Green Mountain Naturals Hot Apple Cider K-Cup

Manufacturer: Green Mountain Coffee
Manufacturer Website
Rating: A-

We have a bit of a novel beverage getting the Critical Tastings treatment today. Green Mountain Coffee has introduced a Hot Apple Cider K-Cup under their "Green Mountain Naturals" line. As soon as I got word of its release I ordered myself a box online, as I am a huge fan of hot cider this time of the year. The Hot Apple Cider K-Cup brews up a greenish-brown color. It is a bit lighter in color than real pressed cider, although not by much. The nose detects equal parts of apples and cinnamon. This cider smells very much like apple pie pulled hot from the oven.

On the palate there is a nice tart kick, which is balanced with brown sugar sweetness that is just sweet enough without being syrupy. The flavor of cinnamon is notable, but it sits nicely in the background. The body is thinner than a normal pressed cider would be, but it still works fine for a hot cider. The finish does have a bit of a lingering taste from the stevia that is added as a sweetener. As sweeteners go, I don't find stevia to have the chemical bitterness that other sweeteners (such as aspartame and saccharin) have so this isn't a big problem for me.

Green Mountain has really taken the K-Cup to a new place with their Hot Apple Cider, and it works amazingly well. While the K-Cup does have some limitations compared to real pressed cider, the few quibbling shortcomings are negligible when balanced with the fact that in less than 2 minutes I can have a hot mug of cider with no mess or prep work. The only way I can see this improved is if Green Mountain can find a way to make this work without needing to add an additional sweetener like stevia. The bottom line is if you like hot cider and you have a Keurig brewer, then you need to get the Hot Apple Cider K-Cup asap. It is that good.