It appears the Bog-tenders over at Ocean Spray used a Mad Lib to brainstorm their new product, because here I am, about to sip an Ocean Spray Brew.
Ocean Spray’s signature cranberries and green coffee beans play supporting roles in two different flavors of this bizarre witch’s brew – Lemonade and Blueberry.
I guess fruit flavor mixed with coffee isn’t exactly a new concept, but I can’t help but feel like Ocean Spray’s tapping an entirely new market that nobody asked for here.
I drink multiple cups of coffee a day but seldom have juice. I don’t dislike it, but I usually find most juices too sweet, almost always too acidic, and any time I drink them, they go down like a shot of whiskey.
So, with that said, am I the market for this stuff? Will I prefer juice with a splash of coffee?
The answer to that question is a resounding YES. These are shockingly tasty.
Imagine you’re drinking a light version of a fruit-flavored iced tea that was not only steeped with a tea bag but coffee beans as well. Huh?
I’ll break them down by flavor:
Lemonade – It smells like iced tea, but once you’re about to take a sip, you get smacked with the scent of coffee. I’d equate this to having a glass of lemon iced tea right after eating a coffee-flavored hard candy. That might not sound all that appetizing in your mind, but it really works. To me, this evoked Italian after-dinner espressos with those little lemon wedges. The brew is perfectly balanced – not too sweet or sour. No flavor overwhelms another.
Blueberry – This one smells like blueberries and coffee grounds. It tastes like blueberry tea that quickly transitions into a berry centric cold brew. I was reminded of dark chocolate covered espresso beans despite there not being any chocolate in the ingredients. I guess it was the dark berry flavor and coffee mixed together that put that in my mind. Imagine an edible espresso bean wrapped in a blueberry-infused chocolate coating. That’s the aftertaste.
Overall, I preferred it slightly more than the lemonade one.
Both of these flavors hit the mark, and deliver on the strange premise. You’ll notice I didn’t mention cranberry once, well, that’s because cranberry plays a great supporting character, despite appearing to be the headliner here. It works perfectly as the bridge ingredient in both flavors. It gave each bottle a nice, mildly sweet dryness that seemed to only elevate the other flavors involved.
Cranberry is better with a partner. Ocean Spray knows this and has managed to marry “cran” to every other fruit in existence. It even somehow managed to convince a chunk of the country that “crayon” is pronounced “cran.” Ocean Spray has that cran-power.
So, to sum up, if you like fruit-flavored iced teas, and you like coffee, you should like Ocean Spray Brew. I loved it. Then again, I used to order my Dunkin’ iced coffees with a shot of blueberry, and I’m a huge fan of coffee stouts with fruited adjuncts, so I guess I was the audience here.
You get half a cup of coffee’s worth of natural caffeine in each serving, so you can even use this as a refreshing energy replacement in the morning.
I honestly think we just tapped into a new market. Nothing is ever “new” so I’m sure there are “juice coffees” out there, but if you’ve wanted a healthy (by juice standards) flavored iced tea that finishes like a coffee while also giving you a caffeine kick? Here ya go!
Purchased Price: $2.99 each
Size: 1 liter bottle
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 9 out of 10 (Cranberry Blueberry), 8 out of 10 (Cranberry Lemonade)
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) Cranberry Blueberry – 30 calories, 0grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 10 milligrams of sodium, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein. Cranberry Lemonade – 30 calories, 0grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 10 milligrams of sodium, 10 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.
Fruit juice + coffee drinks are surprisingly good yet hard to come across. La Colombe makes canned lemonade and grapefruit coffee shandys that are pretty nice but seem to land only in specialty stores. Buddy Brew Coffee in Tampa, FL also produces a canned lemonade cold brew – Bolt Cold Brew – that is incredible but they only distribute locally.
People immediately turned off by the idea without trying it probably douse their coffee in cream and sugar without ever trying it black. Coffee beans from certain regions tend to lean more toward a “citrusy” taste profile that would blend well with fruit juice as long as they’re lightly roasted.
I’ve got the blueberry one right now. It’s not terrible, but I wouldn’t buy it again. The flavor is actually pretty good, but it’s worth noting that it is sweetened with Stevia. I’d probably buy it again if it weren’t. Didn’t see any mention of it anywhere on the label. Got hit with that awful aftertaste on the first sip and had to check the ingredients. Sure enough – sweetened with Stevia.
I got the Lemonade one. I knew I liked cranberry juice and I knew I liked cold brew, but I’ll admit I was still surprised by how much I enjoyed them together. I think I’ll get the blueberry one next time because the way you described it makes it sound great.
How much are you getting paid by Ocean Spray?! This is the most disgusting drink I think I have ever tried. The only way to make this a pinch appetizing is by drowning it out with cheap vodka
To Kevin: I don’t think this person is getting paid by Ocean Spray. I myself am just a consumer like you and my husband and I both love this drink, in both flavors, just by itself, not vodka is required. This stuff is delicious!
P.S. to Kevin: I made a typo. No vodka is required. I accidentally put not vodka.
Just tried the blueberry. I loved it! It’s very tasty. Eager to try the lemonade. Kinda skeptical at first but pleasantly surprised. It’s actually more of a juice with a hint of coffee flavor. Definitely will buy again.
I tryed the Blueberry and it was better then I expected. What really picks it up and they should make it this way is add vanilla creamer! Wow, it pops the taste!