Organic Fair Trade Sumatra

Rating:
Price: $7.99 (14 Oz, 100% Arabica, whole bean)
Features: Supposed "Full Bodied Earthy & Robust Flavor"
Found in: Coffee

 I remember not being particularly impressed by this coffee some time ago, but I decided to give it a second try before making up my mind. After brewing pots of this for the past few weeks, I have concluded that it really is unimpressive. I don't find the flavor to be full bodied, earthy, or robust. To me, it simply tastes flat - no high or low notes to remark on. It's not bad coffee per se, but there are plenty of more satisfying Fair Trade & Organic options available at Trader Joe's. I generally enjoy a nice deep Sumatra, but this is not the one for me.

Trader Joe's JOE - "An exceptionally smooth cup of coffee"

Rating:
Price: $3.49 (14 Oz, 100% Arabica, whole bean)
Features: Decent generic coffee for a crazy low price
Found in: Coffee section labeled "Super Cheap!"

 "Joe brews a good satisfying cup of coffee. No Frills. Nothing fancy. Just good coffee at a great price. We created an excellent blend of Arabica beans and roasted them to that place where drinkability, smoothness and enjoyability meet - a medium roast, to be precise. Your kitchen table. The office. A to-go cup on the road. It doesn't matter where you are, as long as you have a good cup of Joe."

This product speaks for itself, which makes reviewing it easy on me! I agree that this is a smooth coffee at a great price. It has a good generic coffee taste - nothing really striking, yet nothing bad, like dreaded sour burning acidity, either. I like that it comes as whole bean so you can grind it right before you brew. Like they say, nothing fancy, but it gets the job done! Far and away better than other coffee you might find for $3.49!

If you are struggling along making your daily brew with pre-ground "coffee" that comes in a big metal can because you don't know any better or don't want to pay more - here are the beans you should switch to. Invite JOE to your mornings - do it now!

100% Kauai Coffee

Rating:
Price: $7.99 (13 Oz Whole Bean)
Features: Subtle, smooth, balanced, well-rounded flavor
Found in: Coffee zone

We go through a can of coffee about every other week, so by now I have tried most of the medium roast options from Trader Joe's. TJ's has a lot of dark and even super dark "volcano" (charcoal and ash?) roasts available, most of which are quite good, but I prefer the medium to medium-dark roasts. I think medium roasts have a nice balance of all the flavor notes I like in a good coffee, and maintain a good level of acidity. I find darker roasts to lose the acidic edge while clobbering you over the head with a big dose of whatever note is strongest to the specific beans. Not always a bad thing, but not what I want for my morning cup on a daily basis.

Anyway, on to the specifics of these beans! Trader Joe says:

The leeward side of Kauai has long been recognized as a superb place for growing coffee. Abundant rainfall and sunshine as well as a temperate climate provide ideal conditions for the production of coffee. The Garden Island's rich volcanic soil gives these beans an earthy, aromatic flavor.

Trader Joe's 100% Kauai coffee is medium roasted to bring out its sweet, delicate flavor. These beans are as close to Kauai as you can get without hopping on a plane. 'Ono kope!

Well there ya go, I agree about the delicate aromatic flavors. Maybe you could get closer to Hawaii by purchasing TJ's 100% Kona coffee, but since that is about $20/lb you might as well just hop on a plane and go see the source for yourself!

New Mexico Piñon Coffee

Rating:
Price: $6.49 (16 Oz, Ground)
Features: Good coffee with a natural nutty flavor
Found in: Tasted at demo booth (twice)

I've wondered about this New Mexico Piñon Coffee for a while. I had the chance to taste it at the demo booth a few weeks ago, and was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't sure if I liked it enough to buy a whole can. Then the next week they were brewing it at the demo stand again, and I decided to spring for it. Can't go too wrong with 1lb of coffee for $6.49, right?

I've run through most of the coffee now, and I have really been enjoying it. The roasted pine nuts ground in with the coffee make it taste like a rich hazelnut coffee, only without the chemical taste of artificial flavorings - which are enough to turn me away from most "flavored" coffees. I'm not going to use this coffee as a replacement for my everyday brew, but I do enjoy it, and will purchase another can so I can brew a pot of tasty piñon for a change of pace now and then.

The coffee is good quality, even if it is pre-ground. I suppose it would be hard to get the right ratio of beans and pine nuts into your own grinder every time to make the perfect cup! Speaking of New Mexico, when I was down in Albuquerque for a friend's wedding last October, we discovered that the Church Street Cafe has both very good coffee and food. So, if New Mexican Piñon Coffee from Trader Joe's is enough to make you want to visit the state, you will know where to get delicious huevos rancheros that come with hot sopaipillas! Yum.

Fair Trade Organic Bolivian Blend

Rating:
Price: $6.49 (14 Oz)
Features: One of the best Trader Joe's coffees, just the right roast!
Found in: Coffee / tea aisle

I bought TJ's Bolivian Blend because it was the cheapest organic & fair trade option. I figured it would be decent, but didn't expect it to be excellent. Well, I was wrong there! This is easily one of the best Trader Joe's coffees, and certainly the best organic fair trade TJ's coffee blend.

The "medium dark roast" is perfect for my tastes. It strikes a nice balance between the rich smokey flavors developed in a darker roast (without tasting burned), preserves the more complex sweet and spicy flavors of a lighter roast, but isn't overly acidic (which can be a problem for the lighter roasts at TJ's). The result is a very smooth drinking brew with a distinct sweet caramel flavor. I'm drinking a cup straight out of the french press as I write. Usually I go for the cream to smooth things out, but I don't even miss it with this coffee! (It is also great with cream, don't worry.)

Here is what Trader Joe has to say about this blend:

Trader Joe's Bolivian Blend Coffee is a fair trade coffee that is sourced from small family farms in the land located between the peaks of the Andes and the Amazon Basin - the heart of Bolivian coffee country. This region has the ideal growing conditions for this unique, perfectly balanced coffee. Our Bolivian Blend is a medium-dark roast with a smooth textured body, delicate acidity, and sweet flavor and caramel characteristics.

Well, that explains why it is so good. Here is a tantalizing shot of a steaming fresh cup. Go get some!

Soy Milk Creamer

Rating:
Price: $1.49
Features: Lactose and dairy free, made with organic soy milk, vegan
Found in: Refrigerated section, near half & half and milk

I've tried quite a few different products over the past few years to cream my morning coffee: Plain old half & half, crazy International Delight and Coffeemate flavors (the strangest of which was either Gingerbread or Chai Spice), vanilla soy milk, regular milk, and flavored Silk soy creamers. My standbys are the "normal" flavors of International Delight: French vanilla or Irish cream. They're not over the top sweet like Coffeemate, but can still cover up in case you make a bad pot of coffee (yes, it does happen no matter how hard I try).

TJ's is on the right track with their Soy Milk Creamer, but it falls short. It could stand to be creamier, a bit thicker, a touch sweeter, and more flavorful. In the realm of soy creamers, I far prefer Silk's vanilla or hazelnut creamers. I found myself craving them as I was drinking a cup with the TJ's product in it. So, may I suggest to Trader Joe that he develop a vanilla, hazelnut, or Irish cream variety? I would be willing to buy those and give them a try. Just copy Silk more closely this time!

Organic Fair Trade Scandinavian Blend Coffee

Rating:
Price: $6.99
Features: "A combination of medium and dark roasted beans. Blanced, yet lively." Organic, fair trade, 100% Arabica beans
Found in: Coffee / tea aisle, or perhaps being brewed at the demo stand

I have had varying success with Trader Joe's coffees. I usually wait until I have a chance to sample a coffee at the demo booth before I buy it. Even then, I have had some that I found tasty in the store, but were a disappointment when I brewed them at home. Luckily, this Organic Fair Trade Scandinavian Blend is satisfying all around!

Though this coffee blend is 100% Arabica beans (no lower quality robusta beans as filler), I have noted that TJ's coffees never use the absolute top quality beans. You can always spot a few shriveled specimens in the can, which isn't the case with higher end products. No matter, I can't taste the difference, and a 13 OZ can of these bean is only $6.99 - great deal! Let's learn a little more about this history of the Scandinavian Blend and the beans within courtesy of the back of the can:

Legend has it that in the late 60's in Stockholm, Sweden, a coffee roaster named Jens unintentionally mixed some lighter roasted beans with darker ones. Being the frugal sort, he decided to give it a try. Jens was amazed when he realized it appealed to such a diverse group of people. He decided to sell it in his shop, and the style caught on. Somewhere along the way, Scandinavian blend was born (or Bijörn).

To create our own harmonious Scandinavian blend, we draw on a trilogy of sustainable high grown coffees, sourced from fair trade co-operatives in Columbia, Peru, and the Dominican Republic. The Colombian and Peruvian beans are dark roasted and provide a baseline that reveals bittersweet caramel nuances underscored by notes of creamy milk chocolate. These beans demand a dark roast for optimal flavor and characteristics. This coffee's finish is very smooth and sweet with floral hints. We attribute these traits to the Dominican beans which are given a medium roast. The resulting unique flavor of the combination of dual roasts makes for a lively well-balanced cup of coffee.

Well - there ya go! I couldn't have said it better myself :-P
Definitely recommended as one of the best deals on an organic and fair trade "daily-drinker" coffee!

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