I used to be an occasional coffee drinker — maybe if I felt like I wanted the caffeine for work or driving, or if it was something a bit more dessert-like. Working with a bunch of engineers, in an office with a good automatic coffee machine, increased my coffee consumption considerably. Black, sugar substitute, milk or cream, flavored, iced, frozen drinks, whatever.
Then one year various family members wanted flavored coffees from Christopher Bean for Christmas, and I got a couple of them myself out of curiosity. Not bad, not world-changing though. It took me a while to get through those.
Once the pandemic hit I started drinking coffee at home a lot more. This increased once I got a handy single-serving machine (I don’t use disposable K-cups though — first I used a reusable K-cup, then when that machine gave up the ghost, I got a better one for my birthday which has its own internal scoop). The nice thing about flavored coffees is, there’s little to no actual sugar unless you add it, just the flavor. Some overall ratings in the Japanese style:
S Tier:
- Cameron’s Highlander Grog
- New England Coffee Sabro blend (cinnamon/vanilla/nut, inspired by horchata!)
A Tier:
- New England Coffee Butter Pecan
- New England Coffee Blueberry Cobbler
B Tier: - Christopher Bean, just in general
- Cameron’s other flavors that I’ve tried
C Tier: - New England Coffee Pistachio Ice Cream
- Entemann’s Chocolate Donut Coffee
D Tier: - Bones Coffee, except for Electric Unicorn
F Tier: - Bones Coffee Electric Unicorn
- Tortuga Rum Cream
So with that in mind, I’m putting in my next New England Coffee order: Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Cappucino, Coconut Almond Candy Bar, and Swiss Chocolate Almond. Don’t tell the engineers I’m not drinking plain black coffee…