A Case for Flavored Coffees?

The other day, at my school we had a seminar where a professor from other school came to give a talk about his research and refreshment was served during the seminar. Among the refreshment was the familar various types of cookies (plain, chocolate, nut) and bronies. Also served with the refresh was two full press pots of coffee. Because that day I did not bring with me my Hario and Aeropress combination, I decide to chance it and go for a cup of coffee as  I was very desperate to keep myself awake during the important seminar. There were of course the usual coffee condiments such as cream and sugar but I decide to skip those and go for black coffee.

The coffee did not look or smell too bad. It look a little weak and probably could have been brewed a bit stronger; the aroma was surprisingly nutty most noticeably hazelnut! I went for a sip and surprisingly it was not bad. This coffee was actually flavored coffee and guess what, it is flavored with hazelnut! I have on several occasion drink flavored coffees before and was never really happy with the taste. But somehow, this time it did not turn out bad. The flavoring is not strong at all, just a little hint of hazelnut aroma and nutiness that let it know that it is there. I continued sipping the coffee but as the cup cool, a little bit of astringency emerged but overall, it was very drinkable! 

So this got me thinking a little bit, that perhaps flavored coffee if done right can be very drinkable? and perhaps there is a situation in which adding artificial flavoring to coffee make sense? Certainly, no one in their right mind would add vanilla or hazelnut flavor to an excellent high grown coffee that is of specialty quality but what about lower quality of beans that lack origin characteristic? So, perhaps with cheaper beans, it is better to add some flavor so that it can become more drinkable? Of course, I would think twice about buying flavored coffee from the super market and grind it in my Vario to brew a cup but perhaps drinking flavored coffees prepared in occasion such as this seminar is not too bad!

Although I have never tried flavored coffee brew at my home, Roaste do offer a myriad of flavored coffee, in fact here is what I came up with with a search on Roaste: http://www.roaste.com/store/shop-for-coffee/+type:coffee+tid:146 . Hopefully, some brave soul will give these a try and review it here?