Kona Blend Coffee either discontinued or prices increased; Tully's replacement?

[bicker]

My wife and I have recently become fans of Tully's Kona Blend, only to find out that due to remarkably bad growing conditions, many purveyors of Kona Blend coffees are either discontinuing those offerings, or making them into premium offerings costing (in at least a few places I checked) double what other blends cost.

Several of the blogs I read about this this morning indicated that, since these blends contained only 10% Kona, anyway, coffees of a similar blend and roast (i.e., everything the same except the Kona) would be super substitutes. However, the only source I found that made a specific recommendation for replacing our favorite, Tully's Kona Blend, was Green Mountain Coffee itself, and I generally won't trust a seller to recommend their own substitute.

I'm wondering if anyone who was a fan of Tully's Kona Blend has a specific recommendation for another blend that very closely resembles Tully's Kona Blend. Thanks for your assistance.

 

[eatatmidnight]

The Kona blend that I like the best is sold at Aldi. I know it is difficult to believe, but it's true. It is ground. I don't know if they sell whole bean in Kona or not.

 

[bicker]

It is their store brand? No Aldi's here, unfortunately, so that won't work for me. And more specifically: I'm looking for a direct replacement for Tully's Kona Blend. Different Kona blends taste different, one from another, so just any-old-Kona-blend isn't what we're looking for. We've tried several, in the past, and Tully's was different - better tasting to us.

Also, I should have mentioned: We've thrown out our My K-Cup, because it sucks badly, so we're going to stick with brands that offer their coffee in K-Cups.

 

[eatatmidnight]

It is their store brand. Good Luck in your search.

 

[bicker]

Thank you. I have a funny feeling that it's going to be a year or three before Kona blend coffees return to where they were.

 

[Lehuaann]

Target has a great whole bean Kona blend. Where do you find Tully's?

 

[bicker]

Tully's is available at Target.

Link: Tully's K-Cup Single-Serving Coffee 108-ct. - Kona Blend

Based on Green Mountain's announcement, that's clearly a remainder from February (and yes, I'm placing an order right now... I didn't realize that they still had some in stock).

It's not the best price, but it is a better price today than the price listed for Tully's Kona blend, at the places from which we normally buy K-cups, and that's even for those currently listing it as out-of-stock.

We typically buy K-cups at places like coffeeforless.com and amazon.com (as well as several others), because they generally have the best prices. Evidently, these places have responded directly to the discontinuation of most of the Kona blends by jacking-up their prices, knowing that the stuff is going to become scarce soon. Target doesn't seem to have done so. Good news for us.

Thanks for pointing me in that direction. While what I purchase now won't hold us forever, we can surely stock up on this stuff at this relatively decent price, until we find or someone suggests a close match to the Tully's.

 

[MsStinkerBelle]

Target has a great whole bean Kona blend. Where do you find Tully's?

Agreed! I buy my Kona blend from
Target and even WalMart has a Kona Blend (never tried it). I've never heard of Tully's.

 

[dex08]

Trader Joe's has good Kona coffee!!

 

[bicker]

I shop there regularly, but they seem to have a company policy against stocking any K-cups.

 

[shirleyb]

This is my DH's favorite K-cup as well, so I think we'll try to pick up whatever we can find that's still in the stores.

 

[IleneF]

I shop there regularly, but they seem to have a company policy against stocking any K-cups.

Agreed that my K cup sucks BUT the solofil cup is AMAZING (no affiliation yada yada). I use almost all my own ground coffee now. Kcups are so environmentally unfriendly and costly it was nice to find a viable alternative. Check it out. I think amazon sells it for the manufacturer but you can also order off the solofil site. Sometimes back ordered because of high demand.

 

[bicker]

I'll check that out. Thanks.

 

[tuckerkeys]

I have a coffee friend who is dead set on not Kona coffee, but actually coffee from Kauai..... They sell it at Trader Joes. The Kona there is $19.99 a can but the Kauai coffee is @ $7! It is basically the same thing imo.

 

[scrapquitler]

However, the only source I found that made a specific recommendation for replacing our favorite, Tully's Kona Blend, was Green Mountain Coffee itself, and I generally won't trust a seller to recommend their own substitute.

Instead of outright dismissing this suggestion simply because GMC recommended their own brand, why not try it to see if you like it?

The most you've got to lose is the price of a small box of kcups. You might actually find that you like it.

 

[jbmom]

I purchased the Tully's Kona Blend at Kohls recently. I wait until I have a 30% off coupon and stock up.

 

[bicker]

Instead of outright dismissing this suggestion simply because GMC recommended their own brand, why not try it to see if you like it?

Because nothing bad would happen if we don't have the Kona coffee for a few weeks, while we're gathering input from folks who are also fans of the specific coffee blend we prefer. We have lots of Rainforest Dark (another blend we like a lot) to get through before we have to take any action whatsoever.

Also, we have tried various Green Mountain Coffee's versions of other blends and we found them to be substantially inferior in taste. So we feel that we have lots of foundation for taking a wait and see stance.

And now that I've placed that order from Target for the Tully's Kona blend that they have left in stock, I have even more time to gather independent and therefore more trustworthy information.

 

[Lehuaann]

Tully's is available at Target.

Link: Tully's K-Cup Single-Serving Coffee 108-ct. - Kona Blend

Based on Green Mountain's announcement, that's clearly a remainder from February (and yes, I'm placing an order right now... I didn't realize that they still had some in stock).

It's not the best price, but it is a better price today than the price listed for Tully's Kona blend, at the places from which we normally buy K-cups, and that's even for those currently listing it as out-of-stock.

We typically buy K-cups at places like coffeeforless.com and amazon.com (as well as several others), because they generally have the best prices. Evidently, these places have responded directly to the discontinuation of most of the Kona blends by jacking-up their prices, knowing that the stuff is going to become scarce soon. Target doesn't seem to have done so. Good news for us.

Thanks for pointing me in that direction. While what I purchase now won't hold us forever, we can surely stock up on this stuff at this relatively decent price, until we find or someone suggests a close match to the Tully's.

So Target it was!? Ha, go figure. Happy to hear you got your coffee!!

We grind our coffee and usually buy 100% Kona from Costco, but they've been out of stock (perhaps from the shortage)...and I FINALLY found my Kona blend at one of the Targets yesterday.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I buy my Kona blend K Cups at WalMart. I will check the brand for you.

ETA they are Tully's.

 

[chris31997]

I have a coffee friend who is dead set on not Kona coffee, but actually coffee from Kauai..... They sell it at Trader Joes. The Kona there is $19.99 a can but the Kauai coffee is @ $7! It is basically the same thing imo.

Kona and Kauai coffee are not the same. Kona coffee is generally a stronger coffee, while Kauai is a milder one. I prefer the Kauai.

There was a bug/parasite that has attacked the kona coffee trees and many of them are under quarentine, hence the shortage.