 |
| The Best Coffee: New Winners in Flavor |
"New look, same great taste," reads the slogan on Eight O'Clock Coffee's
packaging. We beg to differ.
The brand's 100% Colombian product, a
favorite from our March 2009 report, delivered less flavor in our most
recent tests. So (drum roll, please) our expert taste testers have found
two new coffee winners.
 |
| Gloria Jean's Colombian Supremo Medium Roast |
The new Colombian champs are Gloria Jean's Colombian Supremo Medium Roast and Newman's Own
Organics Colombian Especial Medium Roast. They offered fairly complex,
well-balanced flavors that our experts found stronger and fruitier than
the flavors of most others we tested. Watching caffeine?
New England
Coffee Decaffeinated Colombian was judged better than most caffeinated
coffees, including Starbucks Colombia Medium.
Eight O'Clock, the former favorite, had a mostly woody taste. (Think
wet Popsicle sticks.) And Colombian coffees from America's best-selling
brands, Folgers and Maxwell House, scored only Fair.
The 23 coffees we tested included three Colombian K-Cupcelebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.
Those products require a coffeemaker that can accommodate a K-Cup
container, a type of single-serving coffee packaging. But K-Cups were
more expensive per ounce than traditional packaged coffee and were only
Good in our tests—and best enjoyed with milk and sugar to mask the
off-notes.
We also tested four Ethiopian whole-bean coffees,
which have a taste that someone used to standard blends might find
unusual. Our two picks from that group, Caribou Ethiopia Finjal Organic
Medium and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Light Roast, a Consumer Reports Best Buy, had very complex, well-balanced flavors.
 |
| Newman's Own Organics Colombian Especial Medium Roast |
Packaged-coffee prices have been creeping higher over the past year, with J.M. Smucker (Dunkin' Donuts, Folgers, and Millstone), Kraft (Maxwell House and other coffee brands), and Starbucks raising prices. But the Colombian coffees we found tastiest aren't the highest-priced per serving.
How to Choose the Best Coffee
If the cost of your morning java matters more than getting the
ultimate taste, there's good news. Walmart's Great Value 100% Colombian
Medium scored on a par with the Starbucks Colombia Medium for a fraction
of the price. It also had, for the same price per serving, a stronger,
fruitier aromatic character than the Folgers and Maxwell House 100%
Colombian coffees, which we judged only Fair. Here's some advice to keep
in mind:
 |
| Caribou Ethiopia Finjal Organic Medium |
Consider your tastes
Colombian, the most common varietal of coffee sold, can be fairly
strong in flavor and intensity of aroma, with moderate complexity. Ethiopian
tends to be more complex overall, with a fair amount of bitterness,
though not enough to detract from enjoyment. The K-Cups we tested, all
Colombian, were generally not very complex and included more off-notes
than the coffees we judged Very Good.
Weigh freshness against convenience
Grinding your own is less convenient but results in a fresher cup.
K-Cups are convenient and easy to store, but we judged those we tested
unimpressive—more enjoyable if you take sugar and milk with your coffee.
 |
| Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Light Roast |
Choose a good coffeemaker
The Cooks CM4221, sold at JCPenney, was among models from our
December 2010 report (available to subscribers) that reached the 195° F
to 205° F required to get the best from coffee beans and avoid a weak
or bitter brew. At $40, it was a CR Best Buy
Keep up the maintenance
Your coffee's taste will suffer if you don't routinely clean the machine, no matter what kind of beans you brew.
No comments:
Post a Comment