To me the words “peach” and “coffee” belong together almost as much as “peanut butter” and “tuna fish”.  Sure, they’re both edible, and sure, they both go well with other things, but together…call me skeptical.  Skepticism aside, when Green Mountain releases a new flavor, especially a limited edition seasonal, I feel almost obligated to give it a right proper drinking, even if I do think that conceptually, it’s a wee bit strange.

As some of my more frequent readers know, I long ago departed the “I don’t like flavored coffee” train, having been pleasantly surprised more often than I can count.  It’s also worth mentioning that more often than not, it has been Green Mountain who is responsible for the pleasant surprising.  So while the coffee is still in the box, I might not be too keen on the combo, Green Mountain does out of the box really well, and since out of the box is where the coffee gets drunk, I had a hunch this little peach experiment was going to turn out alright.

The Description

Deliciously refreshing. Bursting with the flavors of a ripe, juicy peach.

I’m not one who has ever really thought of coffee as refreshing (not like you’d have a cup after a long day of yard work or anything like that), but well, over ice…

The Aroma

Peachy…  Not I realize that as far as vivid descriptions go, it’s just slightly more creative than describing leaves as green, but really it’s the only adjective that fits.  The Perfect Peach smells like peaches, and not a whole lot else.  It’s almost completely devoid of any coffee aromas.  It’s kinda strange.

Drinking it Black

Let me start out by saying I don’t recommend drinking any of the various fruity flavored coffees black.  My thinking is that they’ve been designed to be consumed light and sweet, so why fight it.  It is still summer right?  As far as the flavor goes…I’m inclined to call it confusing.  At first sip one is practically overwhelmed by a strong peach flavor.  Initially I felt like I wasn’t even drinking coffee.  It’s right on the verge of being fruit juice, and then almost out of nowhere, the peach flavor is dissipated by the punch (more like a bitch-slap I supp0se), of a mildly sweet, light roast coffee.

So yeah, the coffee flavor is there, but by the time it kicks in, I found myself feeling like somebody just stole my fruit juice right out from under my tongue.  It’s weird.

With Cream and Sugar

Adding cream and sugar only enhances the flavor, which is good, except that it makes it that much more troubling when the sweetness disappears.  I don’t mean this to sound like I don’t like Green Mountain’s Perfect Peach (nothing could be further from the truth), but the flavor is 2 tiered, and I find myself quite content on the first peachy tier, and somewhat reticent to leave it when the coffee flavor arrives.  All that said, this is a really outstanding light roast summer option for those who aren’t overly traditional (stuffy) about their coffee.

Over Ice

A peach infused coffee is pretty much screaming to be served cold.  Much to my surprise, and perhaps even to my dismay, Green Mountain’s the Perfect Peach loses some of it’s rich peach flavor when served over ice.  I took special care to brew the coffee extra strong, and wait until it was cold to pour it over the ice, so it’s not like I watered it down or anything.

Over ice, it actually takes on more of a coffee flavor.  Served hot, I would describe it as a peach beverage with a hint of coffee. Served cold, it’s coffee with a hint of peach flavor.  Either way, it’s still very good, but again, I found the peach flavor to be less overpowering when served cold.

Final Thoughts

Of all the fruit infused K-Cups I’ve tried to date, Green Mountain’s The Perfect Peach is the most un-coffee like of the lot.  That’s certainly not a bad thing, as it stands up quite nicely on its own merits – especially over ice.  That said, the general lack of coffee-ness might make it less appealing to traditional coffee drinkers.  Of course, the flip-side to that argument is that The Perfect Peach might be very appeal to those lunatics out there who otherwise wouldn’t drink coffee at all.

Shameless Plug

QwowiCoffee and the K-Cup Challenge rely on donations to keep the site up and running. Well, actually, not donations per se, more like kick backs. Basically how it works is you read one of my reviews, decide that you might like to try some Green Mountain Coffee, like The Perfect Peach, or even become a Cafe Express subscriber (which allows you to save $2 off each box of Green Mountain or Caribou Coffee you buy). Heck, maybe you buy a Keurig Brewer, or some other totally unique product from Green Mountain. The point is, whatever you buy, Green Mountain is kind enough to give me a little something back, which in turn helps me to pay for things like web hosting, and a whole bunch of other website-related stuff. Heck, if you buy enough coffee, I may be able afford some plants, or grass seed for my lawn; neither of which really has little to do with site maintenance, but damned if my lawn doesn’t look more like a waste bunker than a fairway. So anyway, shop at Green Mountain, you’ll not only get great coffee, but you’ll also help make one small part of the world (my back yard) that much greener.

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