One of my favorite coffee that I tend to purchase when I’m in Japan is Tully’s Coffee.
Surprisingly, here in the United States, I never tried a Tully’s Coffee product until now.
With the Black Friday sales on Keurig, I took advantage of the sales, especially for Vue Cups, since I have a newer Keurig 2.0 coffee machine that allows for Vue Cups.
Tully’s Coffee is a specialty coffee retailer and wholesaler that is based in Seattle, Washington. It’s origin began in 1992 when Tom “Tully” O’Keefe opened the first store in Kent, Washington.
There was a time when Tully’s Coffee would compete with Starbucks but that is no longer the case. While there are stores in a few states in America, it licensed its brand name to Korea and Japan and also has stores in Singapore, Beijing, Stockholm and Sweden.
It’s licensed unit was sold to its Japan licensee, Tully’s Coffee Japan back in 2005.
And in 2009, Tully’s sold its North American wholesale bean distribution business brand and roasting operation to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (which was then owned by Keurig and currently now owned by JAB Holding Co. – which others are part of its portfolio such as Peet’s Coffee and Tea, Timothy’s World Coffee, Tully’s Coffee, Van Houtte, Diedrich Coffee, Caribou Coffee, etc.) in 2009 and Tully’s retained all retail rights for North America and wholesale and retail rights all over the world except Japan.
The founder and chairman, Tom “Tully” O’Keefe retired in 2010 but in 2012, the Tully’s Coffee board and management made the decision to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy but Global Baristas, an investment group led by “Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey bought Tully’s at a bankruptcy auction in 2013 outbidding Starbucks. But things got a little messy within Global Baristas as reported by media, not long after. And in 2014, “significant issues” developed between Keurig and Global Baristas.
But that was the past and for the most part, most of the news of Tully’s since then has been positive. If anything, the biggest news was the closure of its San Francisco Fillmore location due to the landlord’s increasing of the rent of the building by 75%.
For more on the closing of the Tully’s Coffee San Francisco Fillmore branch.
But Tully’s still has its presence strong in Seattle especially in Puget Sound, where there are many people who are loyal to Tully’s Coffee.
And I really enjoy “Tully’s Coffee” and in terms of K-Cups or Vue Cups, they can be purchased online at Keurig or Amazon for a great price.
You can get their “Hawaiian Blend Extra Bold Coffee”, “French Roast Extra Bold Coffee”, “Italian Roast Extra Bold Coffee”, “French Roast Decaf Extra Bold Coffee” and my favorite, the House Blend Coffee Medium Roast, to name a few.
Tully’s Coffee House Blend is well-balanced as it is sweet with its dark chocolate notes, buttery smooth sweet caramel undertones with a medium roast.
I don’t usually care for caramel in a coffee but for Tully’s Coffee House Blend, it’s perfect and not oversaturated.
Great aftertaste, not bitter (please note: I drink with creamer, not straight up) and I absolutely love it. I have not tried the K-Cup version, as I only purchased the Vue Cup as they were on sale on Black Friday, but I’ll need to give it a try.
Tully’s Coffee House Blend Medium Roast Vue Cups are highly recommended!
