Eight O'Clock Coffee 100% Colombian

Coffee reviews can be as elitist as wine reports, but the prosaic Eight O'Clock Coffee 100% Colombian fares well in most blind taste tests. One Cook's Illustrated review not only had 20 staffers taste the contenders, it sent the coffees to a laboratory for testing. Eight O'Clock fared well on both counts, and it placed second to a much more expensive brand among the light roasts. Tasters praised the smooth body and "nutty, almost chocolaty" taste. Consumers also praised Eight O'Clock on the Chowhound.com forum. If you want something preground, we found good reviews for Dunkin' Donuts Original Blend (*est. $8 per pound). If you prefer a dark roast, Millstone Colombian Supremo (*est. $7.50 for an 11-ounce bag) is tops in reviews.

We found the best review at Cook's Illustrated, which is thorough in its testing and included capsules on eight coffees. Consumer Reports rated far more coffees - 25 caffeinated and 17 decafs - but there is little detail beyond the rankings chart. You need to subscribe to see either report. There are no reviews of Eight O'Clock Coffee 100% Colombian, but reviewer Kenneth Davids gives conflicting scores to other Eight O'Clock varieties, assigning good scores to Eight O'Clock's Royal Signature Blend and Original Bean but calling Eight O'Clock Original Blend "foul" and "defective."