No time to brew coffee in the morning? What do you do? Stop at the local coffee shop? Or do you keep any canned coffee drinks in your refrigerator? I admit to a guilty liking for those Starbucks Doubleshots, on occasion (long road trips, especially) so when I saw a very similar sort of thing on Trader Joe's new products shelf, I snapped it up. How is it? Well, here's my review.
These cans are quite little. Like the Starbucks version, they hold 6.5 ounces of sweet, milky coffee. They do not need to be refrigerated, but they certainly taste better chilled or over ice.
I popped one open and tried it. It was sweet, with a strong hint of vanilla, and only the mildest of coffee flavors. This was rather disappointing, to be honest, because I like my coffee drinks strong. I enjoy the nearly burnt taste of the espresso in the Starbucks Doubleshot, with its bitterness balancing out the too-sweet milk. That's not really the case here, as the coffee is mild and milky, and the sweetness dominates.
The drink is relatively low-calorie and low-fat, with natural ingredients and just an emulsifier or two to keep it all properly mixed up. (The Starbucks Doubleshot weighs in with at least 20 more calories per 6.5-ounce can.) At $4 for a 4-pack these are also cheaper than the Doubleshot, which usually retails for at least $1.50 per can.
Overall, though, I'll stick to my homebrewed coffee. While this drink was light, sweet, and pleasant, and good for an emergency caffeine infusion, I still prefer the strength and real flavor of homebrewed coffee.
• Find it: Caffe Latte, 3.99 for a 4-pack. Available at Trader Joe's.
Have you tried this stuff? What did you think?
Related: Gingerbread & Eggnog: Latte Recipes Like Starbucks!
Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf.
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I liked it... it reminded me of the old Starbucks frappucinos that are sold in bottles, but without all the questionable crap in them. But yeah, on a daily basis? Not likely. They're nice to have lying around when I run out of beans or oversleep, though.
2 oz. day-old dark roast + 2 oz. chocolate ice cream + 2 oz. cold milk. Shake and serve.
Alternatively, you can have my Taiwanese Mr. Brown when you pry it from my cold, caffeine-addled hands: http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Brown-Iced-Coffee/dp/B001536028
I like the Starbucks double shot but is there a sugar free version of any of these drinks?
I've tried the Mr. Brown iced coffee drinks as well. I hope the above poster is not paying $1.75 for them at Amazon. They're available for $1 at my local Chinese grocery.
i agree ice cream and coffee are awesome together this was my go to drink in high school
Does coffee freeze well? I love iced coffee in the summer, but never make it as often as I'd like. It kind of skeeves me out to keep a pitcher in the fridge for more than a day or two, and I'm unlikely to keep up with making fresh batches. Freezing individual portions to pop in the fridge the night before use to melt seems like it would work, in theory. Anyone have experience?
They make mocha ones too - They're a bit richer but a very similar vein. They're not too bad, but I do prefer the Starbucks ones (I know I'm lame)
My holy grail would be an unsweetened canned coffee. Not just sugar-free--SWEETNESS free. I hate sweet coffee. But I am definitely in the minority!
@foodefafa - coffee freezes excellently! I use leftover brewed coffee to make granitas often!
http://greenandlean09.blogspot.com/2011/03/mocha-granita.html
I may have to try these out. I used to love the starbucks bottled frappucinos, but after a bout with gestational diabetes, I find that I can no longer handle really fake-sweet stuff.
I think these sorts of things aren't for busy or lazy people, but rather for situations in which making your own coffee isn't possible (like a road trip or when you're on the go). One of the problems with even offering convenience foods is that their use is expanded such that people forget that they can make a better product with a small amount of time, effort, and money and just start opting for these wasteful (materials-wise) alternatives.
There's a place for this sort of thing, and that place isn't a regular spot in your refrigerator because you think you don't have time to make your own coffee. Seriously, I grind my own beans and make my own coffee and the time commitment has to be less than 5 minutes for two cups (and I heat milk to drink with my coffee). If you look at the cost per serving, at $1 per can, you are essentially paying someone else $12 to avoid making your own coffee.
Correction: That should be $12 per hour (considering a 5 minute time commitment to making your own cup).
@foodefafa- you can also make ice cubes out of coffee
I am with cmcinnyc, I would love it if someone sold straight black iced coffee in a can.
Bought and tried both varieties. Both hubby and I agree they are way too sweet. Still good for a on the run caffeine jolt. Hubby adds more milk to cut down on the sweetness and they taste decent then, though of course the coffee flavor goes down too.
I used to pick up Caribou coffee's Iced Coffee on the road- but I haven't seen them in convenience stores in awhile. I liked the espresso one as it wasn't too sweet.
When I'm on a road trip, nothing beats the convenience of instant coffee. But if you can't stand the stuff, brewed gas station coffee ain't bad.
@ eeks, I am DYING for the caribou iced coffee cans! They were the perfect solution when I was in law school-- cold, perfectly sweet (not too sweet at all), and convenient. My school's "cafe" did not sell iced coffee (which, if I told you where I lived, you'd be appalled-- we have more Dunkin Donuts franchises per square mile than trees, I'm sure), and I despise hot coffee. And it just wasn't possible to bring it from home when I was spending like 10 hours at school everyday.
They were basically yoohoo with less sugar and the perfect amount of caffeine.
I actually bought one of these yesterday. I too found it too sweet, but I mixed it with cold coffee and liked it much better that way.
@cmcinnyc
UCC Black Coffee!
I can get it at the Famima convenience stores here in LA. It's pretty light, but still flavorful, and there's no milk/sugar.
I like these, as well as the mocha. I keep them on hand for when I need a little pick me up. I too was a little disappointed with the sweetness, but I found them much better than the starbucks frappuccinos.
I have a secret liking for the Starbucks doubleshots as well. I'd never heard of these.. but now I at least want to try one (I think I'll probably agree with you on the too light/too sweet).
I'm biased, 'cause like cmcinnyc I can't stand sweetened coffee -- but this isn't "relatively low-calorie" relative to anything meaningful. Per ounce it's 40% higher in calories than Coke.
Japanese canned coffee is available unsweetened, but I've never actually tried it.
They lowered the price to 2.99 for a 4-pack recently. I like the double-shots much better because they're a lot stronger, but I buy these all the time because of the price. They're not bad, just wish the coffee flavor was stronger.