Some months back a reader emailed me for my thoughts on Coffee People’s Jet Fuel.  At the time I was making my way through a Coffee People sampler box from one of my K-Cup Challenge sponsors.  As I explained to my reader at the time, I hadn’t tried Jet Fuel yet, but since it was included in the sampler I would be reviewing it soon enough.

As it turns out, I’m a big fat liar.  Well, not really a liar…more like an idiot.  In my mind I had crossed up Coffee People’s Wake-Up Call, with their Jet Fuel blend.  They’re both fairly aggressive sounding names, so I can see how it could happen.  The thing is, Wake-Up Call is part of the sampler; Jet Fuel, not so much.  So as not to make a short story any longer, I finally got around to asking my friends at Shoffee to send me a box of Jet Fuel, which they were kind enough to do.  So all these months later, I’m finally delivering on the promise of a Jet Fuel review.

What it Says on the Box

Attention ground control.  This full-bodied XX bold coffee packs a punch.

The Aroma

The quick description is that it smells like Coffee People coffee (do enough of these reviews and you start to recognize aromatic distinctions between the blends – even if you can’t really describe them).  I’m getting a hint of dark cocoa, with just a touch of sweetness – and the scent of a little something that sits on the back of the throat.  Like I said, it smells like Coffee People Coffee.

Drinking it Black

I’m thinking with a name like Jet Fuel, it’s going to be dark.  Very dark.  Very likely darker than I’m going to want to drink without some cream and sugar.  Let’s try it, shall we…

Oh yeah…that’s dark, but the coffee flavor is outstanding, even with a little bit of bite on the back of your throat.  I find it to be unexpectedly acidic for a dark roast.  It’s giving me a touch of the cotton mouth, and the flavor…well…it’s almost like I’m chewing coffee beans here.  Jet Fuel certainly lacks the nuances of other dark roasts I love like Van Houtte’s Eclipse Blend, Caribou Mahogany, or Green Mountain’s Dark Magic.  Jet Fuel is a no nonsense, working man’s dark roast.  Coffee for coffee’s sake.

With Cream and Sugar

Yeah, good luck.  One of the ways I measure the richness of a dark roast is by whether or not I can make it light enough and sweet enough for my wife to drink it.  With Jet Fuel it’s not going to happen.  I won’t even try.

For my own drinking pleasure I’ve mixed it to a nice caramel brown.  Even though I’ve used less sugar than I normally would, I honestly think it would be better without it.  My recommendation with Jet Fuel is to use a little bit of cream to cut the bite, but leave the sugar out.  There’s enough natural sweetness to the blend; no need to ruin the classic coffee flavor with an excess of sugar.

Final Thoughts

If you want a light roast, or even a medium roast, try something else.  If you’re looking for a very good, no frills, white collar cup of dark roast coffee, Jet Fuel will fit the bill quite nicely.  There’s not a lot of nuance to the blend, not a lot of subtlety either.  Coffee People’s Jet Fuel is a very simple, straightforward, dark cup of joe, and well, that’s plenty good enough for me.

Shameless Plug

This K-Cup Challenge review, like many others is made possible by outstanding sponsors like Shoffee.com.  Shoffee is well on its way to becoming the web’s favorite coffee shop.  Why not join the thousands of others who already get their K-Cups from Shoffee.com?  In addition to outstanding selection and great prices, Shoffee offers weekly specials through its Cup of the Week site.  Also check out the Shoffee Blog for K-Cup news and other special promotions.

While you’re here, check out all of the coffee reviews in my K-Cup Challenge.