K-Cup Roundup: Single Serve Hits and Misses

K-Cups Are Here to Stay

The one thing we can always count on is that, for better or worse, single cup Keurig and other similar pod-type machines are here to stay. Even when there are plenty of people to drink from a drip-style coffee machine, many of us have different ideas about which type of coffee we’d like to drink. The big compromise is to get a K-Cup machine and load up on what we’d like to drink – you get yours, I’ll get mine and we shall not speak of this again.

We spent our Summer checking out some different flavors of K-Cups. What’s listed here are our opinions of a few of the brands and flavors that came across our kitchen counter this year. We included information on which K-cups can be recycled and how. It’s important to keep these cups moving away from landfills. Keep in mind that these are our 100% completely biased reviews. Your mileage may vary.

Green Mountain: Single Origin Colombia Select

Keurig’s own brand is probably the best place to start this overview since most people who own a Keurig machine have had a passing encounter with this flavor as part of a sample pack that would have been included with their purchase.

They include this coffee for good reason – it brews up with enough flavor that the wateriness you sometimes get with K-cups is absent. The medium roast helps round out the presentation of a very good cup of coffee without any controversy.

If you just want a simple, no fuss cup of coffee, this will do the trick.

Click Here to Check Out Green Mountain Single Origin Colombia Select at Amazon

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Peet’s Coffee – Organic Alma de la Tierra

If you’re a fan of earthy, rich, dark roasted coffees, you need to try this. Peet’s describes this as “Smooth with subtle notes of sweet citrus and chocolate.” Okay, the first thing they don’t tell you is that the chocolate notes are bittersweet. We had a hard time recognizing the cocoa flavor. The citrus tones were much more apparent and if you drink West Coast IPAs, you’ll pick up on the citrus as well.

Here’s the thing – it’s a dark, dark roast. While we’re fans of the coffees of South and Central America, especially those of Guatemala, we were a little overwhelmed by the deep strength of the roasting. This could be why the cocoa flavor felt so out of place. If you’ve ever eaten a burnt chocolate chip and suffered through the charred flavor to enjoy the chocolate, you know what we’re talking about. It’s good, it just isn’t our thing.

Those that love dark roasts will definitely want to check this out.

Note: While most K-Cup boxes are sold in quantities of 12 to a box, Peet’s Coffee is sold in a unit of 10. That’s why it’s important to calculate the price per cup, even when you’re in a grocery store. Just so you know.

Click Here to Check Out Peet’s Organic: Organic Alma de la Tierra on Amazon

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Newman’s Own Organics: Newman’s Special Blend

For those of us old enough to remember Paul Newman before he was just a brand on the shelf, let’s jog your memory back to when we were surprised that his brand was actually good. Great actors couldn’t make good food, could they? Even after we were convinced that he could develop great products, we were still surprised at the level of quality found across the brand. The quality and flavor of his products were always blowing everyone else out of the water.

So we shouldn’t have been surprised by this coffee, but Newman’s’ Special Blend K-cups surprised us again, anyway. We were expecting a so-so medium roasted coffee. We got a very, very good medium roast. It’s a blend of Indonesian and Central American coffees. There’s enough body to wake you up, but it doesn’t jar your taste buds with a bitter finish. It was so popular in my home; I had to hide the box and the last two cups just to get photos.

This is a great coffee to use in mixer recipes, especially if you’re trying to convince your friends to try a coffee highball.

As usual with the Newman’s Own brand, all of the profits go to charity. We miss you, Paul Newman.

Click Here to Check Out Newman’s Own Organics: Newman’s’ Special Blend on Amazon

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Café Bustelo®: Espresso Style Coffee

Okay, so it isn’t a true espresso. We’ll grant that. However, it does hold close to the same flavor profile of espressos. Rich? Check. Full flavor? Check. Bitter? Is Robusta bitter? Check.

Having said that, it isn’t a bad tasting cup of coffee. The bitterness doesn’t come across as a detriment to the overall flavor. Silly sweet undertones would be a disservice to this coffee. It has a rich flavor and is caffeinated the way you would expect a Robusta coffee to taste.

If you’re looking for an espresso-like base for cafe drinks such as lattes and espressos, this is a solid and affordable choice.

Click Here to Check Out Café Bustelo’s Espresso Style Blend on Amazon

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Tim Hortons: Dark Roast

Tim Hortons has been quietly roasting coffee for nearly half a century. Like most Canadians, they don’t flash their brand; they let the product speak for itself. The Dark Roast speaks volumes for this company. It’s simply magical.

The taste is rich and full. You would be hard pressed to guess that your coffee was brewed in a Keurig machine. It’s quite smooth and slid out of this household way too fast. 

Some coffees demand your attention with their fruity tones and suspicious flavor profiles. Tim Hortons Dark roast is noticeably good without being loud. It’s the cup of coffee you’ll want to drink when you’re treating yourself to some time alone with your thoughts.

Highly recommended.

Click Here to Check Out Tim Hortons Dark Roast on Amazon

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Glorybrew: The Duke

If you look in the middle of the coffee flavor road, you’ll find The Duke from Glorybrew by Gourmesso.

We reviewed a variety of Glorybrew coffees and there’s no doubt that the Duke has stepped up to become our favorite non-additive flavor (we’re rather keen on vanilla, too, but that’s another story). It’s a blend of South American Arabica beans that showcase just the right amount of fruity sweetness.

Smooth from start to finish, it will happily hold up to sugar and cream, but you’ll want to go light on the sugar. If your preference is to drink it black, it won’t disappoint. There’s a richness to the finish that makes it the perfect afternoon treat.

Read our full review of Glorybrew coffees here.

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Folgers: Classic Roast

Folger’s Basic is exactly what it says on the tin: A basic coffee, brewed to a medium roast. To us, it had hints of the wateriness that plagues K-Cups, but many found the flavor to be spot on with the Folger’s flavor of their early years.

The finish wasn’t smooth – as to be expected from an Arabica/Robusta blend. I also found myself reaching for my demerara sugar cubes rather quickly.

Folgers Classic Roast definitely lends itself to the “personal taste” category. If you love the Folgers blends and have no intention of ever moving to a more complex cup, you’ll want to try this one out.

Click Here to Check Out Folgers Classic Roast on Amazon

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Folgers: Black Silk

This one was a surprise (coffee snobs, look away – and why are you reading this article anyway?) If you’re not a fan of dark roast, don’t let that label put you off. Keurig actually rates it on the lighter side of that spectrum. It has a bold profile but lacks the heavy roasting time that gives so many dark roasts the impression of tasting “burnt.”

While the original Folgers Classic left me a little disappointed, Black Silk is the flavor that reminded me the most of my mom’s coffee pot in the mornings when I was back home from college. It’ll hold up to cream and sugar, but you won’t need it. It’s a smooth tasting cup and has no bitter aftertaste (that taste you get that makes you wish you hadn’t finished your scone so soon).

If medium roasted coffees taste a little flat but dark roasts make you reach for the sugar bowl, give this a try.

Click Here to Check Out Folgers Black Silk on Amazon

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Box Store K-Cup Coffee Bargains

Yes, we’re well aware that many people don’t have the income to match their outstanding palates. We have been busy going through the 80 count boxes of the offerings found at bulk stores, such as Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and Big Lots. We’ve found that there’s a wide variety of quality at this price. We thought we’d touch on a couple of them here.

Basic Joe

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty here. There are coffee makers that will offer their roasts to distributors as “white label” products. If you want to sell coffee, you set up an LLC company, get some artwork done and find a coffee maker willing to roast and package their coffee into little white cups and then slap your label on it. Then, you find people willing to distribute your brand. The coffees are usually offered at different price points and you can choose your quality level based on your branding and potential mark-up. You never have to visit a roastery or even talk to someone. You just fill out some forms, submit your licenses and artwork and they’ll handle the rest. Some will even handle the artwork and distribution.

Some of the coffee is good, some – not so much. Basic Joe falls into the latter category. I had a strong impression that this is what the lowest priced white label coffee tastes like. Not only was there little flavor to speak of, the cups wouldn’t always puncture properly, leaving my machine with grinds in the stem and coffee on the counter as I poked a hole in the bottom of the plastic cup. After doing that, the coffee came out too fast, leaving a lot of sediment in my cup to help me digest my breakfast. With this coffee, you get what you pay for.

Just…no.

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Rio Grande Roasters – Premium Dark

After the Basic Joe experience, we were a little gun shy about trying other discount brands. Rio Grande Roasters came to our rescue and helped renew our faith in big box stores. We’ve noticed that when it goes on sale, it sells out almost immediately.

It turns out that this is actually a premium brand of coffee that’s roasted in Albuquerque, New Mexico (who actually owns the company these days is anyone’s guess). The Premium Dark has become our go-to K-cup in the mornings. Even if it isn’t on sale, this is what we buy at the discount store.

There’s a smokey richness that fills our dark roast cravings. For reasons unknown, it really does evoke memories of the Southwest.

The only thing we’re not fond of is the lack of a recyclable plastic cup. Come on, Rio Grande, up your game and help us fill our recycling bin. There’s only so many seeds we can plant every year.

Click Here to Check Out Rio Grande Roasters Premium Dark Roast on Amazon