Starbucks Pumpkin Spice

The coffee for this critique is Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice light roast. Something to be aware of is the suggested preparation of this coffee on the package. With the suggested preparation, this coffee should be “reminiscent” of Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte. Without going into details, I will say they suggest more cream and sugar than I care to use. This said, I approached the tasting of this coffee same as previous critiques, pour-over brew, no cream, no sugar; a second cup with sugar.

When I opened the package and sniffed, the scent was light and organic. I sniffed it a few times thinking it had hints of something close to cinnamon and nutmeg, but it wasn’t boldly recognizable. When I poured hot water over it, the scent came to life and my desire for tasting it grew. My first cup reminded me of an organic tea. My experience with light roasts has given me the impression of thin coffee flavor: less coffee, more organic, not tea, just tea texture. With sips, I could recognize the cinnamon, like licking it off my finger without any sugar. After adding sugar, the flavor of the coffee didn’t jump out. I could still taste the light roast, but now the coffee had a stronger back-end flavor (aftertaste). The back flavor of the coffee was now recognizable as pumpkin pie, like a retail pumpkin pie, not fresh baked.

My further research led me to brew a pot of this coffee with a drip coffee maker. I then tried it with sweetener and afterward had a second cup with 6 teaspoons of sugar. The spice flavor of the coffee overpowered the sweetener and was bland with the flat taste of the spices more pronounced. With the amount of sugar, I used the desired flavor was achieved.

Comments

Draft Mule, Runaway Wagon, Dark Roast Coffee

For this tasting of Draft Mule, Runaway Wagon dark roast coffee I needed a second day to be sure of what I was experiencing. Draft Mule, dark roast coffee smells and appears reminiscent of coffee from a plastic tub. Its smell is innocuous in the bag, but when poured out is less than desirable. It is a coarse grind and is not what I would call a dark roast appearance. After pouring hot water through it, there is a dark tint rather than an opaque liquidity, like a good dark roast. The packaging is enticing, it made me want to try it. The package appears simple and practical, like a paper bag with a mule on the front. Draft Mule’s package is designed well; in fact, it is overengineered. Its graphics catch the eye because of how exact they are. The paper bag is actually a plastic insulated containment pouch with a pull tab that exposes a zip lock access hole. After scooping some of the coffee into my pour-over funnel I started to notice how much attention was given to the packaging v...

Discussing 3 Coffee Tasting Attributes

As a novice coffee taster, my attention has been drawn to the attribute scale (three bars) on the packages used by Thomas Hammer Coffee. The three attributes of coffee measured by these bars are: roast, body, and acidity. Professional coffee tasters know the intensity of these three attributes and their effects on the way coffee is experienced in consumption. As a novice, I do not. I have made it my duty to try a couple of Hammer’s coffees with different attribute scales and learn what it is professional coffee tasters are experiencing. Before I begin, other novices like me may want to know how these attributes are determined. I have briefly researched these attributes and will go over my discoveries here. The first attribute is “roast.” There are many ways to roast coffee. A large drum roaster using heated air is commonly used in commercial coffee roasting. The three most common levels of coffee roasting discussed are light, medium, and dark. When coffee is roasted, the beans wi...

Four Sigmatic Focus Organic Coffee

In the gourmet coffee aisle, I see the same brands, often they stock their takes on the same flavors and roasts, but this time I almost overlooked something different. For this tasting I chose Four Sigmatic Focus Organic Coffee. While the packaging is top quality, its graphical design is not as eye-catching as the other brands. What captures my attention about it is its claim of mental clarity and energy. These terms are subjective, but in my experience mental clarity is always desirable. Today’s fast-paced world can be unforgiving; some clarity is always appreciated. The subjectivity of mental clarity led me to the decision of trying this coffee over a period of two days rather than one. Before I talk about this coffee, I bring up a caveat on the package: “consult your physician before use if you are pregnant, lactating, have a medical condition or are taking any medication.” I believe all natural supplements are subjected to such warnings. I’ll let buyers make their own judgments. My...

Search This Blog