Monday, January 7, 2013

The Chopping Board - An Adelaide Food Review Blog: Iced Coffee ...

A few months ago, a Twitter conversation between one of our followers was around iced coffees, and it ended with us promising we would do a review of all the iced coffees we could get our hands on. ?Fast forward a few months, and during my weekend supermarket shopping, I decided to grab every iced coffee I could find to review them all in ONE?sitting - the ONLY way to do it properly.

My list of iced coffees is definitely not 'every' iced coffee available.... There are many imported or interstate ones that are not easily obtained in South Australia, so to be fair, the ones I tested were either available at the supermarkets or from Asian/European groceries. ? The picture below shows the original lineup of iced coffees I purchased in one day. ?I knew I was missing quite a few imported ones that were easily available, I will create a Pt. 2 review later.




To get things started, the criteria consisted of:

  • Overall taste - 10 points
  • Coffee strength - 5 points
  • Sugar content/sweetness - 5 points
  • Final score = 20 points

Nippy's Iced Coffee
I grew up drinking this iced coffee back in primary school, so I had high hopes for this contender. ?This was the only entry that used long life milk. ?In summary, compared to the others, this was definitely one of the worst. ?If you drink this by itself, it tastes great, 'sugary' with a little bit of coffee taste, however if you are able to compare with another iced coffee using 'real' milk, you will taste how 'fake' the use of long life milk is. ?Unfortunately, after a few sips, I didn't touch any more of this one.

Overall taste - 4
Coffee strength - 3
Sugar content/sweetness - 4
Final score - 11/20

Farmers Union Strong Iced Coffee
FUIC or its nothing. ?Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know the drill. ?Yes, this was nice, strong coffee taste, and not as sweet tasting as its weaker twin. ?This definitely had a stronger coffee aftertaste than many of the other?contenders? but it was still very 'normal' taste for an iced coffee. ?If I wanted to have the best 'normal' tasting iced coffee - this is a winner, however read below and find out how some other other coffees beat this.

Overall taste - 8
Coffee strength - 4
Sugar content/sweetness - 4
Final score - 16/20

Farmers Union Iced Coffee
Not much more to say..... or is there? ?Going into this iced coffee review, the Twitterverse came back indicating this was clearly going to be winner.
But after drinking all the other contenders all in one sitting, you begin to realise how 'normal' the Farmers Union coffees are - especially this 'weaker' brother. ?There isn't anything distinctive about this one. ?Maybe this is why people like it? I don't know, but if I were to choose a 'great iced coffee' I want to find something that has an actual taste that is different to other iced coffees.

Overall taste - 7.5
Coffee strength - 3.5
Sugar content/sweetness - 4
Final score - 15/20

Brownes Smooth Coffee Blend
Not much to say about this one... drank a few sips, compared it with the others and didn't touch it again. ?Very 'milky' taste, meaning the coffee strength was not as great as the other drinks, and sweetness wasn't too much either, so nothing that excelled in any category.

Overall taste - 5
Coffee strength - 2
Sugar content/sweetness ?- 3
Final score - 12/20

Pura Classic Coffee
This was very sweet - this was definitely one of the sweetest ones. ?If you are wanting a sweet tasting iced coffee, look no further. ?The coffee taste is there, sweetness, and overall taste is not bad either. ? ?When drinking over 15 different iced coffees in one sitting, you realise which ones tastes normal, and which ones have a distinct coffee 'bean' taste. ?This was another coffee with a 'normal' taste, however its not saying it is bad, its just there is nothing really to fault it, but it just doesn't excel in anything.

Overall taste - 8
Coffee strength - 3.5
Sugar content/sweetness - 4.5
Final score - 16/20

Farmers Union Feel Good Coffee
Advertised as having the lowest sugar and fat content per serve (100ml), I wasn't expecting too much from this contender. ?Flavour was weak, and overall very 'watered' down taste. ?Give this a miss, unless you are really worried about all this?nutritional?stuff, but still, why would you care if you are already buying packaged drinks?

Overall taste - 3
Coffee strength - 2
Sugar content/sweetness - 3
Final score 8/20

Dare Espresso
I wasn't expecting much from the Dare iced coffees. ?However, taking a few sips of the Dare espresso advertised as using 'Robusta and Arabica' coffee, I can say they can stand toe-to-toe with the favourite FUIC. ?The Dare espresso had the same sweetness as the FUIC, with a different coffee aftertaste. ?I was quite impressed. ?If you like FUIC, and are in a situation where there isn't FUIC around - there actually is 'something' to replace it. ?Not bad at all.

Overall taste - 8.5
Coffee strength - 3.5
Sugar content/sweetness - 4
Final score - 16

Dare Double Espresso
The Dare Double Espresso seems to be competing directly with the FUIC's Strong version, and it challenges it quite competently. ?Aftertaste is very nice, and sweetness is just right. ?This was one of the few 'normal' iced coffees I actually wanted to continue drinking. ?If you are new to iced coffees, looking for a strong taste and strong sweetness giving you an all-round sugar high - this is it.

Overall taste - 8.5
Coffee strength - 4
Sugar content/sweetness - 4
Final score - 16.5

Paul's Just Natural Iced Coffee
Only?natural?stuff is on the label, could this be a good or bad thing? ?First taste it felt a bit bland, sweetness was there, but the coffee strength I thought was a bit lacking. ?There was a very 'milky' taste, rather than a coffee aftertaste. ?Nothing bad, but different to everything else. ?This was just like an 'average Joe' in this iced coffee review. ?I couldn't find anything good, or anything bad.

Overall taste - 6.5
Coffee strength - 3
Sugar content/sweetness - 3.5
Final score 13/20

Rush Strong Iced Coffee
The Rush coffees have a flashy label indicating 99% fat free, and 30% less sugar, much like Diet Coke or Coke Zero, so I didn't give each of these much thought prior to drinking. ?'Don't judge a book by its cover' is all I have to say. ?It was sweet, with a bitter coffee taste, very different to the other 'normal' coffees from above. ?The aftertaste was not bad, just a little bit different. ?I was trying find bad things about this 'low fat, low sugar' drink, but I just couldn't. ?Highly recommended for people who are wanting to actually read a label before drinking. ?

Overall taste - 8
Coffee strength - 3.5
Sugar content/sweetness - 4
Final score - 15.5/20

Rush Iced Latte
Labelled as a Latte, rather than an iced coffee, I wondered how this was to be different? ?Once again, the Rush 99% fat free and 30% sugar free made me hold my breath. To my surprise, this was a very different drink to the rest of the pack. ? At first it tasted very sweet, so I checked the sugar quantity, however it was one of the lowest! ?The coffee taste was a bit 'fake', but it also made it fun... much like a kid's drink. ?The more I drank, the more it made me like it, very similar to the Japanese coffee drinks I love. ?This is an iced coffee with a bit of a twist. ?I liked it.... if you feel like an iced coffee which is a bit different than the rest of the bunch, give this a try. ?

Overall taste- 8.5
Coffee strength - 3.5
Sugar content/sweetness - 4.5
Final score - 17.5/20

Fleurieu Iced Coffee
Many good things were said on twitter about this iced coffee, so I had high hopes. ?Advertised as using Monjava beans and 96% fat free, the marketing side was doing a good job..... First sip was strange, it was a completely different taste to any of the other coffees. ?It had an aftertaste - could this be the Monjava beans?! ?Another sip, and yet again, the same differentiating taste. ?Rinsed my palette, tried another coffee and came back to this - and yes, there it was again! ?Seemed like a 'real' coffee taste, not 'fake' or 'normal' like the rest of others.

I gave it a break, and tried others without rinsing my palette and this was still, providing me with a different taste to other coffees each time I came back. ?So there you have it, finally, a different tasting iced coffee, different to the 'normal' coffee taste. ?Sweetness is there, not too sweet, but most importantly, a nice coffee aftertaste.

Overall taste - 9
Coffee strength - 4.5
Sugar content/sweetness - 4
Final score - 17.5/20

Ice Break Real Iced Coffee
Interesting logo, looked like a another kiddies sweet coffee drink I thought, didn't expect too much. ?However, after a few sips, this was used as my 'sweetness' benchmark drink. ?This drink was one of, if not the sweetest of the pack. ?The coffee was also strong, so why have I not heard about this drink before? ?I kept comparing the other 'big players' to this, and I kept liking this more.

What does an iced coffee drinker look for? This has sweetness, and overall coffee strong coffee taste.??I simply could not fault this drink.... maybe because it's too sweet? ???

Overall taste - 9
Coffee strength - 4.5
Sugar content/sweetness - 4.5
Final score - 18/20

CafeCino Espresso with Milk
Insanely sweet, strong coffee with a little bit of milk powder is the only way to describe this. ?This Taiwanese made iced coffee is not your average tasting iced coffee because the aftertaste is very similar to a Lipton tea, a very?interesting?taste indeed. ? ? ? ? ? ?

Overall taste - 7
Coffee strength - 4.5
Sugar content/sweetness - 5
Final score - 16.5/20

CafeCino Espresso
These CafeCino are made in Taiwan, and would certainly be classified as iced coffee, but are very different to the Australian typical iced coffee because these contain no milk. ?Its a pure double shot espresso with a truck load of sugar. ?If you love your coffees sweet, and without milk, then this is your iced coffee choice.

Overall taste - 8
Coffee strength - 5
Sugar content/sweetness - 5
Final score - 18/20

Maroyaka Iced Latte
The winner with the highest sugar content is right here Ladies and Gentlemen. ?13.1g per 100ml serving! ?But?surprisingly, it doesn't taste as sweet as the CafeCino imports above. ?Once again, the aftertaste is the Milk tea, which is very popular in Japanese drinks. ?With the tea aftertaste, the coffee strength doesn't seem as strong in this drink. ?It feels more like drinking an milk tea with a hint of coffee. ?

Overall taste - 8
Coffee strength - 3.5
Sugar content/sweetness - 4.5
Final score - 16/20

There you have it... I am writing this up still at 4:30 am.. I cannot sleep - I am hallucinating, my stomach is bloated, I have enough gas to lift up a hot air balloon and I've been to the toilet over 5 times now.....so in summary, here are my picks:

General Ice Coffee taste - Ice Break Real Iced Coffee. ?I'm sorry folks, I chose this over Farmers Union Iced Coffee for my generic Iced Coffee, simply?because?it has a stronger coffee taste and sweeter taste.

Interesting?Ice Coffee taste -?Fleurieu Iced Coffee. ?This wins hands down as the only different tasting iced coffee.

Low Fat Iced Coffee choice - Rush Iced Latte. ?Great tastes and still sweet, but without the numbers stacking up in the nutritional charts, this is a winner.

Overall best tasting Iced Coffee - CafeCino Espresso. ?Real coffee taste, insane sugar amount without the milk, this is the only option. ?Also tastes great heated up.

If you want further nutritional details for each iced coffee - click on images to enlarge

Source: http://www.onthechoppingboard.com/2013/01/iced-coffee-review-best.html

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