La Colombe - 2 Reviews

I don't know what's happening to me, but I think I'm starting to like coffee. Well at least fancy “ready to drink” coffee. The past couple that I have tried (minus the Marley) I have actually enjoyed a great deal. Something about them has been different though. Even though they have been a variety or different preparations they have all been very smooth with little acidity. In the world of coffee smooth is the descriptor that I am looking for.

This is a “Draft Latte” which I'm pretty sure is a term that La Colombe invented. It's a can of frothed milk with a shot of cold-pressed espresso added (hence the smoothness). There is no added sweetener and there doesn't need to be. You can get a taste for the actual coffee and the milk (I do with it were almond or soy, but I'll enjoy what I can get). I don't really understand how the milk stays frothy, but it really does have that specific feel/taste. Okay I just looked it up and it's the way the can is pressurized that froths the milk when you crack it open. That's good science there.

I'm certainly not Mr Fancy Pants in most aspects of my life, but when it comes to coffee that's apparently what I need. I wish I could talk about the roast or whatever, but that is lost on me. This tastes like coffee when coffee is good. It's frothy, smooth and wonderful.

Mike Thirsty Dude (or should it be Thirsty Dude Mike?) called me last night pleading with me to review this. Okay, maybe it was actually just asking me nicely. Mike was under the impression that this was going to be a coffee soda, but in actuality it's just cold pressed coffee. He admitted that he likes coffee drinks, but not straight coffee so knowing that I love coffee he thought it was best that I take a shot at this.

While I normally drink my coffee with a little soy/almond/rice/coconut milk and sugar, I know good coffee when I taste it. I lived in Portland for almost 3 years where it's mandatory that you fall in love with Stumptown Coffee. While normally I would add the aforementioned things into this, for science I will drink it without.

The awesome thing about cold brew coffee is that you get a richer coffee flavor from the beans. Because the beans are never subjected to hot water, it has a much lower acidity in the taste. Anyone who has had gas station coffee that's been sitting out for hours knows that taste. It's super easy to cold brew at home, especially if you have a french press. All you do is course grind the beans, put them in a mason jar and fill it with cold water. Mix it well and put the lid on it. Then place the jar in the fridge for 12 hours, take it out and press the coffee in the french press. Now this is coffee concentrate, so you can add milk or water to taste to dilute it. Or if you love REALLY strong coffee, you can just drink it straight.

Now back to La Colombe. I haven't had many bottled cold brew coffees before, but what I have had been nothing short of awesome. This was no exception and they definitely give cold brew/pressed coffee a good name. It has a really awesome and complex rich taste. Since I don't normally drink black coffee, this is a sipping coffee for me (much like espresso) and it's a great way to savor the flavor. (Note, that rhyme I just wrote was 100% unintentional and I'm kind of embarrassed by it but decided to leave it in for some unknown reason, then write this big long unnecessary apology that brings more attention to it).