A Thought Over Coffee: Folgers in Review

I know, this has been a very long time coming. I received an email several weeks ago asking if I would be willing to try Folgers new gourmet coffee. I said sure. Keep in mind that there are many things I look for in coffee -- freshness, Fair Trade/Organic Certified, whole bean, non-flavored, and interesting or an "all day drinker" as I like to say. I also entered this "taste test" with a few pre-opinions which I tried to not let get in the way of what I think about coffee. Folgers sent me three different coffees to taste: Morning Cafe, Lively Colombian, and Vanilla Biscotti. Here is what I thought.

It is important to keep in mind that there is a very large varity of coffee available. From Robustas to Arabicas to blends, there is a coffee suitable for every person. While I have my own thoughts about what makes a great cup of coffee, I have learned that what I like is not always the first choice of others.

When I received this box of coffee, there was the same plesant aroma that I get from our current roaster. I was impressed with this as I normally do not pick up on these types of flavors with past Folgers coffee. I opened each of the following bags and they each had a very strong (but nice) scent that made you feel at home.

The following were my frist, very rough, thoughts about the coffee. I mentioned above about some opinions I have on coffee and what I feel is important, namely: Fair Trade Certified, Organic Certified, Fresh, Interesting, All Day Drinkers.

Here are my thoughts..

I tried the Morning Cafe blend first. Folgers says that this blend is light-bodied with a clean finish and a delicate, bright taste and aroma. I had this in the evening -- will that change my opinion of it? Just kidding. When it first hit my tough, I was impressed. It did taste a bit "stale" but way better than what I have had from them in the past (which is not much). I was very disappointed with the after taste however. It left me feeling like I needed to brush my teeth which did not make me feel good about the coffee.

I never have and probably never will like flavored coffee. Sorry Folgers, your did not change my mind either. I was not impressed with the coffee palate as all I could taste was vanilla. Folgers says this has a smooth vanilla flavor and a smooth finish. Sounds good to me -- I still do not like flavored coffee.

The Lively Colombian was probably the best of the group to me. Folgers says this brew is distinctively rich and full-bodied and consists of 100% Colombian beans. I first tried it and was pleased but again, the after taste stole the show. What is it about this type of coffee? What I love the most in a coffee is what it leaves me with -- memories, ideas, passion, creativity. This did not leave me with much.

Folgers is roasting 100% Arabica beans which is nice and two of the three selections were sent in whole bean form which was very nice -- great job. What about a Fair Trade Blend (or two or three)? What about an Organic blend? I did not see as much of a difference between the two non-flavors as I would have liked but a large step as been made from the previous offerings. Thanks for that.

I also heard from a comment on this blog that:

Folgers (Proctor and Gamble) buys beans from Vietnam, which recently declared 89% of its beans sub-standard. I just posted on this, and there's a link to a great article on the horrible toll the coffee industry -- funded largely by the Big Four roasters -- has taken on Vietnam.

Do you know anything about this?