A bit ago, we beat Mark (Ritz, co-owner) to the punch by leaking his new label designs.  They adorned the four packs of freshly roasted Kinetic Koffee varieties he sent us to taste…or perhaps he thought we just weren’t pumping out enough posts on the site and wanted to get us jacked up.
The first two we brewed up were Espresso Kinetico followed by Morning Mayhem.
ESPRESSO KINETICO
Sweetie’s not a big coffee drinker, whereas I’ve moved from winter drinking only to full year-round consumption now that my beloved BURN Energy Drink out of stock.  And Sweetie needed a replacement morning fix, too. I asked Mark if there was a particular blend that might be a good one for Sweetie to try to ease her into the coffee habit.  To my surprise, he recommended the Espresso Kinetico.
Typically, I thought, Espresso coffees are rich, bold shots. But, Mark explains:
“It’s extremely smooth, it’s very low acid.  The beans you have to use in Espresso, because you have to press the grounds so much when making espresso, have to be very low acid…typically what people don’t like in coffee is the acidity.  Our blend is Central South American and Indonesian coffee beans that are low in acid.  We also use a Northern Italian roast, which is lighter than a typical American espresso roast.  My wife and I honeymooned in Tuscany, and we tried to find a roast and blend that mimicked what we had there.  We’ve had people from Italy try it and they said it tastes like home.”
After grinding, brewing and pouring, what I had was a really, really smooth coffee.  In fact, I would venture to say it’s the best coffee I’ve ever brewed.  Acidity? None.  Awesomeness?  Lots.  It was mellow and delicious; full flavored, but not aggressive. I wasn’t more or less jacked up than from other coffees, but it was far more enjoyable than the usual variety of beans I get from Costco.  Even Sweetie liked it, albeit mixed 50/50 over ice and skim milk and a good bit of sugar.
MORNING MAYHEM
Morning Mayhem is a bolder, stronger coffee than the Espresso Kinetico.  Here’s how Mark explains it:
“Morning Mayhem was our very first blend and has consistently been our best selling blend.  It’s a really smooth, robust cup of coffee.  It’s a blend of Central and South American coffee beans.”
‘Robust’ is a good word, it’s like saying a ‘freezing’ wind is ‘bracing’, it makes it sound better.  Here, ‘robust’ could translate to ‘strong.’  Not to be confused with ‘bitter’, mind you, just ‘strong’.  Maybe ‘sharp’ is the word I’m looking for…it cut through the milk and sugar more assertively than the Espresso did, and I ended up grinding slightly less beans to brew a more mild cup, which suits my tastes.
SO HERE’S THE REVIEW:
It’s excellent coffee that’s USDA Organic, roasted to order in small batches and purchased almost entirely from fair trade certified farmers.  Plus, 10% of net profits go to outdoor and cycling related non-profit organizations.  Coffee, along with most food items, are things we probably won’t apply our “thumbs up” rating to simply because there are too many variables among personal tastes to rate on a scale that would make any sense to you.  Instead, we’ll just describe them as best we can, and leave it to you to decide if you want to try.  That said, if you’re looking for something better than what you get at the grocery/big box store and you like cycling, give Kinetic Koffee a try.  On the fence?  OK, Mark has a little something to sway your opinion:
BONUS!
The first five people to order online at kinetic-koffee.com and put “bikerumor” in the comment field will get a free pair of Kinetic Koffee cycling socks, made by SockGuy.
For a point of reference, I start with cold water in the coffee maker. I pur my coffee in a 14oz mug with about 1.5oz skim milk and 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar, and it’s ground with a GE blade grinder set to Espresso regardless of the type of coffee being made:
Want to know more about Kinetic Koffee?  Read our interview with Mark Ritz.
