My sample of Coffee People Vanilla Avalanche came out of a Coffee People flavored coffee sampler that was sent to me by Qwowi sponsor OneGreatCup.  This is the 4th and final review born from that sampler.  For those who haven’t been keeping track; I DESPISED Chai Coffee so much I’m actually thinking of using the much maligned blink tag to illustrate my disdain.

I liked Kafe-Lua, and more surprisingly, really liked Berry Blast.  Did I mention how much I hated Chai Coffee?  Honesty, I’d rather drink my dog’s vomit, but I digress (yet again).  This of course brings us to Vanilla Avalanche, which, without giving too much away too early in the review, was a huge disappointment.

The Description

Fall for Madagascar vanilla infused with intense coffee.

The Aroma

Perhaps my expectations were too high, but after the strength of the Berry Blast aromas, I expected Vanilla Avalanche to crash over me with, well…an avalanche of vanilla. That simply didn’t happen.

The vanilla aroma of Coffee People’s Vanilla Avalanche is not nearly as strong as I expected, and not as vanilla-rific as Green Mountain’s French Vanilla.  In fact, I found the aroma to be equally as nutty as it is vanilla-y, which wouldn’t bad, but I feel like a vanilla flavored coffee should smell a lot more like vanilla than this one does.

Drinking it Black

With the aroma question answered (FAIL), it shouldn’t come as any real surprise that that Coffee People’s Vanilla Avalanche isn’t busting down a mountain with vanilla flavors.  Instead, as it often is with vanilla flavoring, the vanilla flavor is subtle and blends in with the nuttiness that I mentioned up there in the aroma section.

In terms of flavor, it’s on par with other vanillas, but again, given the richness of the flavors of Berry Blast and Kafe-Lua, my expectation was an other-worldly vanilla experience, and this K-Cup simply doesn’t deliver.

With Cream and Sugar

Nothing, nada, zip, zilch.  With cream and sugar, Vanilla Avalanche is just ok, which exactly what it is without cream and sugar.  I actually went back to recheck and make sure I was actually drinking Vanilla Avalanche and not some other Coffee People K-Cup I’ve got sitting around the house.  The vanilla flavor is so muted it borders on pointless.

Often times cream and sugar help to coax out more flavor in these types of infused coffees, but that’s unfortunately not the case here.  In truth, this one should probably be called Vanilla Nut, because as I said, it’s equal parts vanilla and nut, with neither pronounced enough to stand alone on the label.

Final Thoughts

At the risk of sounding excessively negative, I can’t think of any compelling reason to ever drink Coffee People’s Vanilla Avalanche again.  In truth, the only real shortcoming of Vanilla Avalanche may be that it’s not up to the level of Berry Blast.  Once again, expectations when not met can snowball into a total disaster.

Maybe vanilla lovers could get on board, but vanilla bean to vanilla bean (and coffee bean to coffee bean), I think Green Mountain’s French Vanilla is the better of the two Vanilla flavored coffees I’ve tried so far (although admittedly, I didn’t exactly love that one either).

I’ll keep looking, but as of right now, Vanilla flavored K-Cups have been nearly a total bust (and not just because one of the Coffee People K-Cups blew up in my brewer).

Shameless Plug

Just because I didn’t care for the variety in the review isn’t any reason to not support my K-Cup Challenge sponsors like OneGreatCup.  If you’re like me, and Vanilla flavored coffee isn’t your thing, you should definitely try one the other varieties from Coffee People (Black Tiger is out standing), or even another brand like Tully’s or Diedrich.

Whatever you’re K-Cup needs, be they coffee, tea, or a brand new brewer, OneGreatCup can help you out with all of your Keurig-related needs.

While you’re here at Qwowi, check out the constantly growing list of K-Cup reviews that are part of the K-Cup Challenge.