My own description of the flavor here
Amount of grounds:
2 tablespoons per 10 oz of water
Brewing time:
8.5 minutes
Additions:
None
Reusing grounds:
Not tested
Using grounds in food:
Not tested
First Impressions:
This one sounds amazing on paper. And I have to say that the aroma of both the dry grounds and the cooling brew smells absolutely amazing. The butterscotch in it smells a lot like the caramel and also the hazelnut and maple blend that I make. I think this is going to be a good one to compare against those. And a little bit of a disclaimer: It's been many years since I've had Irish creme, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to pick that out or not.
The flavor is pretty good. I can definitely pick out the butterscotch. It reminds me of a cross between vanilla and caramel. I think I can also pick out some of the hazelnut flavor, too. It's sitting quietly in the background, but it's there. And, if I remember correctly what Irish creme tastes like, then yes, I am picking up on that just a little, too. All in all, this is a really good flavor. I'm not going to be able to pair it against many things for testing because the only flavored varieties I still have are caramel, hazelnut, and maple. My current favorite up to this point has been a 1:1 blend of hazelnut and maple, but this Highlander Grogg may give it a run for its money.
I don't usually add anything to the flavored varieties, but since I have some left over from testing the new Mexico roast as well, I figured I'd give it a go by adding just a splash of vanilla almond milk. I think it brings out the hazelnut flavor a bit because there's a tiny bit more of a nutty flavor in there now. Also, I feel like the Irish creme aroma comes out a bit more. I'm not so sure about it showing up in the flavor, though. But otherwise nothing really changed. It's still really good, but I don't feel any need to add anything again in the future.
General Thoughts:
Overall I really like Highlander Grogg. The Irish cream, hazelnut, and butterscotch flavors all work really well together. There's a flavor that I can only describe as "bitter" that is in the end brew, but it's akin to the bitterness in dark chocolate, so it's enjoyable rather than taking away from the overall experience.
One thing that I have noticed that I'm not a fan of is that the grounds after brewing put off a weird smell. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's an overly sweet smell, and while it doesn't necessarily seem bad on its own when smelled up close, something about the diffused smell that comes out of the trash after the grounds have been dumped in is really off putting. It doesn't affect the drinkability when it's fresh, but it's something to be aware of.
Back when I was comparing a bunch of flavored roasts against one another, Caramel was my favorite for a long time. Eventually it wound up losing out to a Maple and Hazelnut blend that I stumbled across by accident when I was comparing those two. These days, only have those 3 flavors left because I got big bags of them before they stopped selling them. With the introduction of Highlander Grogg and it's amazing aroma and flavor, I'm bringing these back out for another round to find the ultimate winner.
Starting with the Caramel, it has the normal warm caramel flavor with maybe a hint of chocolate, and it all has a little bit of tartness. I pick that up sometimes in these light roasts, especially the Caramel for some reason. I don't get that tartness as much in the others, and I think that's part of the reason why it dropped out of the top spot. The Highlander Grogg has a more complex flavor going on. I'm not tasting the butterscotch as much as I did the first time I tried it, but the hazelnut and Irish cream are both pretty strong in it. There's also a little more bitterness to it, but not in a bad way. It's just something that goes well with the flavors in it. This is actually a super close race. Part of me prefers the Caramel for it's more simple and slightly sweeter flavor, but part of me prefers the Highlander Grogg for its novelty and newness. As I go back and forth, the Caramel keeps bringing up that little bit of tartness that I'm not really getting from the Highlander Grogg, and I think that is just enough to push the Highlander Grogg to the winning spot. But to be clear, there are no losers here. Yum!
Starting with the Hazelnut, it has the strong hazelnut aroma, but also the strong chocolate aroma because of the way the hazelnut accentuates it. In terms of pairing the brewing cocoa with an added flavor, this has to be one of the most well done. It's not my favorite flavor, but they just work so well together. The flavor pretty much matches the aroma, being both the distinctive hazelnut flavor, but also chocolaty. Going to the Highlander Grogg, the aroma is more strongly butterscotch and Irish cream with the hazelnut dropping to the deep background. It's still there helping things along, but it's not front and center like the Hazelnut brew. The flavors match that pretty well. There's a little bit of chocolate, and then the much stronger Irish cream flavor, with hints of butterscotch, and farther back, hazelnut. Going back to the Hazelnut, it had an interesting moment in the aroma where it almost reminded me of kettle corn! It was both sweet and savory and had a little bit of a popcorn aroma to it. It's even in the flavor a little bit. Wow, that's really interesting and unexpected! It's really good, too. Like with the comparison of Highlander Grogg to the Caramel roast, it's a very close and very tough call. The light bitterness of the Highlander Grogg is good and adds a bit of flair, but the Hazelnut is just cozy and comforting. I love both of these, but I think if I look at it for long term drinking and which one I may get tired of faster, I think I'd have to go with the Hazelnut as the winner by a hair.
I'm not sure why I thought these two would at least smell very similar, but they really don't. The Maple has a sweeter aroma, whereas the Highlander Grogg has almost a more bitter aroma. Anyway, getting to the flavors, the Maple has, well, a maple flavor that even after all this time, on its own, I still think clashes just a little bit with the chocolate. It's good, but on its own, it's just not my favorite. The Highlander Grogg definitely as a little bit of extra bitterness to it, and next to the Maple, there's not much of a butterscotch flavor here. There's a little tartness to it, but it's mostly the Irish cream flavor that stands out. with maybe a bit of the hazelnut. I'm not sure which I'd say is more chocolaty, as neither one really comes across as chocolaty. As I continue to drink them side by side, the tartness in the Highlander Grogg seems to be getting a little stronger. Even though I really like the Highlander Grogg on its own, and in spite of the maple flavor being a little clashy with the chocolate, I think in this comparison, the Maple actually wins out.
Also, fun fact: When I made the first batch to compare, I wound up accidentally pouring them into the same mug! The combined flavor was good, but not as "wow" as the hazelnut and maple combo.
The "HazelMaple" blend quickly became one of my favorites when I first discovered it by accident, and the very first time I tried Highlander Grogg, I thought maybe it could give HazelMaple a run for its money. Now it's time to find out!
The HazelMaple has the sweetness of the maple, but also the nuttiness of the hazelnut that blends together really well with the chocolate, and does a great job making the maple flavor feel like a welcome member to the party rather than an outsider that clashes with everyone. The Highlander Grogg next to it has a fairly strong Irish cream flavor with a little bit of butterscotch, but the hazelnut seems to be mostly missing here. It also has the signature bitterness to it that I've noticed, but it's not coming out tart like when I compared it against Maple directly. I prefer the aroma of the HazelMaple to that of the Highlander Grogg, and as I go back and forth, even though the hazelnut flavor felt strong in the HazelMaple this time around, I still prefer it to the Highlander Grogg. Long live the HazelMaple king!