Tag: Coffee

REVIEW: Ocean Spray Brew

Vin 8 Comments

Ocean Spray Brew

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:

Ocean Spray Brew Cranberry Lemonade

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.

Ocean Spray Brew Cranberry Blueberry

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.

Ocean Spray Brew Both

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.

REVIEW: Nestle Coffee-mate Cinnamon Toast Crunch Creamer

Dustin 3 Comments

Nestle Coffee mate Cinnamon Toast Crunch Creamer

Cinnamon Toast Crunch is, hands down, my favorite cereal. Enjoying a bowl of it can immediately transport me back to more carefree days. When I saw Nestle’s Coffee-mate had launched a new Cinnamon Toast Crunch coffee creamer, I could barely contain my excitement.

In the past, I’ve taken leftover milk from a bowl of CTC and poured it into my coffee. While it’s decent, it leaves a lot to be desired. I prefer cream in my coffee, so that little amalgam is a bit too thin for my taste.

I fantasized about how great it would taste in my cup of joe. I was hoping for a creamer that perfectly captured the essence of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. At the very least, I thought it would maybe taste like horchata (try it if you haven’t), which would be fantastic.

Nestle Coffee mate Cinnamon Toast Crunch Creamer Itself

I poured some of the creamer into a glass to try it straight-up first. There were no visible specs of cinnamon in it. “This is troubling,” I thought to myself. It smelled faintly of French toast. French toast typically has cinnamon, so I figured this was a good sign.

Alone, it tastes like a standard sweetened coffee creamer, but with a minuscule hint of cinnamon. There was no verifiable CTC flavor. It definitely didn’t have a horchata flavor either.

Nestle Coffee mate Cinnamon Toast Crunch Creamer Coffee

In coffee, it had the same effect. It made it creamier and sweeter, as is to be expected. But I could barely taste the cinnamon. If I had not known what I was drinking, there’s no way I could have guessed this was supposed to taste like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I don’t think I could have even surmised that it was cinnamon flavored. I have had generic, store-brand cinnamon coffee creamers that taste more like my beloved cereal than this.

I feel like this would have been such an easy flavor to nail. I can’t figure out how they missed the mark so dramatically.

I’ll have to stick with pouring leftover cereal milk in my coffee for now. If I’m feeling particularly desperate, I suppose I could eat the cereal with half and half, so that the remnants make a real Cinnamon Toast Crunch creamer. I know that’s excessive, but it’s a better option than this liquid disappointment.

Purchased Price: $3.79
Size: 32 fl. oz. bottle
Purchased at: Fry’s
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 tbsp) 35 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 5 milligrams of sodium, 5 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Starbucks Almondmilk Honey Flat White

Heather 4 Comments

Starbucks Almondmilk Honey Flat White

What is the Starbucks Almondmilk Honey Flat White?

Starbucks is promoting its dairy-free options in 2020 with several new beverages, including the Almondmilk Honey Flat White. A spin on the classic Flat White, this one has almondmilk and honey for a touch of sweetness.

How is it?

As someone who typically doesn’t order almondmilk with my coffee, I was intrigued by this one. Although I enjoy almondmilk itself, I don’t always feel it mixes in as smooth in my coffee drinks. But it might be user error on my part when I try it at home because it certainly was mixed in well by a professional barista. I approved!

Starbucks Almondmilk Honey Flat White 2

Let’s get down to the flavor: The first sip had a lot of foam with a subtle nuttiness from the almondmilk. I’ve had plenty of standard Starbucks Flat Whites in my day, and this one had more foam than usual, in a good way. (For those wondering, a Flat White is made with ristretto shots, which are shorter shots of espresso with less water.) The honey was a welcome addition – just the right amount of sweet. Despite it having 24 grams of sugar in a grande, it definitely doesn’t taste like it!

The Almondmilk Honey Flat White can also be made iced, and that’s next on my list to try.

Is there anything else you need to know?

If you care about what specific type of espresso is in your beverage, you can get the Almondmilk Honey Flat White with either regular espresso or the Starbucks Blonde Espresso.

Conclusion:

I liked this one but didn’t love it – I’d order it again, but it won’t become one of my usuals — only one of my once-in-a-whiles.

Purchased Price: $5.45
Size: Grande
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 170 calories, 5 grams of total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 135 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 grams of dietary fiber, 24 grams of total sugars, 3 grams of protein, and 195 milligrams of caffeine.

Click here to read our previous Starbucks reviews.

REVIEW: McDonald’s Cinnamon Cookie Latte

Sam 5 Comments

McDonald s Cinnamon Cookie Latte

McDonald’s has started spreading the ever earlier and earlier yuletide force…err, I mean, cheer with the release of its new Cinnamon Cookie Latte.

It seems like cinnamon is the hot flavor this season, with other recent items being McDonald’s rereleased Donut Sticks, which are coated with cinnamon sugar, and Sweet Cinnamon Kit Kats.

While the idea is great, would the presentation and follow-through live up to the hype? When I swung into the McDonald’s drive-thru, having an infamous reputation for serving customers fast, I had to wait approximately eight minutes for the small latte.

Were the Keebler Elves or Pillsbury Dough Boy back there whipping up a special cookie to put in it? Nevertheless, I was thrilled once I got it, as it was nice and warm. I opened it to see how the top would look, and it was interesting.

McDonald s Cinnamon Cookie Latte Top

I was bummed the drink wasn’t full to the top, but seeing the cinnamon sprinkles made up for it. Seriously, sprinkle something with the sweet warm spice and I’ll marry it. But next came the biggest test of all. How would it taste?

I took a sip and got coffee. I couldn’t sense that it was a latte. There was also no essence of cinnamon. There was no flavor of cookie. I can’t say I was very pleased upon first sip. However, I know McDonald’s better than that. Sometimes ya gotta mix it up and swirl that sucker with a spoon. So, I did.

McDonald s Cinnamon Cookie Latte Melted

The new sip was truly refreshing as it tasted more like a latte, but still no cinnamon or cookie. I feel like a Cinnamon Cookie Latte should maybe have a little cinnamon and cookie flavor, but one out of three isn’t bad-ish.

The more I sipped on it, the more I realized this was almost like a McDonald’s coffee with a slight shot of an artificial sweetener. If it wants to compete with other holiday drinks, McDonald’s is going to have to spice it up…literally.??Is this “latte” worth it? If you’re in the mood for cinnamon, no. If you’re in the mood for cookies, no. If you’re in the mood for a latte, probably not.

Purchased Price: $2.11
Size: Small
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 250 calories, 7 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 35 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dunkin’ Toasted Gingerbread Signature Latte

Ann 3 Comments

Dunkin Toasted Gingerbread Signature Latte

While other coffee chains attempt to dominate the autumnal flavor board, Dunkin’s New Signature Latte line-up takes a commanding stronghold of classic winter holiday flavors. One of its four new varieties, available hot or cold, is the Toasted Gingerbread Signature Latte, which features “the flavors of gingerbread, marshmallow and chocolate all in one cup, topped with whipped cream, caramel drizzle and cinnamon sugar.”

I’ll be completely transparent here, I bought this drink twice, and I’m still not sure I’ve had the website description of this beverage. But look, I get it, seasonal menus are difficult with unique flavors, special prep instructions, and stress!

Dunkin Toasted Gingerbread Signature Latte First Latte

The first version of the Toasted Gingerbread Latte I received had nothing on top. No whipped cream, no drizzle, no cinnamon sugar. It was overwhelmingly sweet and tasted like a lightly spiced hot chocolate. If I got this at a freezing cold football game, I wouldn’t be mad, but I was definitely missing any trace of the traditional gingerbread flavor (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, molasses, etc).

Dunkin Toasted Gingerbread Signature Latte 2nd

Feeling like surely something had gone wrong, I tried a second Dunkin’ location a few days later and received an entirely different beverage. This time, there was whipped topping, chocolate drizzle (the website says this was supposed to be caramel, but I didn’t mind this modification), and a cinnamon spice sprinkle topping. Again, I’m not sure this was “correct” either, but it was a massive improvement from the first attempt.

Dunkin Toasted Gingerbread Signature Latte 2nd Top

This second version of the Toasted Gingerbread Latte had a much stronger spice flavor both in the drink and from the cinnamon sugar topping. It was still ridiculously sweet and could pass more as gingerbread spice hot chocolate, with almost no coffee taste coming through. It was much more enjoyable with any type of topping accoutrements. I do think Dunkin’ could have done more with the notion of “toasted” (maybe if it was made with oatmilk?), and I would have loved more molasses flavor. But all-in-all, this wasn’t a total miss.

If you’re a fan of sweet drinks, holiday spice, and random barista surprises (because WHO KNOWS how this drink is really supposed to be made), go ahead and roll the dice to see what your local Dunkin’ decides the Toasted Gingerbread Signature Latte is. Maybe try one every day in December like an Advent Calendar surprise!

Purchased Price: $3.08
Size: Small
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small made with whole milk) 300 calories, 11 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 125 milligrams of cholesterol, 43 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 39 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein.