The Good: Wonderfully flavorful, Nicely caffeinated, Holds its flavor with sweeteners and creamers
The Bad: Comparatively expensive
The Basics: The Organic Coffee Co. Rainforest Blend Coffee might make the consumer pay for having ethics, but they make a damn fine cup of coffee!
I have an awesome discount store near me and it is truly revitalizing my coffee reviews by virtue of getting in amazing coffees from all around the world and offering them to me at affordable prices that I would not otherwise find them at. Today, I am thoroughly enjoying that store for bringing The Organic Coffee Co. Rainforest Blend coffee into my life. The Organic Coffee Co. Rainforest Blend is expensive everywhere else, but it turns out it is an exceptional coffee and for such an ethically-manufactured and distributed blend, it is just about worth it!
Basics
One of the premium coffee roasters in the United States, The Organic Coffee Co. produces a number of blends and is the branding for the Rogers Family Company's coffee distribution network. Rainforest Blend is advertised as a medium blend, bit it is a delightfully dark blend from The Organic Coffee Co. Rainforest Blend is an intense, appropriately coffee flavored coffee that lives up to the serious coffee drinker’s expectations on its own or with additives, while boasting beans that are organically grown. The Organic Coffee Co. Rainforest Blend comes in an 12 oz. plastic bag of ground coffee. Because it is not whole bean, no grinding is required. The Rainforest Blend Coffee is easily protected from absorbing scents of other foods, as it comes with a sticky tab for resealing. Even so, given how quickly my wife and I went through this wonderful blend (less than a week after we first opened the bag), retaining freshness is hardly an issue!
Rainforest Blend Coffee is an aromatic blend in and out of the bag and it is caffeinated.
Ease Of Preparation
Rainforest Blend Coffee is remarkably easy to prepare, no advanced culinary degrees necessary! First, open the bag. The Organic Coffee Co. Rainforest Blend Coffee is vacuum sealed when first purchased, but when the bag is cut open, it allows easy access to the ground coffee within. After cutting open the bag, procure a scoop (not included) and measure out one heaping tablespoon for every two cups of water in your coffee maker. Rainforest Blend Coffee is intended for automatic (drip or percolating) coffee makers, like my Hamilton Beach coffee maker (reviewed here!). This is NOT an instant coffee. As a result, it needs to be brewed.
Consult your coffee maker's instructions for how to brew the coffee. However, as far as the basics go, you'll need a coffee filter, like the Crucial Coffee #4 Permanent Coffee Filter (reviewed here), in which you put the Rainforest Blend Coffee and then brew through your coffee maker. The directions recommend making a pot at a time. The Organic Coffee Co. does not make an explicit recommendation about refrigerating the bag after opening it, though I tend to recommend cool, dark and dry for places for storing coffee.
Taste
The Rainforest Blend smells like the perfect embodiment of a dark-roast coffee. The super-concentrated aroma of coffee wafts out of the mug in a very inviting way.
On the tongue, the Rainforest Blend lives up to its promise of being a coffee, though it is far more full-bodied than the packaging states. The flavor is dark, without being overbearing; bitter without being unpleasant. The result is a fully-roasted coffee flavor that does taste at all watery, light or like anything other than coffee. The robust blend is appropriately bitter without overwhelming the palate with a generic bitterness.
With creamer, the bitterness dissipates, but the coffee flavor does not. In fact, this is one of the best blends for flavoring because the coffee flavor in the Rainforest Blend holds its own against creamers and sweeteners, without losing its essential dark roasted coffee flavor!
The Rainforest Blend leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste in the mouth for about five minutes after it is last consumed.
Nutrition
This is coffee, not something that appears on the nutrition pyramid! The Organic Coffee Co. Rainforest Blend Coffee does not contribute anything to one's daily recommended allowance of anything. In fact, the bag lists only 100% Arabica coffee as the only ingredient.
This is a caffeinated blend, though and it feels like it! This has enough caffeine to pop one's eyes open and I found it to be pleasantly caffeinated when I wanted to keep awake and the aroma itself opens one’s eyes and nose! Because it is a caffeinated coffee, it appears to not have undergone any of the chemical processes that sometimes cause complications in decaffeinated coffees.
Storage/Clean-up
Rainforest Blend Coffee ought to be stored sealed in its bay with the top firmly closed. Coffee is known to absorb flavors of food nearby it, so keeping the bag tightly closed is highly recommended. There are different schools of thought on refrigerating open coffee and I have a very clean refrigerator with a lot of ways to segregate coffee, so I tend to come down on the side of refrigerate it. Stored properly, this coffee might have easily made stayed fresh for years (I could not find an expiration date on our bag), but we went through the 12 oz. bag in less than a week after we opened it.
After brewing, coffee grounds ought to be disposed of. This does not seem like an ideal coffee to make a second pot with (though a second brewing came out 5/8 as potent, which is about as strong as a standard cup of weak/medium coffee). These grounds may be thrown in the trash when used or put in a compost pile, if available. Coffee grounds make great compost.
Overall
The Organic Coffee Co. Rainforest Blend Coffee is my first experience with the brand and it was such a good experience that I know I will try some of their other blends. But for those who like robust coffee and have the desire to buy organically-produced coffee, the Rogers Family Company makes an awesome, if expensive, blend with the Rainforest Blend. It is definitely worth the attention of those who love coffee!
For other coffee reviews, please visit my reviews of:
Amora Intenso Blend Coffee
The Coffee Fool Fool's Caramel Nut Blend
Dunkin' Donuts Cinnamon Coffee Roll Coffee
8/10
For other drink reviews, please check out my Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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