in one of the new travel mug sized K-Cups.  Set your brewer to its largest cup setting.  Press brew.  Wait 15 seconds or so, and you’ve got a delicious, full-sized (and that’s really what we care about) cup of totally awesome Green Mountain Coffee.  That’s pretty sweet (even if you like your coffee black), right?

A Web Exclusive

For now at least, Travel Mug K-Cups are available exclusively on the web (no running down to your local Bed, Bath, and Beyond to score a box).  Nope, you can only get these online from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.  The first run of the super-sized K-Cups are available in 3 varieties; French Roast, Donut House (awesome), and Breakfast Blend.  A 22 count box will set you back $13.95.  Of course, if you’re a subscriber of Green Mountain’s Cafe Express (and you probably should be), that price drops to $10.45 per box.

In addition to their own coffees and teas, Green Mountain stocks coffee from Caribou, Tully’s, and Newman’s Own.  They also offer their unique Cafe Escapes lineup, as well as their Donut House Collection.

You can save $2 ($2.50 for a limited time) off every box of Green Mountain coffee you buy through their Café Express programs; which helps ensure that you never run out of delicious Green Mountain Coffee.

Down the road I might engage in a head to head Donut Fight, but for today I’ll focus solely on Green Mountain’s Donut House Coffee.

The Description

Donut House Coffee feels familiar from the very first sip. It’s the easy-going, bold, dependable cup you enjoy every day.

If you’re lucky, the best cup of joe is right around the corner. You can pick up your brew and a dozen to go. The rest of us rely on the Donut House Collection—K-Cups with rich, bold flavor and a little kick to get you going. Good, straightforward coffees that will remind you of the days when you knew what to expect and were never disappointed.

The Aroma

A bit smokey, perhaps a bit nutty.  Nothing overly sophisticated.  What can I say is that it steams with really swell coffee smells…just like the old man in the paper hat used to brew.

Drinking it Black

Let me droop a couple of adjectives on you; smooth & crisp.  I rate Donut House Coffee as a solid medium roast.  Definitely not light, but far from dark like Espresso Blend or Double Black Diamond.  What I’m really enjoying about this blend is its straightforward nature.  I don’t have to try and cleverly describe fruit notes, or florals, or anything else exotic; and that’s the point – this is old fashion no-nonsense coffee like they used to make in the corner donut shop, well, back when there was a corner donut shop – before the giant corporate coffee machine steamrolled your favorite mom and pop.  Donut House Coffee is coffee like it was before the man took over.  It’s simple, but it’s really, really good.

What’s more, I’m not tolerating it black, I’m enjoying it black.  I’m not sure that’ the first time this has ever happened, but it sure has been a while.

With Cream and Sugar

It’s still smooth, and it’s still crisp.  It’s slightly nippy too, which I really like (because I didn’t have to sacrifice any smooth to get there).  What can I say, I’m really enjoying this one.  It’s so relaxing to sip coffee without the fear of missing some faint hint of raspberry or pine nuts, or anything else of that ilk.

Final Thoughts

Like I said at the beginning, I’ll save the big picture, head to head donut fight for a later day.  What I will say is that Donut House Coffee is the best new blend I’ve had in quite some time.  If you love a sophisticated, complex, multi-faceted coffee experience, Donut House Coffee probably isn’t for you, but if you’re all about a simple, straightforward, cup of coffee, then I can’t recommend enough that you buy a box or few of Green Mountain’s Donut House Coffee.

Shameless Plug

As you might expect,  this installment of the K-Cup Challenge was sponsored by Green Mountain Coffee.  Just so we’re clear, they send me coffee, they don’t make me say nice things about it (check my other reviews and you’ll see that I don’t hold back if I don’t like the beans).  Anyway…Green Mountain has everything for you or the coffee lovers in your life this holiday (or any other season).  They offer a full selection of Keurig Brewers, K-Cups, and an assortment of other really cool stuff.

Join Green Mountain’s Café Express program and you’ll save$2 off K-Cup boxes, $1 off coffee bags & 10% off everything else (including brewers).  There’s no fee to join, and you can bail out at anytime with no hard feelings (or penalties).  There’s no better way to ensure that you’re favorite K-Cups will be there waiting for you each and every morning.  Café Express is pretty much the ultimate K-Cup coffee club.

While you’re here, check out all of the reviews in QwowiCoffee’s K-Cup Challenge

I took a little extra time doing some comparisons with Santa’s Buzz.  It’s not that I don’t like Coffee People (quite the opposite actually), but let’s just say I don’t always trust them.  After the clever stunt they pulled during the last Presidential election (repackaging Donut Shop Coffee as both Obama and McCain blends), I keep a guarded eye (and tongue for that matter) for any sort of Coffee People relabeling shenanigans.   I’m happy to report that Santa’s Buzz is most definitely not Donut Shop Coffee (of course, it could be one of their other blends – so they could still be shenanigating/shenanigatizing me), but whatever it is, it’s still pretty darn good.

The Aroma

I’m trying hard here to find something meaningful to say about the aroma.  Sorry…I’ve got nothing.  It’s smells plenty fine – good actually, but at the end of the day (or brewing cycle anyway), it just smells like coffee.  Santa’s Buzz isn’t what I’d call an aromatic standout, but it’s far from putrid either.

The Description

A jolly blend of outstanding world coffees – smooth and bold to keep you buzzing all season long. Keep out with cookies for Santa Claus!

While I might question that wisdom of setting out a cup of coffee for Santa knowing that it invariably will get cold by the time he arrives, it doesn’t make any less sense that leaving out a glass of milk which will invariably be warm by the time he arrives. My suggestion: leave Santa a K-Cup and instructions for using your Keurig Brewer (in case he doesn’t have one at home). It might also be helpful to let him know where the cream and sugar are. You might also want to have some fat free half and half and Splenda in the house as well. Give Santa some options…that’s really all I’m saying

Drinking It Black

Before really savoring the flavor, I had to make sure Santa’s Buzz isn’t Donut Shop.  It’s not.  If you’re interested in a head to head comparison, my take is that Santa’s Buzz is a little bolder, perhaps a bit more spicy, and definitely not as sweet.

As with the aroma, there isn’t a whole lot that ultimately stands out about a cup of Santa’s Buzz.  I use the word balanced when I don’t taste an abundance of chocolate, or fruit, or spice, or anything else.  Santa’s Buzz is very much balanced.  Like Santa himself, it’s an even-tempered brew.  What I really like is the total lack of bitterness or unpleasant flavor on the tongue or in the back of the throat.

With Cream and Sugar

Some disclosure about my sugar tasting; like Santa himself, I could stand to lose a few pounds myself these days, so I’ve cut back a little bit on the sugar, so light and sweet isn’t as sweet as it used to be.  That said I like the rich, darker-than-donut flavor.  As I said whilst drinking it black, it’s not as sweet as Donut Shop, but what you do get is something with a little more bite.

With the cream and sugar added, I’m feeling a lot of dark chocolate and caramel here.  Of course, that could just be the leftover Halloween candy talking.  Whatever it is, it’s now espresso-like without a trace of bitterness.

Final Thoughts

I’m not going to lie to you here.  Santa’s Buzz is not my favorite of the Holiday Seasonal.  Having tried Santa’s Buzz, Gloria Jean’s Holiday Traditions, and Green Mountain’s Fair Trade Holiday Blend, I’m solidly in the Green Mountain camp.  Of course, I’m an East Coast guy, and Green Mountain is an East Coast company, so my taste buds might be biased.  Still, I’d highly recommend giving Santa’s Buzz a try.  Whether you’re looking for a hint of holiday flavor, or just looking to mix something new into your K-Cup rotation, Santa’s Buzz is definitely worthy of a few cycles of your Keurig Brewer.

Shameless Plug

This installment of The K-Cup Challenge is sponsored by Shoffee.com – The Web’s Favorite Coffee Shop.  You will find just about everything you could ever want to put in your Keurig Brewer (including Santa’s Buzz) at Shoffee – and you’ll find it at the right price too.  You should also check out Shoffee on Facebook.  On Shoffee’s fan page you’ll find K-Cup news, special deals, and you’ll learn what the other 1200+ Shoffee fans are drinking and loving.

While you’re here, check out all of the reviews in Qwowi Coffee’s K-Cup Challenge.

The Description

A flavorful coffee with undertones of milk chocolate and caramel

The Aroma

Chocolaty, with the faintest hint of pine.  Reminds me a bit of what I call the Caribou smell.

Drinking it Black

I love it when the flavors I taste hold true to the description.  I’m definitely getting a lot of milk chocolate flavor here.  Maybe not as much caramel, however.   Maybe it’s just my mind settling in to the notion of the holidays, but I think I’m tasting that same hint of pine that I smelled.  Yeah…I’m definitely drinking a tree.  It’s subtle though, very subtle.  I like it.

In terms of drinkability, it’s relatively mild, and drinks easy black.  Acidity is relatively mild, and there’s barely a trace of bitterness.  I can’t imagine I’ll ever reach the point where I prefer my coffee black, but Holiday Traditions is certainly manageable with nothing added.

With Cream and Sugar

After cream and sugar are added, the chocolate and caramel flavors become even more pronounced.  You can’t help but breath them in as your mouth moves closer to your cup to take a sip.  I’m still tasting the slightest of something else…still pine?  The finish is caramelly.  So if you’re keeping track at home it goes chocolate, pine, caramel.  At least that what I’m getting out of it.

Over the course of several cups I’ve learned that Holiday Traditions is one of those blends that terribly easy to over sweeten, so take it easy with whatever form of granulated crystal you use to soften your coffee up a bit.   For what it’s worth my wife does not like Gloria Jean’s Holiday Traditions.  She doesn’t like caramel, and consequently, probably wont’ be drinking this one again.

Final Thoughts

I’ve been accused of more or less having it out for Gloria Jean’s.  While there have been a couple (and it’s only been 2, I think) GJ Coffee’s I really liked, Gloria Jean’s is far and away my least favorite of the K-Cup manufacturers.  Maybe it’s my east coast tongue not always agreeing with a west coast coffee, but whatever it is, it seldom sits right with me.  My take on things is that  GJ’s does a really good job with the non-flavored stuff, but flails and fails with flavored coffee, and unfortunately (at least as far as I’m concerned), Gloria Jean’s makes a lot of flavored coffee.

Past experience aside, I generally like Gloria Jean’s Holiday Traditions blend, but…(yup, there’s a but) if there is a knock on Gloria Jean’s Holiday Traditions, it’s that even though it’s not a flavored coffee, it tends to drink like one.  It has an almost hot chocolate-like quality; a mocha without explicitly advertising as much, and at times the caramel finish is more than I enjoy.  While mostly that’s not a bad thing, there seems to come a point before  the bottom of every cup where I’ve simply had enough, and where I find myself wishing I was drinking something else.

My bottom line is that while Gloria Jean’s Holiday Tradition is ins’t a bad way to kick of the holiday season, I’m thinking, at least for me anyway, there are better winter blends.  For those who enjoy a surplus of chocolate and caramel flavors in their coffee, this one should prove popular.

Shameless Plug

Like some many of our samples, our winter care package came from our good friends at Shoffee.com.  I could tell you about Shoffee’s great prices, incredible selection, or their ever-growing reputation for outstanding customer service, but why take my word for it?  Visit Shoffee on facebook, and you’ll find over 1000 fans and customers who are rabid about their coffee, and equally as devoted to buying from the Web’s Favorite Coffee Shop (that’s Shoffee).  Shoffee can most definitely hook you up with a box or ten of Gloria Jean’s Holiday Traditions, or just about anything else you Keurig Brewer desires.  Also check out their Cup of The Week site for a special deal on a special box of K-Cups each and every week.

While you’re here, check out all of the reviews in my personal K-Cup Challenge.

Green Mountain has expanded their Cafe Escape lineup to include a new Mocha offering.  Described as “A perfect pairing of chocolate and coffee for a rich and creamy experience.”, as a fan of another coffee house’s mocha, sufficed to say this is one I’ve been looking forward to trying for quite sometime.

Green Mountain has also announced a new Donut House collection.  Following in the footsteps of the wildly popular Donut Shop Coffee (Coffee People), and Original Donut Blend (Timothy’s), Green Mountain has upped the ante by releasing not only a “Donut House” coffee, but they’ve also added a Decaf version, and two flavored offerings; Chocolate Glazed Donut, and Cinnamon Roll.  If nothing else, it’s going to be interesting.

Canadian coffee company, Timothy’s has just released its Kahlua Original Coffee.  Here’s how they describe it:

Explore your curiosity with an extraordinary new coffee experience. Timothys World Coffee, in collaboration with Kahlua, the worlds number one coffee liqueur, presents the new Kahlua Original Coffee Keurig K-Cup. The Kahlua Original Keurig K-Cup offers a distinctive coffee tasting experience that it is sure to stimulate the palate in an unforgettable way. Timothys Kahlua Original is the first ever liqueur branded K-Cup available in the market. It is packed in single serve portion packs, specifically formulated for use in Keurig Single Cup Brewing Systems.

You may recall that I enjoyed Coffee People’s Kafe-Lua (the original Kahlua blend). They’ve discontinued it, so hopefully, the Timothy’s offering will prove to be a worthy replacement.

Timothy’s Kahlua Original is available now from Shoffee.com.

Coffee People has announced their new Treehugger blend.  While the name perhaps doesn’t make the blend sound all that tasty, the description I have (“A chocolaty medium roast with sweet berry notes”) sounds absolutely delicious.

Coffee People has also announced the return of the seasonal Santa’s Buzz.  Look for both at Shoffee.com.

Finally, Gloria Jean’s has announced the arrival of their Holiday Traditions blend (as the name suggests, another winter/holiday seasonal).  It’s described as “a flavorful coffee with undertones of milk chocolate fudge and caramel”.  If you’ve follwed my reviews at all, you might have noticed that I’ve been particularly hard on Gloria Jean’s in the past (see my mudslide review), but that doesn’t mean I don’t have high hopes for Holiday Traditions.  Coffee, Chocolate, and Caramel are 3 of my favorite things, so I don’t see how this can miss (of course I’ve been wrong before).

Look for K-Cup Challenge reviews of all of these new blends coming in the next few week.

Here’s the thing about pumpkin pie; why, when you have a myriad of other fruity pie fillings (lemon, cherry, blueberry, apple, etc. etc), equally appealing non-fruit options (chocolate cream springs to mind), would one ever want to eat a “pie” with a previously-masticated texture made from a freakin’ gord? Is anyone out there eating squash pie, or zucchini pie?  Quite frankly the Halloween/Thanksgiving double-whammy of tradition has  us eating pumpkin sludge when we could be enjoying real pie.

So with an honest disclosure about my feelings for pumpkin pie, and an equally honest acknowledgement that I have no idea what the hell I’m doing here, let’s get right to it
.

PUMPKIN FIGHT!

Introduction

Before we get to the comparisons, there are a couple of things that hold true to all 3 varieties. First and foremost, in my opinion, it’s really not worth drinking any of the 3 varieties black. We’re talking about coffee modeled after a dessert. They crave sugar, and while you’re at it, add some cream too, you’ll be happier for it. In fact, none of the 3 offer all that much in the way of pumpkin flavor until they’re sweetened up a bit. For the most part, spices prevail until sugar coaxes out the pumpkin.

The differences between the 3 are as vast as the differences between pumpkin pie recipes. Each is unique, and which you find to be the best, may largely depend on which spices you like to taste in your pie.

Aroma

Timothy’s Perfect Pumpkin
There is, to be sure, an initial smack of nutmeg.  That said, once you move past that, you’re left with a fairly pleasant smelling cup of coffee.  While it’s not overly pumpkin like, it does offer the most traditional coffee-like aroma, and I like it.

Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice
There is an abundance of spice notes at work here.  As with Timothy’s, a pumpkin smell doesn’t really materialize, but cinnamon and nutmeg are both present.  From a purely aromatic perspective, this one tickles the nose more than the others.

Gloria Jean’s Pumpkin Spice
Aromatically, the spices are much more balanced than they are in the actual flavor.  The spices aren’t as overpowering as they are in Green Mountain’s, and there’s a bit more pumpkin in the mix.  I also detect some subtle citrus notes, which if nothing else, make the aroma slightly more interesting.

Winner: Gloria Jean’s

Drinking Them Black

As I said, I wouldn’t advocate drinking any of the 3 black, but, since that’s how we do…well, it’s what we’re going to do.

Timothy’s Perfect Pumpkin
If I was going to limit my thoughts to a single word, it would be NUTMEG. Fresh out of the brewer, the nutmeg flavor is almost overpowering. If you like nutmeg it’s great. Me, I’m not a nutmeg guy, in fact, I’ve been known to spit out my wife’s meatballs (no double entendre there) over too much nutmeg.

While I wasn’t impressed by the nutmeg flavor, there’s no arguing the solid medium roast body (and hint of actual coffee flavor).  As I’ll be saying with all of the others, there’s not much pumpkin flavor to be had here.  Did I mention the nutmeg?

Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice
For my money Green Mountain’s entry offers the most balanced flavor.  It’s not nutmeg heavy, nor is it cinnamon heavy.  That’s not to say I don’t taste both, along with perhaps just a hint of pumpkin.

In terms of body, it’s the only 1 of the 3 listed as a light roast (the other 2 are medium roasts).  I don’t notice any major differences in body between the 3, and the Green Mountain offering is certainly not the weakest of the 3.

Gloria Jean’s Pumpkin Spice
Pumpkin perhaps, but there’s not a doubt in my mind, the spice they’re talking about is cinnamon.  At least that’s the first flavor sensation that hit my tongue.  Cinnamon followed by a bitter, nutmeggy finish, but mostly cinnamon.

As far as body is concerned, Gloria Jean’s is by far the lightest of the 3.  The same holds true for the flavor.  Apart from nose-tickling cinnamon spice, there’s really almost no flavor here.  My wife says it tastes like dirty water.  That might be a bit harsh, but a better question might be, why the hell is my wife drinking dirty water.

Winner: Green Mountain

With Cream and Sugar

Timothy’s Perfect Pumpkin
In my estimation, it’s still  more spice than pumpkin, but the cream and sugar help to cut what is otherwise an overpowering nutmeg flavor.  When all is said and done you’re left with the most coffee-like of the 3.  Perhaps the downside is that there still isn’t a ton of pumpkin to be had.  On the plus side, it actually tastes like coffee.

Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice

From a flavor perspective, it tastes as much like pumpkin pie as any liquid probably can (except for maybe a blender full of pumpkin pie).  There’s plenty of actual pumpkin pie flavor to go around without tipping the scales one way or another toward cinnamon or nutmeg.  Even though I’m most definitely not a pumpkin pie guy, in terms of how well it succeeds at its goal, this one is very well executed.

Gloria Jean’s Pumpkin Spice

Cinnamon is still the prevailing flavor, even after cream and sugar are added.  Perhaps there’s a bit more pumpkin flavor, but really, I’m still feeling the cinnamon.  What I do like about Gloria Jean’s (and this is admittedly abstract), there’s a texture to it that gives it somewhat of a pumpkin pie feel – and that’s really cool.  Unfortunately it’s also has the most bitter finish of the 3, and the decidedly not cool.

Winner: Green Mountain

Final Thoughts

With it’s well-balanced blend of spices, and accurate pumpkin flavor, it’s abundantly clear (to me anyway) that Green Mountains Pumpkin Spice is the runaway winner. Those of you looking for steaming hot pumpkin pie in a cup need look no further. Nobody (at least nobody with access to a K-Cup manufacturing plant) is doing Pumpkin any better.

As with anything else, there’s room for some personal preference here. While not my favorite of the 3, Gloria Jean’s might be a better fit for those who prefer their pumpkin pie a bit on the cinnamony side. In fact, throw out the pumpkin altogether, and it qualifies as a fine representation of cinnamon spice coffee (if you wanted to go that route).

Finally, the initially nutmeg-heavy Timothy’s Perfect Pumpkin offers the most muted flavor (after cream and sugar are added). That may sound like a bad thing, but there’s something to be said for making a pumpkin blend that tastes a bit more like, dare I say, coffee.  While it’s not the most well executed in terms of “pumpkin”, it’s the one I would drink if the K-Cup universe was limited to these 3 offerings.

Shameless Plug

QwowiCoffee’s Pumpkin fight was sponsored by the Web’s Favorite Coffee Shop, Shoffee.com.  Check out Shoffee for all of your K-Cup needs.  They offer a huge selection, and great prices.  They’re also fully stocked (as of this writing anyway), with all three of the varieties discussed here.  On a side note, you should also check out Shoffee’s Cup of the Week site for big discounts on a new variety of K-Cup each and every week.

While you’re here at QwowiCoffee, check out all of our reviews in the K-Cup Challenge.

While it’s not quite the K-Cup showdown we had when Christine compared all of the Earl Grey K-Cups available for Keurig brewers, I got to thinking that writing side by side reviews of the two new hot cocoa K-Cups from Green Mountain was really the only way to do it.  I say this, because, as it turns out, apart from one being milk chocolate and the other being dark chocolate, the differences between the two new cocoa varieties are anything but night and day.

Before I get to the review I wanted to mention how excited I am about the Cafe Escapes lineup.  Both of the cocoa varieties I’ll be writing about are both very good, and represent a huge leap forward from the original Green Mountain Hot Cocoa, which I must admit, is probably the single biggest disappointment in the Green Mountain lineup.  The  issues with the original offering, I think, was that the cocoa mix itself didn’t completely dissolve, which resulted in a lot of coca mix left behind, and a lot of flavor being left out of your cup.  Thankfully Green Mountain has solved the problem with both of the new cocoa varieties.

Green Mountain just as easily could have called the new lineup “Coffee House Favorites”, because, for me anyway, these kind of new K-Cup beverages are exactly the reason (actually the only reason) I visit a coffee house these days.  It also shouldn’t be too long before new Cafe Escape flavors like Cafe Mocha and French Vanilla Latte (and some other flavors as well) are available.  If any of those new beverages (really looking forward to the mocha) turn out as well as the new cocoas, Green Mountain fans, and Keurig users in general, have plenty to be excited about.

Green Mountain Cafe Escapes Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa

As you might guess, the Milk Chocolate variety is the lighter of the Cafe Escapes offerings.  Taste-wise it’s probably as close as I’ve come to that “like mom used to make” experience in a K-Cup.  Of course, there’s a better than average chance that what mom used to make came out of a single-serve packet, but I’m fine with that, because, well, I really like the stuff out of a packet.  In truth, my mother used to make her own cocoa mix using Nestle Quick, Carnation instant milk, some tiny marshmallows, and god know what else.  In reality, I don’t think it was any better that what comes out of a packet, but she really seemed to enjoy mixing it herself, so who am I to judge.  Whatever she mixed it was good enough.

I’ll never claim to be an expert on other people’s preferences, but my best guess is that the Milk Chocolate variety will prove to be the more popular of the two, as it tastes like what most of us think hot cocoa is supposed to taste like.

Green Mountain Cafe Escapes Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa

It should come as no real surprise that the difference between the Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate varieties boils down to the differences between milk and dark chocolate.  How’s that for a bit of wisdom?  That’s why I make the big bucks.  Anyway…the Dark Chocolate K-Cups lack the sweetness of the milk chocolate variety, and have a less creamy flavor.   The taste, in my experience anyway, is unique in a hot cocoa beverage.  Not that it’s a perfect comparison by any stretch, but contrasting the two is a bit light comparing an unsweetened dark roast, to a light and sweet breakfast blend.  Each can be good in its own right, but neither is guaranteed to appeal to everyone.  What I’ve found after sampling each flavor numerous times is that my preference boils down to little more than my mood.  Yesterday I preferred the milk chocolate flavor, today I’m craving the dark.

What seems strange to me is that, for reasons I don’t completely understand, I love the milk chocolate variety with some mini marshmallows thrown in.  Put those same mini marshmallows in the dark chocolate variety and I find it almost undrinkable.  Go figure.  I guess the lesson here is that the dark chocolate offering isn’t supposed to be sweet, so don’t even bother to try and make it that way.  Of course, there’s a better than average chance it’s just me.

Final Thoughts

I’ll fess up to not having tried the latest Hot Chocolate offering from Gloria Jean’s, nor have I tried the Bellaccino hot cocoa K-Cups.  It’s quite possible either of those could be the equal of the new Cafe Escape offerings from Green Mountain.  I’ll leave the “which is best debate” until I’ve had the chance to try the others.  I can say, however, that Green Mountain finally has a quality cocoa k-cup available, which is a huge win for Cafe Express subscribers who, until now, have been limited to the previous sub-par cocoa offering.  I’m still very much a fan of Timothy’s White Hot Chocolate, but for those seeking a more conventional hot cocoa experience, you really can’t go wrong with Green Mountain Cafe Escapes Hot Cocoa.

Shameless Plug

Qwowi.com and the K-Cup Challenge rely on donations to keep the site up and running.  Well, actually, not donations per se, more like kick backs.  Basically how it works is you read one of my reviews, decide that you might like to try some Green Mountain Coffee, or Cafe Escapes Cocoa, or even become a Cafe Express subscriber (which allows you to save $2 off each box of Green Mountain or Caribou Coffee you buy).  Heck, maybe you buy a Keurig Brewer, or some other totally unique product from Green Mountain.  The point is, whatever you buy, Green Mountain is kind enough to give me a little something back, which in turn helps me to pay for things like web hosting, and a whole bunch of other website-related stuff.  Heck, if you buy enough coffee, I may be able afford a sprinkler system, which really has little to do with site maintenance, but damned if my lawn doesn’t look more like a waste bunker than a fairway.  So anyway, shop at Green Mountain, you’ll not only get great coffee, but you’ll also help make one small part of the world (my back yard) that much greener.

While you’re here check out all of the reviews in our K-Cup Challenge.

I’m a little late in getting this information out (I’ve been busy), but there’s some pretty cool stuff happening over at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters that I wanted to make sure to mention before I get back to the K-Cup Challenge next week.  If you read my review of the original Green Mountain Hot Cocoa, you probably already know that I wasn’t a fan of the first draft (so to speak) from my favorite little Vermont coffee company.  I’m happy (actually beyond happy) to report Green Mountain Hot Cocoa just go a whole lot sweeter (and more chocolaty too)  Not too long ago, my friends at Green Mountain sent me a box each of their two new Hot Cocoa varieties.  Without going into too much detail, sufficed to say, they fixed the glitch.

The new Milk, and Dark Chocolate Cocoa K-Cups are part of a brand new lineup from Green Mountain called Cafe Escapes.  While I’m not 100% positive, my take on the new lineup (which will be expanded shortly to include Cafe Mocha, Vanilla Latte, and Chai Tea varieties), is that Green Mountain will fill it with coffee house style beverages, that aren’t quite coffee and aren’t quite tea.  You can think of Cafe Escapes as that frou-frou niche we all love so much at Sta…well, that other place anyway.  I’ll be writing full reviews of both of the new hot cocoa flavors shortly, but in the meantime let me just say that each has a very distinct flavor, they’re both extremely good, and are leaps and bounds better than the original.  I also can’t wait to try the Cafe Mocha and to find out if Green Mountain has finally been able to capture the true mocha experience in a K-Cup.

Also relatively new from Green Mountain is the availability of 8 varieties of Caribou Coffee K-Cups.  If my recollection is correct, I’ve already sampled 5 of the 8, and while the Mahogany variety is my favorite of the bunch, Caribou Blend, Sumatra, and Daybreak blend are all very good in their own right.  As a fan of both Green Mountain and Caribou Coffee (as are many of my friends), it’s absolutely awesome that Caribou is now available through Green Mountain, and as part of Green Mountain’s Cafe Express Program (details below).

Green Mountain carries the entire lineup of Keurig Home Brewers, including my personal favorite, the B70, as well as the brand new, highly portable, highly awesome B30 Mini Brewer (available in red) (review/video).

For all you caffeine junkies out there, I highly recommend, you sign up for Green Mountain’s Café EXPRESS program, where you’ll Save $2 on Every Box purchased through the Green Mountain Website.

Green Mountain also offers a Refer A Friend Program.  If you refer a friend to Green Mountain and that friend buys a Keurig Brewer, you’ll both get two free regular variety samplers. Free coffee rules, it’s a fact.

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