This is a review of a coffee pod produced by Marley Coffee that was sent to us by Distillata.

Marley Coffee Lion’s Blend Coffee Pod

Ash tray meets chalkboard.

Coffee Pod Rating

1 out of 5

Aroma: 2
Acidity: 1
Body: 1
Flavor: 1
Aftertaste: 1

Question of the Day

What is your favorite Pod Coffee?

Ever since Dunkin’ Donuts came out ahead in a National taste test you have been asking me to do this comparison tasting. Finally you get to see which one is better, Starbucks or Dunkin’.

Starbucks Vs Dunkin’

Which one do you like better Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks Coffee?

As you may know, it was recently announced that Keurig would start carrying Starbucks K-Cup Coffee! For those of you who have a K-Cup brewer or love Starbucks Coffee this is a very exciting time. In this review we will see if the K-Cup French Roast gives us yet another reason to be excited about this new partnership between Starbucks and Keurig.

Starbucks K-Cup Coffee is Here

I have been acquainted with Starbucks for quite a while now and I am extremely familiar with the flavor of their coffees. I also have tried my fair amount of K-Cup Coffees over the past 2 years (Over 200 Flavors).  And with this much history tasting  Starbucks and K-Cup Coffees I had my preconceived notions about what this mash-up might taste like. I was, in all honesty, imagining something between a Starbucks pre-ground coffee and Starbucks Via.  My notions, as demonstrated in the of House Blend, could not have been more wrong. This new found partnership between Keurig and Starbucks is going to have a profound effect on the coffee industry. I am very interested to see what will happen not only within Keurig but in the coffee industry, as a whole, as a result of this partnership.

Starbucks K-Cup French Roast

As I brewed this up in my, Breville K-Cup Brewer on a 5 oz setting , I could smell the aroma dark chocolate, grapefruit and smoke. The slurp brought a surprising grapefruit acidity with a dark chocolate aftertaste. It does have a campfire (ashtray) quality to it that would no doubt be cleaned up by a little bit of cream, if that’s how you roll. The ashtray (burnt tobacco)  flavor is very much in the background but is present in the coffee. Based on this first tasting Starbucks K-Cup French Roast could easily be one of my favorite K-Cup Coffees to date. I am hesitant to say it is in my Top 10, because I was only sent one sample, but it is definitely recommended for a dark roast coffee enthusiast.

Starbucks Keurig French Roast

Dark chocolate, grapefruit with burnt tobacco.

Overall Rating

8 out of 10

Aroma: 7
Acidity: 7
Body: 9
Flavor: 8
Aftertaste: 7

Question of the Day?

Have you ever been to France?

I have a confession to make, I have been drinking Season’s Best Coffee (formerly known as  Christmas Blend) from A Cup of Faith Coffee for 3 days before doing this review. This is normally not the way we do things here at Coffee Cup News but I couldn’t help myself. The aroma coming out of the back drew me in and I just had to try it.

A Cup of Faith Coffee

A Cup of Faith Coffee was founded in 2002 out of California. They sell roasted coffee, loose leaf tea, chocolates and christian books. They are a faith based organization that focuses on high quality coffee, using their Diedrich IR-5 commercial coffee roaster, and being an encouragement to people. (A discussion around this started in the YouTube comments section.)

Season’s Best Coffee Review

When this coffee first hit my tongue, french pressed, it tasted pretty dark with chocolate notes. It had a nice flavor enveloped my whole tongue, especially for the dark roast coffee enthusiast. One of the main big drawbacks to this coffee is the lack of acidity and complexity. It is really straight forward coffee with very little to keep me interested for the long haul. Though, the three days before this tasting I was enjoying this coffee in my drip brewer (a couple times I even added cream, shhhh don’t tell anyone…). It was smooth, with a sweet chocolate flavor that I really enjoyed. I think this coffee would pair really great next to any chocolate flavored pastry or dessert.

A Cup of Faith Coffee, Season’s Best

Aroma: chocolate, dusty
Notes: dark, smooth, chocolate

Coffee Score

82 Points out of 100

Aroma: 7
Acidity: 4
Body: 8
Flavor: 7
Aftertaste: 6

Question of the Day:

Do you hang out on YouTube much?

One Village Coffee

Guatemala Chajul will be the first of many coffees we will try from One Village Coffee. This coffee did some really fun things in my mouth that I would like to share with you! The aroma and flavor were a really fun slice of my day to say the least. 

First I would like to highlight the unique packaging. It is simple and eye catching with really fun art that represents where it’s from and what it offers. Guatemala Chajul from One Valley Coffee is roasted extremely light, is organic and fair trade. It grown in the mountains of Northwest Guatemala at 5,500 feet above sea level by a group of 1,600 farmers. This coffee co-op helps to improve the quality of life of the farmers involved.

Guatemala Tasting

As soon as I started smelling this coffee I thought I would like it. It was light, wafting, and had a simple sweetness to it. Some specific aromas were cherry, caramel and nut.

The next part was my favorite, the slurp! From the moment this coffee hit my tongue It sprang off of it like Tigger! The acidity kept bouncing around on the sides of my tongue as the intense tart sweetness seemed to shoot out of the front of my mouth like a geyser. The most prominent flavor was tart cherries with a caramel sugar sweetness.

I would highly recommend this coffee to anyone that enjoys a light roast coffee with tons of pleasing acidity and sweetness.

One Village Coffee Guatemala Kajul

Aroma: light Cherry, caramel, nut
Notes: tart cherry, bright acidity, caramel sweetness.

Coffee Score

89 Points out of 100

Aroma: 8
Acidity: 9
Body: 6
Flavor: 8
Aftertaste: 8

Question of the Day:

Do you enjoy a light coffee with bright acidity?
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