Bones Coffee's Bananas Foster Blend

I drink coffee. Then I write posts about the coffee I drink. Because this is important stuff the world needs to know! Almost as important as my reviews of films from the 1890s!

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: BANANAS FOSTER

This is another one of the Florida-based coffee roaster's flavored blends that can be had from other companies, being inspired by a famous New Orleans dessert. I've not tried it from other roaster--nor do I recall ever having the banana-rum-vanilla-ice-cream dish that inspired the flavors of which it purports to capture--but on it's own merits, this is a wonderful drink.

The starting point for the Bananas Foster blend is medium-roast of Arabica beans. The starting point, then, is already one that promises to be a smooth and easy-going one.

While the pot was brewing, a delicious aroma of bananas wafted from the kitchen to my office, causing my anticipation to build. I was not disappointed.

This blend is tasty straight from the pot. Although banana is the dominant smell as it brews, the dominant flavor (aside from coffee, naturally) is rum. You can still taste the banana, but it's more of a background sweetness than the aroma would indicate. I also think I tasted some brown sugar and vanilla  in thereadds sweetness to the blend, and I think I also tasted a some vanilla in there--which is appropriate for a blend with this name--and both these secondary flavors seem to get a little stronger when I drank a cup first with some almond milk added, and then with creamer. 

The Bananas Foster blend also keeps its flavor as it cools, unlike the Sinn-O-Bun blend, for example, which grows increasingly salty. This one is equally tasty iced as hot, whether you drink it with milk or creamer added straight. If anything, the brown sugar flavor gets stronger when you drink this iced.

If you like drinking coffee after dinner, this might be a good choice. Heck, it might even stand in for dessert all by itself, perhaps with just a couple sugar or chocolate chip cookies. 

If you can't make it to Mardi Gras, the Bananas Foster blend brings the party to you!

Bones Coffee's Electric Unicorn Fruity Cereal

It Sunday, so it's time for another post about coffee I've consumed!

Cereal and Coffee: Part of this compete breakfast!

 
BONES COFFEE COMPANY: ELECTRIC UNICORN FRUITY CEREAL

I think I must have had an odd childhood, because I recall breakfasts that consisted of oatmeal with butter and sometimes sugar or brown sugar, and once in a while milk (and that's what I make to this day on those rare occasions breakfast isn't just a cup of coffee and some Greek yoghurt), or, once in a while, Frosted Flakes. So, despite this very funny ad, the Electric Unicorn blend does not take me back to my childhood... although it does, under certain specific circumstances, put me in mind of what I imagine the fruity, sugary breakfast cereals must taste like. (Specifically, this was supposed to be a "Fruity Cereal" flavor, according to the blend's subtitle.)

Like most of my reviewed of blends from the Bones Coffee Company, this one is based on cups made in a drip coffee-maker, from a 4-oz. sample pack of pre-ground coffee. I drank the Electric Unicorn blend black (both hot and iced) and with Unsweetened Almond Milk or sugar free Italian Sweet Cream creamer added (hot, room temperature and iced).

When I opened the package, a sweet, fruity smell was strongly evident, but this was not one of those blend that filled my place with the magical smells as it brewed. The same fruity smell that rose from the bag does emanate from the mug as the coffee was poured into the mug--a very appealing smell. The flavor, however, when I drank the coffee black was not appealing at all. The now-familiar smooth and slightly bitter taste of a Bones Coffee medium roast was clearly there, but it tastes as if someone had added cough syrup to my mug: the taste was a very unpleasant blend of sweet, sour, and mediciney flavors mixed with coffee. It was quite awful. 

When I added Unsweetened Almond Milk to this blend, all that happened was it got more sour--with a taste that was similar to dirt creeping in. I've never had almond milk that's gone bad, but I thought maybe that's what happened here, so I dumped the rest of the coffee, opened a fresh carton, mixed it into a fresh mug of coffee... and it still tasted awful. Hot, Electric Unicorn does not mix well with Unsweetened Almond Milk. I left the mixture alone for a bit, to let it cool to see if it might improve. It didn't.

I poured another cup, and I mixed in sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. A couple of sips told me that this was a vast improvement over my previous attempts at making Electric Unicorn palatable. The mediciney taste was gone, and the cream flavor swirled nicely with the fruity taste, as well as that of the coffee. What had seemed sour now reminded me of a touch of orange or many lemon. I think I'd finally managed to tease Fruity Cereal out of Electric Unicorn. Unfortunately, the blend too sweet for me now--not as bad as "Peaches and Scream" and not as overwhelming, but too sweet to be enjoyable. Some of that excessive sweetness faded a bit as the coffee cooled... which is good, because it gave me encouragement to finish the review regimen instead of just writing this blend off as terrible.

Because if you drink Electric Unicorn iced, and you like sweet coffee with a flavor that's fruity with a citrusy undercurrent to it, you will love this. It's pretty good black, it's better with Unsweetened Almond Milk added, but it's perfect with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. 

Like I said at the outset, I don't recall ever having any of those bright-colored breakfast cereals this blend is trying to capture, but I have drunk the remaining milk in a bowl of Frosted Flakes. With the creamer added and iced, I finally got the flavor Bones Coffee was going for--fruity, sweet, and milky... even if the milky was coming from the creamer. Iced, the flavors were also mild enough that they weren't cloying as before. As I finished my final cup of Electric Unicorn, I found myself wishing that I'd tried it iced first; I would have not wasted so much good coffee while trying to find the right way to consume it.

If her cup was filled with Electric Unicorn, she wouldn't be thinking about divorce.

Bones Coffee's Highland Grog

It's Sunday, so I'm going to let the world know about the coffee I've been drinking!

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: HIGHLAND GROG

The concept of this blend confuses me a bit. To me, "grog" is something that's associated with the latter part of the Age of Sail... and I don't associate sailing ships with the Scottish Highlands. When I did a web-search on "highland grog", I discovered that there are several coffee companies that have a version of this flavor under names like Highlander Grog, Highlands Grog, and so on. Each have their own special little twist, but the common theme are the flavors of rum and butterscotch.

With the Bones version of this apparently popular variety of flavored coffee, we get  rum, butterscotch, and caramel. As weird as I find the notion of Highland Grog, I was certain that Bones had given me the resources for some great tasting coffee, because they had done such a wonderful job with their Coconut Rum blend.

Like most of Bones' flavored coffees, the foundation is medium roast. When brewing, the smell of run rises from the pot with a bit of butterscotch mixed in--exactly as advertised. It's not one of those blends where the aroma fills the kitchen and nearby rooms, but standing near the pot as the coffee brews gives you a preview of what you'll be drinking shortly.

As with all the coffees I drink for review purposes, I tried the Highland Grog blend in several specific ways. I drank my first cup black and (bag)piping hot. The rum flavor was front and center from the outset, dominating both the flavor and scent... and seeming like I might actually be drinking coffee spiked with a tremendous amount of rum. Or maybe rum spiked with coffee--the rum flavor is so strong it almost wiped out that of coffee. That, plus the subtle but still noticeable butterscotch flavor, led me to drink an entire cup without adding of my typical unsweetened almond milk or sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. Interestingly, the advertised caramel flavor isn't present until the coffee begins to cool. This made the drink even more enjoyable. It's nice the way the flavor profile changes, and this may have to be a blend I will have to get a bag of, since it's perfect for someone like me who often drinks his coffee slowly, so it invariably cools to room temperature well before I'm done with a cup or mug.

With that in mind, it probably comes as no surprise that this blend works amazingly well over ice, whether it's consumed black or with the usual varieties of almond milk or sugar-free creamer added. Although the flavors are a bit muted--as tends to be the case with most coffees--the rum is still very much evident, as are strong hints of butterscotch and caramel. Even better, there is none of the saltiness that creeps into some Bones Coffee blends when they are consumed iced, or sometimes even at room temperature.

As I mentioned above, this is a flavored coffee that even I, with my reflexive habit of adding almond milk, milk, creamer, or booze to any cup of coffee that is placed before me, could drink black. In fact, the typical unsweetened almond milk I use didn't enhance this blend, but rather seemed to detract from and dilute what made it appealing. The sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer mixed better with the Highland Grog blend, and it was an okay addition to the coffee whether hot, iced, or in-between, but it didn't improve the flavor all that much.

As also mentioned above, I noticed that a number of other coffee roasters offer their version of this flavor, and a number of them have vanilla as part of their mix. I decided to break with my usual review protocol and try Bones' Highland Grog with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk added. Like the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, it mixed nicely with the coffee, and the addition of vanilla wasn't bad, but it was only a slight improvement over drinking the coffee black. (At least when hot or room temperature; I based this review off a 4-oz sample pack of "Highland Grog", and I ran out of coffee before I could try the blend iced with the vanilla almond milk.

Highland Grog is another winner from Bones Coffee Company. I particularly recommend if you're looking for a coffee that's great iced.

The Boys like their coffee hot and their kilts below the knees.

Bones's Red Velvet and Chocolate Raspberry

It's Sunday, so I am once again telling the world about coffee I've consumed! Today, it's two more flavorful blends from the Bones Coffee Company, one of which they marketed squarely at Valentine's Day (so I'm posting my review early enough in case you want to get goofy and share some flavored coffee with a skeleton mascot with your sweetheart)!

This year, Valentine's Day will be spent renewing our love affair with coffee!

I approached brewing and drinking these blends in the way I do most of the coffees I consume with an toward writing about: I brew it in my trusty drip coffee maker, and then drink it hot, also as it cools to room temperature, and then iced. I drink it black or with Unsweetened Almond Milk, or with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. Both reviews were also written with 4-oz. sample packs as the source of the coffee.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: RED VELVET CAKE

The Red Velvet blend is one of Bones Coffee's seasonal/holiday releases that they only produce for a limited period of time each year. This one, they offer around Valentine's Day, and they've got their mascot dressed up like Cupid against a background of hearts to underscore that fact.

The Red Velvet blend is another one that starts with medium-roast Arabica beans, and then the people at Bones at their flavoring magic. My previous experience with their cake-inspired blends has been hit and miss--I enjoyed Birthday Suit but couldn't stand Strawberry Cheesecake--so I went into this one with no idea of what to expect.

The unboiled grounds didn't seem to provide any clue as to what might come; they smelled like coffee. That's, of course, not a bad thing by itself, but I've come to expect some other aroma to be mixed in when I open one of these bags.

As the coffee brewed, there was also no evident aroma other than that of coffee, and this was also the case when I poured the first mugful. Not unsurprising, there was also no detectable flavor other than that of high quality coffee with some from of sweetener added. I couldn't pick out a distinctive flavor, but it was sweeter and smoother than even typical medium- or light-roast coffee. This held true when I tried it hot with Unsweetened Almond Milk. When I tried it with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, it tasted no different than it would have if I'd added the creamer to Bones' Costa Rican blend, or maybe Seattle Best's House Blend.

Although the Red Velvet blend was unimpressive when hot, its flavor changes as it cools. Once it's luke-warm, the advertised red velvet cake flavor has emerged and it becomes increasingly dominant as the blend cools to room temperature. This is the case no matter which of the two standards I've added to the mix. From luke-warm to room temp, the Red Velvet blend tastes like cake that's been soaked in coffee... and it's a delight the way that flavor gets stronger and stronger.

It might be logical to assume that the cake-like flavor would be exploding all over the place if this blend is consumed cold and over ice. This isn't the case, though. The flavors are more muted (typical of iced coffees, really), but there's also a slightly sour after-taste that is present. I initially thought I hadn't been careful enough in rinsing out the tumbler I use for the iced taste-tests after a somewhat disastrous experiment in creating a cocktail using the Starbucks Iced Blonde Roast and gin and... well, maybe I'll post details about my failure down the line. Meanwhile, the sour aftertaste was not the result of a contaminated mug, but probably from some reaction with the Unsweetened Almond Milk--it wasn't present when I tried the drink iced with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. One very positive thing about Red Velvet when iced is that the saltiness that emerges in other Bones Coffee blends when had over ice is not present here.

In the end, I think the Red Velvet blend works best after it's had a little time to cool, and then as it continues to cool until room temperature. I recommend it, except as an iced coffee.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY
In theory, this is one of the more "well, yeah, of course" blends. In theory, a medium-roast with a chocolate raspberry should be an easy slam-dunk for Bones, what it being a flavor that works great with coffee, as well as medium-roast coffee already having a slight chocolaty undertone to it. But will Bones pull it off?

The aroma of raspberry rose powerfully from the bag as soon as I opened it. Past experience has shown that this could be a bad sign. As the coffee brewed, I couldn't there was a distinct air of raspberry in the kitchen, but it wasn't so strong that I could smell it all the way down the hall in my office. Past experience has shown that this could be either a good or bad sign. Clearly, this was a blend I'd have to actually try before any opinions were formed.

When this blend is consumed hot and black, the raspberry flavor is very noticeable, and sweet enough that I could drink this coffee without adding almond milk or creamer. However, the chocolate taste was very subtle, almost undetectable. In fact, it's only slightly more than the ghost of a chocolatey flavor that sometimes seems to just be present naturally in medium-roast coffee.

Once I added sugar free Italian Sweet Cream creamer to my cup, the chocolate really popped and there was a fabulous blend of coffee, chocolate, and raspberry flavors. Drinking a cup with Unsweetened Almond Milk had a similar effect--the chocolate flavor was still very much present, but raspberry and coffee dominated, and it remained a wonderful drinking experience. In fact, I liked it better with the Unsweetened Almond Milk, because the mix is less sweet (which is not something I say very often).

This blend works nicely at room temperature--which is how I end up drinking much of my coffee, because it cools as I get busy and/or distracted and let the mug sit for a while--with the raspberry flavor remaining constantly strong, and the chocolate present as a powerful undertone, no matter what else I mixed in. 

As with the Red Velvet blend, the flavors retreat when it's consumed iced, with only a hint of raspberry remaining to make the coffee seem slightly sweetened. This was the case whether I mixed it with sugar free Italian Sweet Cream creamer or with Unsweetened Almond Milk. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't anything to sing about either.

In the end, I recommend that you drink the Chocolate Raspberry blend hot and with some milk added. It really does seen to be where it works best. Drinking it over ice pretty much negates the flavors.

"Coffee--ah'll never quit yew!"
(Click here if you want to learn how to make cowboy coffee)

It's the Mint Invaders from Chocolate Space!

 

They have come to Earth from a faraway world...
Whether they're friend or foe depends on if they've had their morning coffee!

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: MINT INVADERS FROM CHOCOLATE SPACE

This was a flavor I'd put off trying, despite it being one of the offerings that first attracted me to Bones Coffee's flavored offerings, along with Army of Dark Chocolate and White Russian; the movie theme of the packaging appealed to me, but the promise of a mint flavor did not. Like I said in my review of the White Chocolate Peppermint Bark blend, I'm a bit dubious about whether mint-flavored coffee is something I want to put in my mouth.

But, it came time to order another set of 4-oz. sample packs from Bones (to keep this Sunday post series going, as well as to feed my addiction. There have been Bones selections have surprised me in the past with how good they were, so maybe this one would too. Plus, I am starting to run out of flavors to test! (I estimate that Bones Coffee blends will no longer be the common subject of these posts by the time we get to the end April.)

Mint Invaders from Chocolate Space got my hopes up as soon as I opened the bag. The grounds smelled strongly of chocolate, which is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. There was just the faintest hint of mint, too. The chocolate smell was stronger than I would expect from the flavor the package stated the blend existed to capture--that of mint chocolate chip ice cream--but I have learned with Bones blends that the aroma emanating, or even as the coffee brews, from the package doesn't always match the flavor of the beverage.

In this case, although the unbrewed grounds smelled very strongly of chocolate with just a ghost of mint, the resulting coffee tastes strongly of mint with chocolate showing up as a pleasant aftertaste as you drink it.

When you drink Mint Invaders from Chocolate Space black, the flavor of high-quality medium-roasted coffee flavor mingles nicely with the bite of mint, with the taste of chocolate becoming increasingly evident as you consume it. The "ice cream" aspect of this drink--which would be a certain creaminess--is not really there until... well, until you add something creamy, or milk-like. 

When I added Unsweetened Almond Milk, for example, this blend began to exhibit a little of the creaminess that one associates with ice cream when I drank it. It also seemed to draw out the mint flavor even more. When I tried it with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, the drink seemed to become even creamier than these coffees usually become with the creamer added. The mint flavor also seemed more intense.

As the drink cooled, whether black or with almond milk or creamer added, the chocolate flavor moved from aftertaste to being present as an undertone that grew stronger the more of the coffee that is consumed. This is also true when this blend is consumed iced; the colder the drink is, the stronger the chocolate taste. Mint, however, remains dominant. That said... those flavors were all somewhat washed out.

If you like minty coffee, I think you'll like this blend. Personally, when consumed according to the baselines I've set up for these reviews, I preferred Mint Invaders from Chocolate Space with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer added, whether it's hot or at room temperature. It didn't seem to work well iced.

Going Nuts with Bones Coffee

Today we're covering not one, not two, but three flavored blends from Bones Coffee!

The coffees reviewed in his post were all "taste-tested" under the same circumstances: They were made in a drip coffeemaker and tried without hot straight from the pot, at room temperature, and cold and over ice. Each blend was also tried with Unsweetened Almond Milk and sugar free Italian Sweet Cream creamer., hot, room temperature, and iced.

All the blends reviewed in this post are medium roasts, and they came to me via Bones' 4-oz. sample packs which each yield between 12-16 cups of coffee (depending on how carefully I measure when I pour the grounds in the basket).

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: MACAMANIAC

The very first impression I had of Macamaniac is that the package features another one of those fun cartoons of the company mascot. Here, our favorite living skeleton is in Hawaii, driving away from an erupting volcano with a carload of macadamia nuts while sipping a drink from a tiny umbrella-festooned coconut half-shell. Once again, the sense of fun in the package art made me feel contented to have given Bones my money even before I got a taste of coffee it was selling.

When I opened the package and as the coffee brewed, I thought I could smell macadamia nuts. That same aroma was strong from the pot and rose from the cup as the coffee is poured. However, as I drank the beverage, all I tasted was coffee with a slight hint of something sweet. That flavor could have been coconut or it could have been macadamia nut (the two flavors that Bones claims are in this blend), but it really was too faint to tell. I am leaning in the direction of the flavor being more like coconut than anything else, but I might just be tasting that because I was expecting something along that line. Basically, this coffee tastes like coffee that's had a bit of sugar or creamer added--but otherwise, it just tastes like a solid, high quality medium roast.

Whether I drank Macamaniac hot, cooled to room temperature, or iced, it had a solid, well-rounded coffee flavor--Bones Coffee knows how to make those Brazilian Arabica beans dance in your mouth!--with a slight saltiness appearing along side the sweet when the coffee was iced. But, the overwhelming flavor remained that of straight coffee.

Sometimes, if I add almond milk or creamer to a Bones blend, it brings out the flavors. In the case, it didn't. It just made the blend taste like coffee to which I'd added almond milk or creamer. That's generally not a bad thing, but I feel like a flavored coffee should have a bit more flavor than Macamaniac has.

If you like your coffee black with perhaps a little sweetener added, this is a blend that you will enjoy. If you're looking for something that will dazzle you with the taste of macadamia nuts mixed with coffee, you need to look elsewhere. 


BONES COFFEE COMPANY: MUSTACHIO

This blend was presented as tasting like pistachios, as its punny title might make obvious to you readers out there.  But does it? The answer is yes, but it morphs depending on how you consume it, with the pistachio flavor coming and going.

When I opened the package, I could indeed smell pistachios, which was promising; the aroma was faint, but it was there. The aroma was a bit stronger when it brewed--not to the point where I could smell it down the hall in my office as is the case with some Bones blends, but it was there when I stood next to the coffee-maker and as I poured the coffee into a cup.

Curiously, when I drank the coffee hot and without any added almond milk or creamer, the pistachio flavor was so subtle that is was almost undetectable. While some the flavor in some of the Bones blends get stronger in your mouth the more of the coffee you drink, that did not happen with Mustachio. Adding sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream didn't make the pistachio flavor any stronger--it just became mixed with the milky flavor. (That said, the pistachio flavor didn't get any weaker, so I suppose that could be read as it becoming stronger; it seemed to remain constant.)

When I drank this blend iced, the pistachio flavor was similarly present, but only as an undertone and not really recognizable as pistachio; it seemed even fainter, whether I drank the coffee straight or with almond milk or creamer added. It wasn't bad--it was like drinking a very nice medium roast coffee with a something slightly sweet added.

One thing that was absolutely fascinating about this blend is what happened when it cooled to room temperature. As I've said in previous coffee-centric posts, it takes me a while to finish a cup of coffee because my life a series of interruptions or distractions. Generally speaking, by the time I finish a cup or mug of coffee, it had gradually cooled to room temperature. In the case of the Mustachio blend, however, this revealed that as this blend cools, the pistachio flavor grows stronger. At room temperature, without anything added, the pistachio flavor was strong and very tasty. Adding a dash of Unsweetened Almond Milk blunted the coffee taste a bit, but the pistachio was still there.

I don't know how many of you out there like your coffee room temperature, but if you do, and also like pistachios, then that's how you should drink Bones' Mustachio. It might also serve as a nice foundation for a coffee liqueur. I will have to get another sample pack and do some experimenting. Stay tuned!

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY

Have you ever looked at a peanut butter and jelly sammich and wondered "what would that taste like if I dipped it in coffee?" No? Well, neither have I, but Bones Coffee is out there asking flavor questions that we never thought to ask and providing answers that sometimes defy imagination.

From the moment you open the package, the aroma of grape jelly is noticeable. It is also strong as the coffee brews, so strong that it wafted from the kitchen, down the hall into my office. The sweet smell of grape jelly also rose noticeably from the pot and cup as I poured the coffee and went to drink it.

Initially, as I drank this blend without any Unsweetened Almond Milk or sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream added, the sweet taste of grape jelly came through strongly. It was so strong and so sweet a flavor that even someone who orders their coffee strictly from the fru-fru menu can drink it straight. 

One thing I'm discovering is that Bones Coffee does fruit flavors really, really well; sometimes too well--as the overwhelming fruitiness of their Strawberry Cheesecake and Peaches and Scream blends show--and they nailed the grape jelly flavor perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, that it balanced nicely with the coffee.

One thing I am also noticing is that Bones Coffee doesn't do nut flavors all that well. Like Macamaniac, the nut flavor here is almost undetectable; this blend does not taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich dipped in coffee, but merely grape flavored coffee. I drank about half a mug's worth before adding some Unsweetened Almond Milk, and I think I started to detect an aftertaste of peanut butter, but the grapey sweetness remained front and center. It could also be that I was expecting a peanut butter taste, so my imagination may have made it materialize because other Bones blends have grown more flavorful as I consumed them (like, for example, their Dusk Till Donuts blend where the grape flavor grew more intense as I drained the cup).

None of my usual approaches were able to tease any solid peanut butter flavor out of this blend, nor could I detect any bread flavor (although the latter is probably for the best). Further, when I drank this blend over ice, there wasn't even the ghost of peanut butter to be found.

In the end, I consider this a tasty blend that might go well with dessert, or maybe a pancake breakfast if you're a fan of grape jelly. It's not a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich in a cup, though. 

Bones Coffee's Birthday Suit

In 2021, Bones Coffee Company celebrated their 5th year in business by releasing a special flavored blend. So, we're starting the new year off by reviewing a blend that celebrated the birthday of its maker.

Feel free to assume this is Your Host, drinking coffee in his birthday suit.

 BONES COFFEE COMPANY: BIRTHDAY SUIT
The packaging, Bones' sell-copy, and the stated motivation for releasing this "limited release" blend, all make it very clear that this is coffee that should taste like birthday cake. Could it live up to expectations? Would I be treated to a birthday-cake-in-a-cup, or at least something that tasted like coffee-soaked birthday cake? Either way, I was very interested in how this would turn out. (Hell, for all I knew, it could be a big gag and the Birthday Suit blend was just coffee-flavored coffee--black miracle juice not dressed up with anything at all!)

 

As the coffee brewed, though, I could smell the aroma of birthday cake in my office, which is down the hall from the kitchen, so the blend was clearly more birthday cake than birthday suit--yay! Interestingly, the aroma wasn't as strong once the coffee was poured into the cup. Even more interesting, the birthday cake flavor isn't detectable when you first sip the coffee, but it fills your mouth as you swallow it. The cake flavor was an aftertaste, but it was a strong and absolutely wonderful aftertaste! It was an aftertaste that lingered, so the more I drank of the coffee, the stronger it became. Unlike some other Bones Coffee blends with sweet flavors that become overwhelming (like Strawberry Cheesecake), Birthday Suit remains just right. I think this is because it is more of an aftertaste and, although the flavor remains in your mouth as you drink, it has a bit of reset with each swallow.

But the above only applies if you drink the coffee black, which I would have been perfectly fine doing, even considering that I NEVER drink coffee black, except when I'm doing articles like this. And then I only do it so I can talk about what the drink tastes like on its own--more often than not, I like any coffee better (except in really small portions) with stuff added to it. And once I added a dash of sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer to my cut of hot Birthday Suit blend coffee, the birthday cake flavor moved to the front and the experience of drinking this became even more tasty and wonderful. In fact, it was exactly like you might imagine a birthday soaked in coffee might taste like. This blend was made to celebrate Bones Coffee and its fabulous flavors, and it rises to the occasion!

Everything above applies whether you are drinking Birthday Suit hot, at room temperature, or iced. At room temperature, the birthday cake flavor seemed to be strongest, but it never became so strong it was overpowering.

When I added unsweetened Almond Milk to the Birthday Suit blend, the other thing I usually do when drinking these coffees for review, it added a sour undertone to the flavor that made it very unpleasant to drink. In was so bad, in fact, that I dumped out my cup without finishing and I didn't bother testing this blend with almond milk at room temperature or iced. (I did make sure that it wasn't a problem with the almond milk by not only drinking some of it without putting it in coffee, but trying it in a different cup of freshly brewed Birthday Suit... and it definitely was not the almond milk.)

In the final analysis, Birthday Suit is another excellent flavored coffee. One just has to be careful with what one mixes it with. As I departure from my usual review regiment, I tried a cup of Birthday Suit black with Stevia added. I liked the blend better with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream, but the Stevia helped bring the cake flavor immediately to the front as well.

Here's Gina Gershon in her birthday suit. Just because.

Seattle's Best House Blend

Once upon a time, I was a self-employed writer/editor/game designer, working out of my home. When I got tired of  the scenery outside my office window, I would grab my laptop computer, drive down to a nearby Seattle's Best shop, get a large cup of coffee, and sit there and write. And when I was at home, I would also drink Seattle's Best Coffee, because I bought bags of their medium roast in the store and made my own coffee blends. With this latest coffee review, I return to those days... sort of.

 

SEATTLE'S BEST COFFEE: HOUSE BLEND

The subject of today's review came to me via the grocery store when I caught sight of it. I used to go to Seattle's Best all the time, pay table rent (in the form of a Large Coffee or Large White Black-and-White Mocha), and sit their and write all afternoon and into the evening. The staff knew me and would chat, some of the other regulars knew me and would chat... it was an oasis of friendliness in the otherwise stand-offish Northwest. But then Starbucks purchased Seattle's Best and over the space of a year, things changed and the store was closed (to eventually reopen, remodeled and rebranded as a Starbucks location). This was the fate of all the Seattle's Best locations. Except in airports.

But the Seattle's Best brand name lives on in the grocery store. The other day, I noticed bags of Seattle Best's House Blend. This was, basically, the coffee I always got there, either with a bunch of creamer and sugar added, or as part of the aforementioned Black-and-White Mocha. I decided to take a trip down memory lane and bought a bag.

Given the negative experience I had not long ago when I tried the Starbuck's Pike Place Roast for the first time in several years, I did not have high hopes for this, but, as will all media items or coffee I review, I start from a place of expected to enjoy myself; I'm never going to waste my time on something I am certain will be disappointing.

As it turned out, I was not disappointed. The House Blend was every bit as smooth and tasty as I remembered it. As I expected, it's not a coffee that I am happy drinking straight, but a couple Stevia packets fixed it right up... and when I added some Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, it was great!

The House Blend works for me on the level that it works for the many blends from Bones Coffee that I've been reviewing. It's got a strong coffee flavor, but it doesn't have the bitter edge that darker roasts have, so it mixes perfectly with a range of creamers (like my favorites--sugar free Vanilla Creamer and sugar free Italian Sweet Cream creamer) and serves as a great foundation for my home-made chocolate coffee (which is a mix of dark unsweetened cocoa powder and coffee). It also works nicely iced with just unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk added... or as part of my own half-assed spin on a "Black Russian"... which is iced coffee, chocolate almond milk, and vodka.

The House Blend was every bit as good as I remember it, and I enjoyed blending my own flavors as much now as I did back then. I was particularly happy with the chocolate/cinnamon/coffee concoction I came up with and drinking a "Black Russian ala Steve" for the first time in years was a real walk down memory lane.

The House Blend also mixed nicely with some of the Bones Coffee blends that I found too intense for my liking. I brewed pots of coffee made from House Blend and half Peaches and Scream, and half House Blend and half Strawberry Cheesecake, and I ended up with some very tasty flavored brews that were nearly perfect when I added some sugar free Italian Sweet Cream creamer or Unsweetened Almond Milk. I liked the results whether I drank they hot or iced, with a slight preference toward drinking them iced.

I liked the flavor of the House Blend so much that I can't help but wonder if the horribly burnt-tasting cup of Starbuck's Pike Place Roast I got during Free Coffee Day was more the fault of the barista who made it than the coffee that was used? I also loved the great results I had mixing it with other coffees and beverages, and I wonder if I would find the same level of fun and enjoyment through the Pike Place Roast?

I always preferred Seattle's Best over Starbucks Back in the Day, so experiments with the Pike Place Roast might not be as successful, but I won't know until I try.

Watch the space for updates!

She's watching for Steve to arrive with bags of coffee for experimental brews!

Bones's White Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Christmas is rapidly approaching, and I thought I'd drink some coffee that reflected the time of year. And while I was at it, I might as well make it another of the many Bones Coffee blends that are sitting in my cupboard!

Even Santa gets to take coffee breaks.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: WHITE CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT BARK

When I used to go to Seattle's Best (and then Starbucks) two-three-four times a week, one of my usual orders was a White Chocolate Mocha made with Non-Fat Milk, so I approached this blend with a certain standard and a preconceived notion of what it would taste like. I was not disappointed.

As this blend brewed, there was no particularly aroma that I could detect, other than the faint, wonderful smell of coffee, from the first sip of the White Chocolate Peppermint Bark, the white chocolate flavor was present and exactly what I had expected. It wasn't as strong as the mochas I used to order, but it was distinct. And it was delightful. This is a great coffee to drink when the weather outside is frightful!

Like most of Bones' flavored coffees, the White Chocolate Peppermint Bark blend starts with medium-roast Arabica beans, so that's already a plus for those who like their coffee on the less-bitter side. The flavor of white chocolate present as you start drinking this is strong enough that those who normally take their coffee with a touch of milk or sugar could probably drink this straight, while those who tend to take their coffee with a ratio of 1/4th milk or creamer to 3/4ths coffee (or so), will be satisfied with just a little bit of either. In fact, although I was happy enough with the white chocolate flavor while drinking this blend straight, once I added some unsweetened almond milk to my cup, that flavor became stronger and the experience more enjoyable. This has happened with several other Bones blends, but, since I love the mix of coffee and white chocolate, I appreciated the magic of chemistry even more with the White Chocolate Peppermint Bark blend than those others.

As I typically do when drinking coffee for review purposes, I tried this blend hot, as it cooled to room temperature, and chilled and over ice. I also tried it both with unsweetened almond milk and with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. I think it was tastiest when hot and with unsweetened almond milk added. It was almost a little too sweet with the Italian Sweet Cream creamer--it wasn't terrible, just not as good. I think this might be a great coffee to drink with dessert, or even to put in a thermos and take with you if you're going to be running around in the cold. 

If you've gotten this far, you might be asking yourself "What about the peppermint? He hasn't mentioned the peppermint... why not?" Well, honestly, I didn't really pick up on much of the peppermint flavor while drinking this. I think there might have been a hint of peppermint creeping in after several sips before I added the almond milk, but I'm not sure it wasn't just my imagination; I was expecting peppermint, so I tasted peppermint?

Since it's not unheard of for Bones Coffee's flavors to grow more intense as you drink the coffee, and I expected the peppermint to show up more powerfully as I drained the mugs. However, it remained soft or completely undetectable. That said, it's not something that I am upset about. I don't know if coffee that was strongly peppermint flavored would be something I could bring myself to drink, but Bones has thrilled my taste buds and changed my mind with blends I feared would be horrible-tasting, like Wunderbones and Maple Bacon. Maybe someday I'll drink peppermint-flavored coffee, but today is not that day.

The Christmas Coffee Elf brings coffee to all the good boys and girls!

Bones Coffee's Eggnog

The Christmas Season is upon us! There are just a handful of things that are more Christmas-y than eggnog, and I love eggnog, so sampling and reviewing an eggnog-flavored coffee for this Sunday's post was an easy decision! (I was also extra curious about the Eggnog blend, because I have my own homemade holiday standard that consists of mixing eggnog and coffee.)


BONES COFFEE COMPANY: EGGNOG

This is one of those Bones flavored coffees that amused me even before I opened the package; it's got a cartoon of the company mascot doing an iconic scene and character from the movie "Christmas Vacation."

The joy continued as I opened the package and I could smell eggnog, and it got greater as the coffee brewed. A strong aroma wafted from the kitchen and into my office and made me eager for the coffeemaker to finish it's work so I could start drinking.

I was not disappointed. The eggnog flavor is unmistakable, but not so strong that it overwhelms the coffee flavor as with some of Bones' offerings (like the Peaches and Screams blend, for example). It wasn't quite as strong as the mixtures I usually make myself, but it was close enough that I almost didn't feel the need to immediately add the usual unsweetened almond milk. The eggnog flavor blended perfectly with the smoothness of the Bones' medium-roast that is the typically foundation for their flavored coffees, and I count this among my favorites from the company so far. I don't know if the Bones Eggnog blend will replace my own coffee-with-eggnog mixture, but it might. I will have to order another set of sample packs so I can compare the two, side by side. I'll be sure to provide an update. (Oh, the sacrifices I make for you, my loyal readers...)

All in all, the Eggnog blend was flavorful enough that I could have consumed it without adding any of the unsweetened almond milk or sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, but I found that I liked it even more once the almond milk had been added; the eggnog flavoring seemed like it became stronger. I didn't think the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer did much for this blend--it seems to wash out the eggnog flavor rather than enhance it.

The same is true when this blend was consumed cold, over ice. It tasted just as good as when it was consumed hot, and adding the almond milk also seemed to once again bring out the eggnog flavor. That said, it the eggnogginess of this blend seemed to grow weaker as the coffee grew colder, and it was very subtle when the coffee was iced. It was almost as if I was drinking straight, high-quality coffee with a touch of cream and sugar added.

I highly recommend Bones' Eggnog as a coffee that will bring some cheery Christmas warmth to your gatherings ... or even if you're just enjoying a quiet evening alone. It should be enjoyed hot, though. 

All Diane wants for Christmas is a pair of pants, because hot coffee is only so effective.
(Still, we think if she was drinking Bones' Eggnog-flavored coffee, she'd be happier!)

POSTSCRIPT (wait... isn't everything here a postscript? Eh, never mind...)

As for my above-mentioned homemade eggnog/coffee eggnog blend, I recently purchased a bag of Seatttle's Best medium-roast House Blend, one of the three or four varieties I have used to make it over the years, so I was able to compare it to the Bones variety sooner than anticipated. (I'll be posting about that House Blend in the not-too-distant-future. But I digress.)

I think it's a tie between my home-made version and the Bones' version, taste-wise. Bones' Eggnog blend scores some bonus points for having fewer calories and being convenient--I am more likely to run out of eggnog than I am almond milk. My own blend, however, gets points for me being able to adjust the eggnogginess at will.

Sadly, neither is available year-round...

Bones Coffee's Oh Fuuudge!

The Christmas Season is underway, and I'm going to be drinking and reviewing blends from Bones Coffee with appropriately festive themes over the next few Sundays. (I've previously covered Jingle Bones, as far as straight-up Christmas coffees go. Some consider Salted Caramel to be Christmas-y, and I've covered that one as well. You can read my reviews at those links, and maybe get a jump on your own Christmas coffee drinking.)

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: OH FUUUDGE!

I decided to get things started with the Oh Fuuudge! blend. I don't know if fudge is necessarily a Christmas-only thing--although I do have a friend who makes fudge only around the holidays as she's also making Christmas cookies--but the cartoon on the package will evoke strong Christmas vibes among Americans of a certain age since it consists of iconic images from "A Christmas Story" (1983). Of course, the name of this blend may do that all by itself for some. But I digress in a major way.

The Oh Fuuudge! blend is based on single-origin, Brazilian Arabica beans, and my review is based on a 4-oz. pre-ground "sample package". Other than informing consumers that it's a medium-roast, there is no specific mention of what should expected form the brews that result--although the name of the blend is something of a giveaway.

And there were early indications that Oh Fuuudge! would live up its name. There was a faint smell of chocolate from the package as I opened it. Strong and wonderful smell of chocolate and coffee filled my kitchen and office as the coffee brewed. As I poured my first cup of my latest Bones Coffee selection, I felt certain that I was about to drink something  that would taste akin to a melted block of fudge.

Interestingly, despite the aroma filling the air, the coffee itself tasted like... well, coffee with a little bit of chocolate added. This Bones blends tasted almost EXACTLY like a mix I sometimes make myself here at home where I take Starbucks Pike Place Roast (or some other medium roast I happen to have on hand) with roughly 4/5ths pre-ground coffee to 1/5th unsweetened, 100 percent cocoa powder. The dominant flavor is still coffee, but there's an solid taste of chocolate, too. My homemade mix works especially well with unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened vanilla almond milk, both of which seem to bring out the chocolate more strongly. 

The Bones Oh Fuuudge! coffee behaved exactly like my homemade mixture when I drank cups first with the unsweetened almond milk and then with the unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Both softened the edge of the coffee while bringing out the chocolate flavor more strongly. The unsweetened vanilla almond milk mixed particularly well with the enhanced chocolatey flavor. I also tried it with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream, and the drink almost became too sweet for my taste.

One aspect of Oh Fuuudge! that is superior to some of the other Bones Coffee offerings is that the flavors remain stable whether you drink it hot, room temperature, or over ice. When drinking it iced, the chocolate comes a little more strongly, but only slightly more than when it's hot.

Although my initial reaction to Oh Fuuudge! was mild disappointment, because the strong aroma the blend gives off when brewing didn't match the subtle chocolate flavor of the final result. Ultimately, though, this is a tasty coffee that will go great with Christmas cookies or desserts. And, of course, by itself if you're just looking for a caffeinated pick-me-up.

An over-caffeinated Christmas Elf

Bones Coffee's Gingerbread Man

With the Christmas Season approaching fast, here's a review of a holiday-themed flavored coffee!

This elf stays jolly by staying caffeinated.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: GINGERBREAD MAN

Up front, I should state that ginger is not my favorite flavor; I don't hate it, but I also don't seek it out. Typically, I've encountered it only around the holidays because a friend of mine used to bake all sorts of cookies, including gingerbread men. Her cookies were great, even the ginger ones, although I ate fewer of those than the others.

I generally don't seek out and review things I don't think I'm going to enjoy to the fullest, so I would probably have skipped the Gingerbread Man blend if it hadn't been included as one of the five flavors in the Christmas sampler pack. As such, this review, like most of my Bones Coffee reviews, is based on a 4-oz. pre-ground sample pack and brewed using my trusty drip coffeemaker. Also, like most of Bones Coffee's flavored blends, it is based on their medium-roast made with Arabica beans from Brazil.

When I first opened this package, and as the coffee brewed, there was no particular aroma that I could detect, other than perhaps that of coffee--this was not one of those times where the blend previewed itself by filling the air with wonderful scents. Although the aroma wasn't quite strong enough to make it down the hall to my office, the kitchen and hall was filled with a very pleasant gingerbread cookie smell.

The smell wasn't really present when the coffee was poured, nor was it present when I took my first sips of it. It turned out, though, that this is another Bones blend where the flavor grows stronger as you drink it. Initially, no flavors are present except a basic, but wonderfully smooth coffee taste with just a touch of something else--something spicy with a slight hint of sweet. This was tasty enough that I could probably have finished the whole cup without adding any unsweetened almond milk. I added some, though, about halfway through the cup, after I'd determined that the Gingerbread Man blend was another of those Bones blends where the flavor grows stronger in your mouth as you drink more of it. The drawback here was that the flavor was not one that I was particularly fond of.

As I mentioned, ginger is not a favorite flavor of mine, so that was already a strike against this blend. However, whatever flavor the Gingerbread Man blend is, it's a spicy, almost herbal one that I can't place. Further, this flavor moved from slightly sweet to bitter and sour the more I drank. Whatever this flavor is, it's not like any gingerbread cookie I've ever had. (Including some gingersnaps that I went out and bought, just to make sure I remembered what ginger cookies taste like. Yes--I go through such great sacrifices to ensure accuracy in my reviews! My coworkers were grateful for this review as well, if only for the cookies they got to eat.)

At room temperature, I did not like this blend at all. The herbal/spicy flavor retreated a bit when this coffee was consumed cold, but it tasted even more sour than when it was hot. The flavors seemed to build quicker, and I couldn't even finish the first cup of this blend over ice; adding unsweetened almond milk didn't help much. When I tried am iced cup with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream, the flavors mixed to put me in mind of sour milk. This was not a blend that works iced.

I think this is the first Bones Coffee blend I've tried that I've been nothing but disappointed with. Perhaps it's meant to be consumed in tiny espresso cups, and then only one cup at a time, because I can't recommend drinking it by the tumbler- or mugful as I do.

Sari Maritza demonstrates how to drink Bones' Gingerbread Man

(Speaking of people outside of the blog-o-sphere, as I did above when I brought up co-workers amd cookie-baking friends, I mentioned when I reviewed the Sinn-O-Bun blend that I was going to give a pack of it to a friend who really, really likes cinnamon to see what her opinion of it was. She brewed it, and drank it, and she LOVED it. She also had her Significant Other, who isn't one for flavored coffees and who usually drinks his so black and strong he almost has to chew it instead of drink it, try a cup... and he enjoyed it so much that they've ordered a bag of it.)

Bones Coffee Mystery Flavor (Bone-us Review!)

I was running low on Bones Coffee flavors to write about, so I ordered a few more 4-oz. sample packs and another bag of their fantastic Costa Rica Medium Roast. They were running a special where the order was not only 20% off, but they would also throw in an extra sample pack of a "Mystery Flavor".

 

"She was as mysterious as the flavor of the coffee in her cup..."

(Bones has reportedly done this before, but since I only first became aware of them earlier this year, it's a new experience for me! But if it turns out I got the flavor of the Mystery Flavor correct, I will have to stop pouring coffee and begin decanting it instead.)

I already have reviews written to post on every Sunday through the end of February, but I am writing this special Bone-us review, so I can get it out there before Bones Coffee announces what the Mystery Flavor actually is, so we can all see if I was right or wrong when the time comes! (There will still be a coffee review tomorrow--the first review of Christmas-themed flavored coffees!)

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: MYSTERY FLAVOR

I approached the Mystery Flavor blend in the same way I do all the coffees I drink for review purposes: I brewed two pots from the sample pack, and I drank cups hot, room temperature, and over ice, with Unsweetened Almond Milk or sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer added. I went in with no preconceived notions, other than there would be some sort of wonder-flavor here. Or, at least something other than just coffee.

When I opened the package, I could smell chocolate... and maybe something else. Cherries maybe? As the coffee brewed, it became clear that this was not one of those blends with an aroma so strong that it made it all the way from the kitchen to my office. A faint aroma of chocolate wafted from the pot, and from the mug as I poured the coffee, but it was only noticeable because I was looking for it.

Taste-wise, this is also one of Bones' more subtle flavors. The chocolate flavor is there, but it's only slightly stronger than the chocolate flavor of a grocery store flavored blend I'll be posting a review of a couple months from now (Signature Select Double-Dutch Chocolate Light Roast), although the chocolate aroma from the Bones coffee grounds was stronger as it brewed. In fact, when I sniffed the coffee in my mug, the strongest scent seemed to be that of cherries... but when I drank it, I tasted coffee with chocolate and a slightly fruity additional flavor that remained beyond my ability to make out clearly. I still think it's cherry, but I can't say for sure.

When I added sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer to the mug, the chocolate and coffee flavors remained, but the fruit/cherry taste seemed to disappear. Interestingly, when I tried the blend with Unsweetened Almond Milk added, the fruity flavor remained and even seemed a bit enhanced: I am almost certain that it's cherry. 

At this point, I broke with my usual protocol and tried drinking the coffee with Unsweetened Almond Milk and Stevia added, just to see what would happen with the blend's mix of flavors. Other than liking it better without the addition of the sweetener--it became too sweet for me--not much changed flavor-wise.

When I drank the Mystery Flavor cold and over ice, it tasted like... well, it tasted like a solid, medium-roast coffee. When I drank it without anything but the ice cubes added, it just a cup of good coffee, with a very faint hint of something salty and sweet. That saltiness has been present in other Bones blends when tried cold, but here it was so faint so as to be barely noticable. When I tried the blend with first sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, and then with Unsweetened Almond Milk, the salty undertones vanished, and what I found myself drinking tasted not unlike the iced coffee I sometimes get at the Jack-in-the-Box drive-thru. (And this is not a dig at this Mystery Flavor blend... I like the iced coffee I get at Jack-in-the-Box.)

In the final analysis, I have to say that this is blend that works best hot or at room temperature, since over ice it just tastes like iced coffee with some type of sweetener added. It's a blend with subtle flavors that I recommend... even if I end up being wrong when I say that the Mystery Flavor is Chocolate-covered Cherries.

Mystery and Morning Coffee ...

UPDATE (1/10/2022)

Bone Coffee Company has revealed what this mystery flavor is: Pumpkin Pecan Praline. I was waaaay off. It must be time to trade the tastebuds in for a new set!

Bones Coffee's Salty Siren and S'morey Time

Today, we bring you another double-feature coffee review post--because we're all revved up on caffeine here! Both of today's reviews were based on Bones Coffee's pre-ground, 4-oz. sample packs of medium-roast, flavored blends made from Brazilian Arabica beans.

Lauren Bacall: The perfect hostess for today's reviews.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: SALTY SIREN

In this piece, I talked about my love for salted caramel coffees. When I discovered that Bones Coffee had a second salted caramel-flavored blend, I had to get myself a pack to see if Salty Siren measured up to the basic Salted Caramel blend.

The Salty Siren package (which sports another very cool Bones cartoon) promises coffee flavored with sea salt, caramel, and chocolate (a "sea salt caramel mocha" flavor, to be precise)... and that is what it delivers. You can smell the caramel when you open the package and as the coffee is brewing, but when you drink it, there's a saltiness and dark chocolate flavor that dominates, along with that of coffee.

The coffee flavor, mixed with the dark chocolate, produces more of an edge than was present in the Salted Caramel blend, so I liked this much better when I added some sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer (unlike the case with Salted Caramel where I was perfectly happy drinking it uncut. Unsweetened vanilla almond milk to mixed especially well with the existing flavors, bringing the saltiness and chocolate flavors to the fore even stronger.

Drinking this blend iced was like a highly salty version of Salted Caramel; the chocolate taste vanished completely and the saltiness became very dominant.

I personally prefer Salted Caramel over the Salty Siren blend, but if you want your salted caramel with a strong salty taste that lingers on your lips as you drink the coffee, this would be the blend to go with.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: S'MOREY TIME

The S'morey Time blend is one of those Bones Coffee selections that I was attracted to more because of the picture on the package than any expectation I'd like it, or curiosity about the flavor. (I hoped I'd like it, of course, but I had very little in the way of preconceived notions going in.)

First, I've never actually had s'mores. I wasn't raised in the U.S. or Canada, so, although I've been camping or otherwise sat around fires and told stories, I've not made s'mores. I've toasted marshmallows, but not sandwiched between crackers and chocolate. I think I may have led a deprived childhood.

Although I am not sure exactly what S'morey Time was supposed to taste like, I enjoyed drinking this a lot. It's also one those delightful Bones Coffee offerings that filled my kitchen and office with a tasty aroma as the coffee brewed--it was the unmistakable smell of marshmallows this time! That same smell drifted up from the mug as I filled it, and it was the foremost flavor--blended smoothly and sweetly with great taste of Bones's medium-roasted Brazilian beans. There was also a smoky flavor that definitely brought a campfire to mind, together with a hint of chocolate. These flavors remained steady when I drank it over ice.

S'morey Time is also one of those Bones Coffee blends that is so sweet- and mellow (marshmallow)-tasting that I could have consumed it without adding any almond milk or creamer. However, unsweetened almond milk and unsweetened almond milk with vanilla mixed well with the flavors without detracting or weakening them all that much, aside from making the coffee's edge even blunter. (In fact, the coffee flavor vanished almost completely when I added the almond milk.)

I did not like this blend when I added the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, whether I was drinking it hot or over ice. It simply became too sweet to my liking.

As far as Bones Coffee selections go, this one is grouped with Peaches and Screams (which, coincidentally, I also happened to cover in the second spot in a two-for-one review post), as a very sweet drink where the coffee flavor is almost erased by the others. The flavors are not as overwhelming as in Peaches and Screams, so if you like your coffee sweet but still tasting like coffee this is a blend to go with. I also really liked the smoky taste that lingered while I consumed this.

Lauren Bacall had to light a cigarette to get that smoky flavor with her coffee.
Too bad she couldn't have gotten a cup of S'morey Time!

I have to add that this was also one of those Bones Coffee blends that appealed to me because of the cartoon on package. I loved the idea of the company mascot toasting marshmallows with a Big Foot and a werewolf while telling ghost stories around a campfire, so it got added to the list of coffees to try to see if I'd love the flavor, too.