Day 328 - Fair Trade Organic Guatemalan Coffee

This coffee is extra dark roast and the label says it is “full bodied with cocoa and brown sugar notes.  100% Arabica whole bean coffee”. 

   

It has a really pretty label, don't you think?

It is nice.  We mostly drank it as espresso.  It is strong enough to taste like COFFEE.  That might sound like an odd statement, but we have tried quite a few Trader Joe’s coffees for this project this year and some of them were weak and not very “coffee”ish no matter how I brewed them.  This one has a better coffee taste – you notice it when you drink it.

David’s adjectives to describe this one were:

·         Smooth

·         Bold

·         Rich

(And after he said those out loud, of course , we followed it up with a “Just like you like your women!” remark.)

Look!  The espresso maker he won on Price is Right (no lie!) makes 2 little cups of espresso at once.  Adorable.

He says he has no complaints about this one!  He did acknowledge that he was drinking this one under ideal conditions – very hot in a beautiful espresso cup – and that may have boosted the rating a tiny bit.  J

Ahhhh, a nice cup of coffee is a thing to delight in

We agree that this is one of the better TJ’s coffees.    I have tried to pick a different TJ’s coffee each time we ran out this year so that we would try a bunch of them (so far I think we have tried at least 12 varieties).  Sometimes it if hard to remember which ones we have tried already so I have to bust out my smart phone while at the store and look at this blog to see which ones I have reviewed!

Not a bad price for a good coffee (oops - bit of a spell-o on this sign though)

This is one we will be buying again.

Price – $7.99

Rating – 4.5

Day 264 - Joe's Dark Coffee

First, let me remind you (if you are a regular reader) and tell you (if you have not heard) that my partner, David, was CALLED ON DOWN at the Price is Right in January!!!  As part of his prizes he won 2 coffee makers (yeah, he SHOULD have won the car, but that is a much longer story…)  You can read about his Price is Right experience and even get a link to a short funny video we made of it in my review on Day 217 of Columbia Supremo coffee -  Supremo Coffee Review and Price is Right video

Here are my sisters, David, and I after being at a Price is Right filming in Los Angeles January 2015.  Do we look excited?

Anyway, I mention David’s “big” winnings because guess what??  WE NOW HAVE THE PRICE IS RIGHT ESPRESSO MAKER SET UP AND USE IT EVERY MORNING.  It is really pretty cool and works well.  It is not as simple as our old one, but when I look at it I remember how hilarious it was seeing David up there on stage with Drew Carey, so it is worth the complications of making morning coffee to giggle about that every day.

Here it is!  Just ONE of David's new coffee makers!  :)  Fancy,eh?

And look - espresso in the making!

The most recent coffee we tried from Trader Joe’s is the cheapest they sell (tied with Joe’s Coffee) – Joe’s Dark Coffee.  It is a dark roast (hence the name “dark” in the title) and bills itself as “rich and flavorful”.  Remember, it is C-H-E-A-P – a 13 oz can only costs $4.99.  And TJ’s is not trying to make it out to be something it is not, the packaging clearly says “No frills.  Nothing fancy.  Just good, dark coffee at a great price.”

Cheap cheap cheap

Here is what we thought:

Susan:  this coffee is fine.  It does the job.  The can says it is 100% Arabica Whole Bean Dark Roasted Coffee.  I would agree with the marketing that calls it no frills.  It is a simple coffee.  It’s not something you would find if you went out for breakfast or brunch at a café but it is fine for breakfast.

David:  Earthy.  Bitter.  Tasty.  It is a bit rough, but coffee is supposed to wake you up in the morning and this does a good job of that.

David taste testing this coffee.  Check out his bowl - yogurt topped by roasted almonds (TJ's of course) and
peaches from our peach tree that I in the freezer that we froze way back in 2012 and I busted them out this morning.
Not as good as eating them right off  the tree, obviously, but not bad.

So this is the 10^th TJ’s coffee we have tried and I have reviewed this year (I think) (3 were smaller cans that came together as a seasonal gift item).  This one is not the BEST one we tasted, but not the WORST either.  It is an average coffee for your average Joe (see what I did there??  “Joe” as in TRADER JOE’S and “Joe” as in “a cup of Joe”.  I am feeling quite pleased with myself!)

Price – $4.99

Rating – 3.5

Day 217 - Columbia Supremo Coffee

Well, another can of Trader Joe’s coffee.  Some time I need to add up just how much we spent on different COFFEES for this blog.  We typically drink one cup of coffee each for breakfast and then call it a day.  Which, considering our recent influx of coffee making materials, is pretty hilarious.

We went to see a taping of “The Price is Right” in Los Angeles in January of this year.  Surprisingly, my sweetie David got CALLED ON DOWN!  Sadly, he almmmmmmmmmmmmmmmost won us a new teeny tiny adorable car.  But don’t be too sad, because he DID win something!  Yes siree – he won a whole list of things!

·         A coffee bean grinder

·         A coffee maker

·         An espresso maker

·         And AN ELECTRIC SKATEBOARD (complete with remote control and helmet!!)

David in his awesome Price is Right nametag

My sisters, David, and I showing a little Price is Right enthusiasm

Here is a photo taken the last week of July – David with his winnings.

Wow - that's a lot of Cuisinart...

What’s that you say?  Where is the electric skateboard (with remote control and helmet)???  Oh, that hasn’t come yet.  Hahaha.  But he HAS gotten the 2 coffee makers and coffee bean grinder!  (We have not taken them out of their boxes yet, but he has ‘em!)

So the reason it is funny is because we have no counter space to set up not one, but two, coffee makers.  Eventually we will move stuff around to accommodate something, probably the espresso maker.  But for now we have our old one on the counter.  :)  And around 80% of the time I use an Italian metal coffee maker that you put on the stove top to make coffee – that’s what I used to make today’s java. 

If you would like to see a video we made of David’s hilarious appearance on Price is Right (you can see the car he ALMOST won and also watch him hit $1.00 on the big wheel!!!) click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZMXDAzUOU8

Back to the review - Columbia Supremo Coffee in our Trader Joe's cart

Now, back to the review of this particular coffee, NOT made in our new Espresso maker or ground in our new coffee bean grinder.

David – smooth, mild, and mellow.

Susan – fine.  Nothing super special.  No “wow” factor.  Not a coffee that makes me go, “What IS this coffee???  I MUST have it again”.  Rather, it might make me think, “Hmmm, ok, let me finish this cup of coffee then get about  my day”. 

2 mugs of steaming hot Columbia Supremo coffee

It bills itself as “Supremo” but I think that is over promising.  It should be called “Columbia Regularo”.  On the can it talks about the beans being roasted to a “medium level, offering a medium body…”.  It doesn’t mention MEDIUM TASTE, but it should. 

Medium roast, medium taste.

I am still on the hunt for the perfect Trader Joe’s coffee to use in the new coffee makers. 

Price – $6.99

Rating - 3