Battle Of The Bold Konas K-Cups
The Drink: Tully’s Coffee Kona Blend
Type: Extra Bold K-Cup
Overall Rating: 3 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs
The name of this coffee, Kona Blend set off alarms in my head. Kona coffee has a long history of being blended (watered down) with non-Kona beans. If the label doesn’t say 100% Kona, it’s kind of a guessing game to what kind of beans make up the majority of your coffee. So it lost points right off the bat, but I’m always willing to overlook something like that if the coffee tastes and the description sounded like it was going to be an amazing coffee.
The lush floral aromas set the stage for a pleasant sipping experience. With little acidity, the Kona flavors shine, presenting a balanced yet medium body. Subtle plum flavors engage with a more prominent, toasted nut flavor. Mellow and silky in the mouthful, the contrasting allspice and caramel finish entices the senses for another sip.
Tully’s Coffee Extra Bold Kona Blend had a sweet, nutty flavor with hints of honey that reminded me of some of the great Konas that I’ve sampled in the past.
The label mentioned something about Extra Bold and it came out clearly in the taste. It had a dark roast flavor that dominated my tongue and kept getting stronger. There were only small hints of the Kona flavor that I love and none of their description other than maybe the toasted nut flavor.
It had dry feel on my tongue with a medium body.
A 24 pack of Tully’s Coffee Extra Bold Kona costs $9.95 at 1QuickCup. I guess you get what you pay for in this case. Konas are generally very expensive and this 24 pack is about the average price.
Overall, it earned a three on the Daily Shot Of Coffee K-Cup scale. If you’re a dark roast drinker, you may like this one. However, the medium roast drinker in me wanted to ask if it can really be called a Kona.
The Drink: Green Mountain Coffee 10% Kona Blend
Type: Extra Bold K-Cup
Overall Rating: 3.5 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs
The same alarm bells went off with the name of this coffee, 10% Kona is barely Kona and what beans make up the rest of the blend? Anyways, same as above. If the taste was remarkable, I was willing to overlook that.
Smooth & graceful with the sweet enchantment of Kona. The terroir of Hawaii’s Kona Coast yields a coffee like no other. 10% Kona Blend is a lovely introduction to this premium island coffee.
Green Mountain Coffee’s version of the Kona blend had a darker aroma, but sweet overall with hints of brown sugar.
The taste was just as extra bold, but underneath that was a really interesting blueberry flavor. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve guessed that I was drinking a coffee from Ethiopia.
This coffee had a smooth feel and medium body.
The price tag for this Kona blend is the same, $9.95 at 1QuickCup.
It earned an above average 3.5 on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale. I actually liked it a lot, just not sure if that flavor that I was tasting was Kona.
Overall, both were drinkable but I’m still on a mission to find the perfect Kona K-Cup and have a few more to review soon.
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Category: Coffee Reviews
About the Author (Author Profile)
Mike Crimmins is the highly caffeinated blogger behind Daily Shot Of Coffee. Besides drinking way too much coffee, he's obsessed with the Yankees and getting dirty on his mountain bike.Subscribe
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Any decent decaf options in their realm?
My heart beats like a crack addict skydiving if I don’t have me my decaf….
Hey Steph!
check it out…. http://www.decafkcups.com/
Interesting find Howard!
Kona Blend is the best. It is a staple coffee in my house for my Keurig.
It’s not a bad option for having on a regular basis.
I’m so glad to find that Tully’s makes K-Cups: wonderful coffee that evokes great memories of the Emerald City and what a great coffee shop should smell like and its coffee should taste like!
agree…. i’ve tried the Tully K-cup Kona blend and have to agree
it’s much more a ‘darker bolder’ coffee than just
a medium roast 100% Kona bean.
the fully Kona beans i’ve ordered from growers there
has a much more spicy aromatic taste and aroma than this one.
the Tullys was ok… i agree on the 3 rating.
can’t comment on the Green Mountain
10% k-cup. never had one.
Thanks, I’m glad that I’m not alone on the Tully’s. It was good, but not amazing like the Kona’s that I’ve had.
There are 2 other kona k-cups. Timothy’s is supposed to be a medium blend and the Coffee People Island Kona is a personal favorite. I too want a kona but there is only a blend. The crop is endangered because of disease so the konas will remain a premium coffee.
I have two other Kona K-Cups sitting in my kitchen. I know one is the Timothy’s, the other I’m not sure if it’s the Coffee People. If it isn’t, I think I’ll have to try it.