I was pretty skeptical about this K-Cup since I have not generally been a fan of the donut-style K-Cup coffees. I also hadn’t heard much about it, but I had tried the decaf version and found it “okay.”

Even though it says Extra Bold, I was expecting a light-roast taste. I was pleasantly surprised.

Donut House Coffee by Green Mountain is a nice, straightforward brew with little aftertaste. It’s smooth but full-bodied (probably because it’s Extra Bold). I also detected some butterscotch notes.

While it’s not one of my absolute favorites, I definitely prefer it to Coffee People Donut Shop or Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend. It’s one that could be a staple for serving guests since it’s a middle-of-the-road kind of roast. It has both a full-bodied and a non-acidic nature.

Brewing a second time

I like it at the 8oz brew setting. A bonus to this K-Cup is that you can get a little more out of it than most. For example, I was down to 2 ounces in my first cup and ran another 4 ounces through. The flavor was almost as strong as the first cup. There was very little difference. I’ve rarely found this to be the case with other K-Cups, even Extra Bolds such as Tully’s House Blend. You run your 8 or 10 ounces, and the K-Cup says “That’s as good as you’re gonna get.”

A note on the best-used-by date

Something else to note is that my Donut House K-Cups were past the best-by date (August 2011) when I got them. The quality was still really good with 4 of them, but the third (sipping as we speak) tastes very different and isn’t as good. I’ve been finding more and more that once K-Cups are past their best-used-by date, it is really a toss up as to the quality.