Kicking Horse Coffee “Grizzly Claw” Review

I’m always on the quest for an amazing dark roast coffee.

Sometimes I strike gold, sometimes it’s a bit flat.

I had previously tried Kicking Horse Coffee’s “Three Sisters” blend. You can read that review here if you’re interested.

It was such a flavorful and fresh coffee, I had to try another one of Kicking Horse’s coffees.

 

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That’s when Grizzly Claw got my attention.

 

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It’s a dark roast, and on the bag they describe it as “rich, dark chocolate, decadent”. Seeing all those things, I figured I almost had to give this one a shot!

Before I even get into the flavor profile section below… I’m just going to give you a spoiler and say that this coffee is absolutely fantastic. Without trying to sound too millennial, it’s mind-blowing.

I’m not sure how else to say it other than, the only possible way you could dislike Grizzly Claw is if you hate delicious coffee.

Ok back to my intro… Three Sisters is a medium roast, and I wanted to try a dark roast by Kicking Horse. I went out on a limb once again and bought a two-pound bag of Grizzly Claw.

It was a good choice. This one was very different from Three Sisters, and I appreciated that. They have good diversity.

You know cat scratch fever? Well, after trying Grizzly Claw, I got bear scratch fever. I would honestly give this coffee a 10 out of 10.

Let me tell you why…

The Taste

The first and most important aspect of this coffee we’ll discuss is the taste (and aroma).

After I tried Three Sisters, Kicking Horse already started to develop a reputation with me for having coffee that’s very flavorful.

Grizzly Claw is no exception.

I’d describe the aroma as sweet, vanilla, cherry. It’s a very smooth aroma, and a good precursor to the taste.

When you sip this coffee the taste is sweet, mildly smoky at first, but then at center stage is dark chocolate notes. It’s also nutty and slightly fruity.

This coffee is like a black forest cake! One that’s nicely rich and not too sweet.

I’ve never had coffee with such delicious dark chocolate flavor notes.

It has a light-medium body.

The aftertaste is fruity and floral.

And I should also note that it feels like Grizzly Claw has the perfect acidity.

There’s a great tanginess, it’s not overpowering and perfect presence (it’s not too weak or strong).

This is an extremely well-balanced and wonderfully complex coffee.

These are basically the two traits that make the “perfect” coffee… if there is such a thing.

With its black forest cake kind of feel to it and all the other flavor aspects to it, Grizzly Claw is nothing short of delicious, amazing, well-balanced and complex.

I can honestly say that this is one of the best coffees I’ve ever tasted.

Pros & Cons

As close as this coffee may be, no coffee is perfect. So here are the pros & cons…

 

Pros:

• Amazing, well- balanced taste
• Very fresh coffee, with many quality standards
• Nice packaging

Cons:

• Just a little pricey (but not bad at all for what you get!)

 

Let me just go ahead and get the only con out of the way.

This coffee is priced similarly to other coffees that are high quality and don’t taste as good as this. It’s higher priced than most coffee you’ll find at the grocery store.

But for a two-pound bag and the absolutely delicious coffee you’re getting, in my opinion it’s actually quite reasonable!

Is it really a con? I don’t know, maybe not.

Now the for good stuff.

I’ve already gone over the taste and how phenomenal it is. This coffee is one of a kind in the best way.

The other pros of this coffee are similar to the ones from the review I did of the Three Sisters roast by Kicking Horse.

This coffee is very high quality and very fresh. It maintains a good flavor for a while.

It’s hard to describe other than just that you can just tell with your 6th coffee sense that this is super fresh coffee. It has a certain quality to it that not many others have.

It also meets standards such as organic and fair trade.

Lastly, the packaging is great. I like their black, shiny coffee bags. They have a clear line that says “cut here”.

This coffee has everything going for it.

South American Beans…

I’m kind of amazed at this coffee for yet another reason.

See, normally I think coffee from Central and South America are pretty ok, but not the best in my opinion. I’ve tried many and they usually don’t impress me as much as coffee from Asia or Africa generally.

So for this reason I was quite surprised to find that Grizzly Claw is a blend of Central and South American coffee!

For me, that gives this coffee and Kicking Horse that many more points with me.

Well done, Kicking Horse.

A Reminder!

Before the closing here, I just want to give you a reminder.

The main thing to look for in a coffee tasting or in a quality coffee is balance!

Nothing beats a well-balanced coffee.

If it’s not balanced – even if tastes good – it’ll get old pretty quick, most likely.

If a coffee has only citrus flavor notes with high acidity, wow that’s one pungent and bitter coffee! It might even taste good, but it will probably be so strong, tangy and acidic you’ll only like it a few times.

Or even if a coffee is a dark roast with only smoky, nutty notes and that’s it, it will probably be a bit boring!

A coffee that has many different flavor notes and a nice aroma, body and aftertaste and balances at least a few different flavors will almost always be great! Many coffees that are bad, boring, bland and plain distasteful are just not well-balanced.

Grizzly Claw is super well-balanced!

You have dark chocolate, sweet, smoky, nutty, with a slight vanilla aroma and fruity/floral aftertaste.

I mean, when I write it out… it almost sounds like too much! But all these notes make the profile of this coffee nothing short of superb.

Balance is best!

Just Get It!

Sorry, not to be pushy or anything.

But it’s for your own good!

This is actually my very favorite coffee that I’ve tried so far while writing this blog and my top recommendation.

I don’t have too much else to say other than.

It’s like I said at the top of this article, I’d be surprised if you didn’t like this coffee.

The only con I can think of is that it’s “expensive”… and in all honesty it’s really not that expensive in terms of quality, craft coffee roasters. In those terms it’s pretty average.

This is a hidden gem of a coffee. You don’t come across many coffees that have strong dark chocolate flavor notes. That’s the main flavor in this coffee I’d say, and it’s so delicious.

So if you’re asking me, I’d say just get it!

Trust me, you’ll thank me for recommending the two-pound bag on this one…

 

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I hope you found this review helpful! Let me know what you think of Grizzly Claw! If you have any questions or comments please feel free to let me know and I’ll be happy to hear from you. Coffee cheers!

 

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