Burger King Coffee (aka BK Joe)
Price: $1.69 plus tax
Serving: 10 oz.
Calories: 5 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 4mg
Protein: 0.6g
Carbohydrates: 0%, 0g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 0g
Caffeine: 200-300mg
Burger King says: Wake up with the King
Abi says: I don’t know about you, but waking up with the King would scary the holy bejeezus out of me, prompting such questions as “Oh my Lord did someone slip something into my beverage last night?” and “Wait, did my fiance turn into the Burger King King? Is this some kind of sick joke?”
Fortunately for my liver, I don’t wake up with the King too often, preferring instead to wake up with my Keurig coffee maker (still in the testing stage because I’m not quite sure I can do a lifetime of weak coffee). But sometimes you find yourself at the San Jose airport at 7:30am and you’ve already consumed a tall soy chai and even though it only took you 5 minutes to get through security (incredible, eh?) it took 25 minutes to get through the Starbucks line and aside from that, nothing in their little pastry cage looks worth $3.00. So you notice that folks everywhere are drinking Burger King coffee and you figure that they must be getting through the line in an expedient manner.
Via the BK, I ate a Croissan’wich (bad idea, am never doing again, discarded partially eaten), home fries (mmm, potatoes), and studiously avoided the coffee. You see, it had to last me for the entire pre-boarding process. And since I was in the Southwest Cattle Call B group (on a smaller regional jet this means ‘last and sitting in the middle, sucker’), I figured that the styrofoam-encased BK Joe would last me at least 45 minutes.
It didn’t. I finished the piping hot coffee in about 20 minutes. More delicious than gas station coffee, but not quite as good as the brew at McDonalds (I can’t believe I just complimented McDonalds), with half a packet of equal and a bit of fresh half-and-half I was happy to sip my Burger King Joe and watch the hum of the airport while my brain awoke. Then I spent the rest of my wait time trying to read my neighbor’s New York Time in an inconspicuous manner. This is difficult because they use such small print.
The next time I’m at San Jose International, I’ll probably skip the Starbucks line and head straight to Burger King for some simple, fresh-tasting (I have no idea how fresh it was, rumor says they use pre-brewed liquid coffee) coffee and maybe this time I’ll try some of those French Toast Sticks.
Trader Joe’s Triple Espresso Mocha
Price: $1.29
Serving: 8 fl. oz. (236 mL)
Calories: 130 per serving
Fat: 4%, 2.5g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 3%, 80mg
Protein: 2g
Carbohydrates: 8%, 24g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 19g
Trader Joe says: Three shots of espresso and cocoa
Abi says: Before I ever drank coffee, I drank bottle Starbucks Frappuccinos. Only in vanilla. Only in a bottle. Why? Because they were on the meal plan at school, a meal plan that carried only Pepsi products, and thus no Diet Coke. So, I drank one Vanilla Frappuccino every morning for approximately 2 weeks before my body began rejecting all milk-heavy forms of beverages.
Hello, self-diagnosed lactose intolerance.
When I saw these Trader Joe’s espresso drinks in my Silicon Valley store, my first thought was “What a rip-off of the Starbucks DoubleShot.” My second thought was “Oh, well that’s Trader Joe’s recipe for success: similar things for lower prices.” and my third and final thought before putting this item in my basket was “I hope this doesn’t make me sick.”
And it doesn’t. Make me sick, that is. Instead, it is a sweet and creamy blend of milk, cocoa, sugar, and espresso. It is a nice mid-afternoon substitute for a bowl of ice cream and a great way to treat myself for getting through beta-testing that should be done by a machine, not me.
Thanks Trader Joe’s, for making your own, slightly cheaper version of a Starbucks product that I can drink without feeling like I have morning sickness.
Filed Under Trader Joe's, Chocolate, United States, Milk, Coffee, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Coffee, Four Stars
Mayorga Coffee Roasters Americano
Price: $1.90 plus tax
Serving: 12 oz.
Calories: 10 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 0mg
Protein: 0g
Carbohydrates: 0%, 0g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 0g
Caffeine: 150mg
Mayorga says: The perfect espresso will be delightfully sweet, have a powerful, potent aroma, be similar in flavor to freshly ground coffee, have a dark, reddish-brown crema that’s both thick and smooth, be one that you love to drink and inspires you to brew for those who share your passion.
We say: We have to admit that Mayorga’s biggest draw is the free wi-fi. Plus, they offer actual dairy-based creamers, a feature that the Vegan bakery across the street can’t match. Unfortunately, their baristas offer only general destruction when it comes to making espresso-based drinks. The only sure shots on the menu are iced beverages and we often the find the markup on iced beverages a bit much to bear. Well, that and we have lactose issues.
So this weekend, when we needed a place to chill out and browse the shoes at Piperlime (good for looking) and Zappo’s (excellent customer feedback on the shoes), we made the mistake of getting something hot.
The Mayorga Americano is simply so-so. Not brutally horrid, but just the average sort of drink that makes one think “Why did I have to go all fancy. I could have just made a cup of coffee at home.” There’s no clue that espresso was involved in the evolution of this drink. For all we know they brewed a bit of French Roast, topped it with some water, and decided to start charging more. The Americano is a bit bitter and lacks any of the subtle sweetness that should accompany fresh-brewed espresso.
We’re beginning to think that the only draws for this chain (free wi-fi and iced drinks) won’t have enough charm to attract us come winter.
Filed Under United States, Mayorga, Vegan, Coffee, Coffee, Fat Free, Four Stars
Krispy Kreme Rich Coffee
Price: $1.69 plus tax
Serving: 16 oz.
Calories: 18 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 4mg
Protein: 0.6g
Carbohydrates: 0%, 0g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 0g
Caffeine: 230-350mg
Krispy Kreme says: A refined, aromatic coffee with balanced, rounded intensity. It’s a roast with a simple name, but a complex and robust flavor.
We say: Some people allege that we stop at the Krispy Kreme for coffee because it a) has doughnuts and b) is on the way to work. This is not true.
We stop at Krispy Kreme because their coffee is reliable. That and we have the willpower to resist the doughnuts from Krispy Kreme, especially since the ones at the Dupont Circle store are deep fried somewhere else, trucked to the store, and then simply glazed here. That sort of grossness is simple to decline.
However, their coffee is not easy to turn down. First because it $1.69 for a 16 ounce coffee. While this is a bit much to make the beverage a daily habit (we’ll suffer through the free stuff available at work most days), it is enough to guarantee that one is getting something of a bit higher quality than your standard gas station fare.
You might think that 4 stars is a high reward for providing consistent better-than-gas-station coffee, but if you’ve ever had a job that involves waking up at 4:45 a.m., you understand the importance of routine.
Filed Under Vegan, United States, Krispy Kreme, Gluten Free, Coffee, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Coffee, Fat Free, Four Stars
Saxbys Coffee Cafe Americana
Price: $1.85 plus tax
Serving: 12 oz.
Calories: 10 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 0mg
Protein: 0g
Carbohydrates: 0%, 0g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 0g
Caffeine: 150mg
Saxbys says: Our espresso [beans] give a crema to die for. Full of body from Central America and Indonesian coffees.
We say: We drink Americanos (or in Saxbys’s case ‘Americanas’) because they’re just like regular coffee, but made fresh for you right at that instant. Given the choice between coffee that was produced 30 minutes ago and coffee that we can witness being made, we’ll go for the visible version anytime.
However, the Saxbys on Washington DC’s 19th St. NW is still working out some kinks when it comes to consistency. This is partly due to our request for ‘room’ in the Americanoa and partly because half of the freaking time the crema has somehow been destroyed. What gives? Last week the crema was perfect and the Saxbys Americana is a divine experience. Today it just tasted like plain old coffee, not a drink that we paid an extra 35 cents for.
With a rise in consistency, the Saxbys Coffee Cafe Americana could rise to 4 stars, but for now it is squarely in the realm of mediocrity.
Filed Under Saxbys Coffee, Coffee, Fat Free, All Natural, Coffee, Three Stars
-
-
About
Imbibable.com is the world's most comprehensive source of beverage reviews. We hope that the above sentence will be true by early 2009.
-
Beverage Types
-
Beverage Flavors
-
Other Review Blogs
Imbibable Recycles
