Peace Coffee-Blue Ox Review

A while back Peace Coffee sent me one of their blends called BLUE OX to review.

Here are the specs of the blend:

Why the Blue Ox Blend?
One of the reason’s the name Blue Ox Blend was chosen is because it is so “Minnesotan”! For those of you that hail from other states in the US and have not heard the folktale that is told to all children in MN click here to enjoy an abbreviated version of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. A co-worker from Oregon said her parents read her the story….so Minnesota folklore travels wide and far.

A dynamic blend of three coffees that highlights the individual flavors of each origin.

Roast Level: Light, Medium, & Dark
Acidity: Medium-High
Body: Medium-Heavy
Aroma: Orange, spice, earth, dark chocolate
Flavor Notes: Caramel, dark chocolate, graham, orange marmalade

Now that you have an idea on what to expect lets get into a few aspects of the coffee. I’ll be discussing Visual, Aroma and Taste characteristics of the coffee.

Visual-Packaging is very clever, great color scheme and design. But I’m not here to talk about the package! Let’s look at the beans. There’s nothing prettier than a sight of fresh beans. Just by looking at the beans, I get the impression that this would be a lighter tasting coffee.

Aroma-I gotta be honest, this one is not your typical coffee aroma. I can definitely smell some sort of spice, but I can’t put my finger on it. In fact the scent reminds me of tomato sauce. If anything its a really sweet scent. Perhaps that sweetness is what they described as the “orange marmalade.” The more I spend time smelling the beans, the more it blooms. I am began to smell the dark chocolates. I think the best way to describe the scent would be this…if you take a fine piece of dark chocolate, let it sit on your tongue to melt a bit, then take a deep breath through your nose…do you taste that flavor? It has a bit of acidity, sweet, but dark. Well that’s what the Blue Ox smells like.

Rather than using a French Press, I opted for my automatic Mr. Coffee machine. I figured most coffee consumers machines than presses. I grounded the beans to about a medium coarse texture and proceeded to brew. As I wait a few minutes, I see my shirtless reflection on the microwave. I start to flex and convince myself that I’m actually kinda buff and that I’m not as fat as I think I am. I flex my traps and my shoulders and then look down at my belly…I’m not that fat….DING! Coffee is done! That breaks up my flexing activities and I reach for the coffee.

Taste:
I pour out the coffee into my mug, it looks great. I am about to enjoy it black, like my bikes. It has a very pretty gold hue to it and as weird as it sounds, it looks shiny! I take my first sip and was pleasantly surprised on how light the coffee is. I immediately taste the med-high acidity level. Dark chocolate flavors are more obvious now that the coffee is in liquid form. With its choclaty flavor, Blue Ox could actually be a good breakfast coffee, its light enough so you don’t feel like you’re getting slapped in the face with some sort of bold coffee. But its dark/bold enough to get your attention. One thing I liked about the Blue Ox is that there wasn’t this rush of caffeine that I’d feel after drinking a cup of coffee. It’s a very mild high and my heart isn’t about to come out my chest…that’s a good thing.

Overall, its a great tasting coffee, a bit on the acidic side, but certainly something different. I liked the Blue Ox because the aroma and flavors I experienced in this coffee is certainly different from other coffees that I’ve tried from Starbucks, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf as well as other brands. Priced at $10.95 a pound, you can order the Blue Ox or any of their variety of coffees online.

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