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Kaldi's Coffee Review

Coffee Review: Kaldi’s Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya

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Kaldis Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya
When you drink as much coffee as I do, it honestly takes a very special coffee to stand out from the rest. It’s not as difficult for a Coffee Roaster to stand out from the rest (consistency, excellence, and above and beyond customer service will seal that deal – all traits I strongly associate with Kaldi’s Coffee). However, when your world is filled with different roasts, different blends, different origins, different names, different flavors, different tones, etc… the coffee has to be exceptional to break free from the pack.

There are a few such coffees that have left (and for several, continue to leave) such an impression on me that I remember their names as well as I remember the names of my cats. Okay, well almost.

  • Kaldi’s Birds & Bees (as my husband can tell you, this is the one I measure all coffee to – it’s my coffee grail – as in “a thing that is being earnestly pursued or sought after.” I’m always looking for coffee that tickles my coffee fancy as much as their Birds and Bees does)
  • Kaldi’s Decaf Highlander Grogg (the best decaf coffee on earth, period)
  • Starbucks Kati Kati (whatever happened to Kati Kati – like, where’d it go go?!)
  • Kaldi’s Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya (I call her Elcy for short)

Review Continued Below…

Kaldis Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya
Before we get to the last beauty (who just turned my “Top 3” into a “Top 4”), I have to ask, did you ever try Starbuck’s Kati Kati coffee beans? The first year they came out, I bought a bag in our local Starbucks. The bag was beautiful (all their bags are especially gorgeous – and I love that they’re “themed,” they match the region the beans came from), the beans smelled amazing, and the name was “love at first sight.” When we brewed it, it was obvious the flavor did the great name justice. PHENOMENAL. But here’s the thing, I waited all year for the “seasonal” coffee to come out again, but when it did, it was not the same. It was good, mind you, but it was no longer PHENOMENAL.

Then, the coffee kind of disappeared. I waited for the next “season” again and it pulled a no show. Then the next – same.

Yet, I have always remembered the amazing, naturally sweet flavor and the hint of orange in the background.

Okay, fast forward to this week. My husband’s most recent Kaldi’s Coffee order included a bag of coffee we’d never tried before: Kaldi’s Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya. The first thing that caught me was (like Kati Kati) the name. Elcy. Beautiful name!

After I good-naturedly chided him for not adding a Birds & Bees and Decaf Highlander Grogg to the order, I anxiously tried Elcy. Guess what it reminded me of? Exactly! Kati Kati, the first year.

But it gets better.

Guess what it was even better than? Exactly! Kati Kati, the first year.

There is an unmistakable sweetness to this coffee along with an addictive citrus background. I have enjoyed Elcy in “Bulletproof” coffees (coffee with butter and coconut oil added, then blended) as well as on her own. It is excellent… let’s make that PHENOMENAL each and every way.  I actually saved one of my cups of coffee of Elcy this morning and put it over ice. I pretty much live from one iced coffee to the next in the summer months, so this was my “Spring Training.”

Please don’t tell Birds & Bees, but it won’t be the only coffee I’m putting on ice this summer.

Kaldi’s Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya (Elcy) reminds me of enjoying a sweet, soft orange danish along with a cup of the best coffee in the world – but it’s even better. No calories and no sticky fingers!

PHENOMENAL.

If you love great coffee (and why would you be reading a coffee review if you didn’t?), you simply have to order a bag of Kaldi’s Colombia Monserrate Elcy Causaya right away.


Coffee Review: Decaf Highlander Grogg from Kaldi’s Coffee

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Kaldi's Coffee Decaf Highlander Grogg

The Best Decaf Coffee You Buy Online (or Off!)

I suppose in a lot of “normal” households, coffee is something that’s enjoyed in the morning, then not even thought about until the following morning.  But normal isn’t a frequent guest in our home (he showed up once, looked dazed, then left – we haven’t heard from him since). We pretty much celebrate the beauty of coffee from the start of our day right up until the end. However, since the end involves something else we celebrate – sleep – we always have great decaf coffee on hand.

While I’d have a tough time naming my absolute #1 favorite coffee with caffeine, I can easily tell you the best decaf coffee you can find online or off: Decaf Highlander Grogg from Kaldi’s Coffee.

If you’ve read any of my coffee reviews on the food blog, the name Kaldi’s won’t be new to you. It’s truly some of the best coffee you can buy.  When I DO attempt to name my favorite overall coffee, in fact, a few of Kaldi’s coffees are the first ones out of my mouth: Birds & Bees has, for years, been the first coffee to roll off my tongue and it’s usually followed by other Kaldi’s coffees such as Cafe Kaldi, Highlander Grogg, and a new obsession: Ethiopia Buufata Konga.

{Review Continued Below…}

Kaldi's Coffee Decaf Highlander Grogg

 

Whatever history you have with decaf coffee, Kaldi’s Decaf Highlander Grogg will change everything you ever thought you knew about decaf coffee.

Decaf Highlander Grogg tastes just like a great coffee with caffeine. In fact, the first time my husband brewed some for our youngest daughter and me, I thought he’d made a mistake. Don’t tell him, but I even checked the bag.  The subtle maple-spice flavor in the background is the secret behind its magic. It’s simply fantastic.

We normally enjoy Decaf Highlander Grogg made with a pour over, but it’s just as perfect made with an Aeorbie Aeropress or even in a coffee machine. The flavor always shows up and, trust me, it’s out of this world.

The next time you want to order coffee online, you really have to try Kaldi’s Coffee.  If you’re looking for the best decaf coffee you can buy online, Kaldi’s Decaf Highlander Grogg is your guy.

More Kaldi’s Coffee Reviews on Get Cooking:

Kaldi's Coffee Decaf Highlander Grogg

Coffee Review: Kaldi’s Birds & Bees (One of the Best Coffees Ever)

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Kaldi's Coffee Mug

Kaldi’s Coffee Birds & Bees 

Let me tell you about the Birds and the Bees….

Most coffee drinkers consider it to be walking on dangerous grounds when you claim a particular coffee as your favorite.  They warn, “What if you change your mind?! What then?”

My answer? Well… you simply start naming another as your favorite and thank the previous guy for the warm and wonderful memories.

Personally, I’ve had three coffees that I’ve given the coveted title of “Joi’s Personal Favorite” to.  Given the fact that I’ve been a coffee drinker since before I could even spell coffee (as a child, I was given coffee to combat severe asthma), that’s saying something.

My first “favorite” was Millstone Coffee’s Kona Blend. Then came another Millstone coffee, Foglifter. To this day I’m not entirely sure which I was more in love with, the name or the coffee.

Although the relationships lasted too many years to count, Kona and Foglifter have been “coffees that I used to know” for some time now. My absolute favorite coffee these days is Kaldi’s Birds & Bees. I have no idea how long Birds & Bees has been my go to coffee. I do know that it’s been so long that I can’t remember a time when I said anything but “Kaldi’s Birds & Bees” when asked what my favorite coffee was.

What is a go to coffee?  It’s like a favorite pair of Levi’s or a favorite comfort food… a favorite seat for watching Sunday Night Baseball or that feeling you get when you hold that “special someone’s” hand.  It’s something that’s so RIGHT that it makes all the WRONGS in the world completely fade away.

A go to coffee… your favorite coffee… is an experience as much as it is a beverage.

Kaldi’s Birds & Bees Bio:

A South and Central American blend of hard-bean coffees, roasted hot and long until most of their essential oils rise to the surface. A classic roast perennially favored in Continental Europe.

ORIGIN: Central America

What I Love Most About Kaldi’s Birds & Bees

This may sound a little corny, but one of the things I love most about Kaldi’s Birds & Bees has to do with what it’s NOT as much as what it IS.

It’s NOT trying to be anything except what it is – extraordinary coffee.  No hints of this, undercurrents of that, or aroma of the other. What you taste is extraordinary coffee. What you smell is extraordinary coffee. What you still taste is extraordinary coffee.

I’m old school when it comes to baseball and I’m old school when it comes to coffee. Sabermetrics and coffee that wears a Carmen Miranda hat? Not a fan of either.

For my non-baseball readers, sabermetrics is the “over thinking” side of baseball.  Come on. Take the bat. Swing hard. Run.

For my super young readers, Carmen Miranda was the lady with lots of fruit on her hat.

I love the fact that Kaldi’s Birds & Bees is outrageously delicious coffee, each and every time… which brings me to another thing I love about this coffee. I can trust Birds & Bees from bag to bag.

Have you ever bought a bag of beans only to find that they didn’t taste like they “once” tasted? It has happened to me several times. Ironically, one of my exes (Foglifter) doesn’t taste remotely like it once did. Same can be said of Starbucks Kati Kati. When it first came out, it rocked my world. The very next year… it didn’t even rock my kitchen chair.

Kaldi’s Birds & Bees is the same perfection bag after bag after bag and cup after cup after cup.

All Kaldi’s Coffee is actually extremely reliable and completely off the charts. They consistently rock my chair, kitchen, and world. Heck I might even print up a t-shrit that says, “Kaldi’s Coffee Rocks My Mug” – see what I did there? Yeah, I’m rolling today.

[Coffee Review Continued Beneath the Loveliness…]

Kaldi's Birds and Bees Coffee

Kaldi’s Birds & Bees Plays Beautifully with Others

Michael (aka husband and chief coffee brewer in our home) and I love to play with our coffee throughout the day. The morning cups are pretty straight-forward. After all, they have a job to do… turn us into humans. Later in the day, he’ll often make us flat whites, espressos, lattes, cappuccinos, iced coffee, and so on. Some coffees are excellent in the morning, but you can’t count on them past 9:00 am.

Then there are the night owl coffees – they’ll do fine if you give them enough cream and sugar, but on their own they’re just meh.

Not only is Kaldi’s Birds & Bees the best morning cup of coffee you could possibly hope for, it is exceptional in every other form as well.

If Kaldi’s ever gives one of their coffees the “Franchise” tag, it should be Birds & Bees… the MVP in the coffee world. Most Valuable Perk.

If you love coffee, and I’m guessing that the fact you’re reading one of my coffee reviews means you do, I hope you’ll give Kaldi’s Birds & Bees a chance to rock your world. It’s coffee the way coffee was meant to be enjoyed.

THIS is the kind of coffee that has made coffee a legend.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for coffee with extra flavors, undercurrents, and aromas. They’re fun and, more times than not, they’re downright delicious.  They simply aren’t my personal favorite coffee.

That would be Kaldi’s Birds & Bees.

Kaldi's Coffee Birds and Bees

 Kaldi’s Coffee: Birds & Bees…. Perfect in Every Way.

More Kaldi’s Coffee Reviews:

Kaldi’s Coffee New World Mocha Java Blend

Kaldi’s Ethiopia Buufata Konga