Sunday, June 19, 2011

Illy's Cans of Cold Cappuccino & Latte Macchiato

קפה קר Illy
לאטה מקיאטו וקפוצ'ינו
Not being a coffee drinker I may not be the best person to review these new Illy Issimo Cans of Cold Coffee, made by Coca-Cola Israel, but I decided to taste the Cappuccino anyway and give you a "layman's" opinion. Then when a "coffee loving" friend came over for a visit I offered her the Cold Latte Macchiato and she happily agreed to give me her "review".

Illy's Can of Cold Cappuccino
After my first sip I thought it had a very strong coffee taste. I assume that's a good thing for those that enjoy coffee. To me it tasted rich, smooth and enjoyable. It seemed to me to be a high quality coffee.

I didn’t think it was too sweet but it does have sugar in it.

I thought I tasted a chocolate undertone and sure enough cocoa is listed as one of the ingredients. Maybe it should be called "Mochaccino" but not being a "coffee expert" I'm not sure exactly what each of the names refers to. I think a Starbucks menu would seem like a foreign language to me. Oh wait; maybe many of their drinks do have Italian names, so it really is a foreign language to me. Regardless, this can of cold coffee seemed to me to be more like a cold mocha than a cold cappuccino.

I thought it might be odd to drink cold coffee out of an aluminum can but in the end it wasn’t all that strange.

Illy's Can of Cold Latte Macchiato
My friend actually asked if I had a straw and so I poured the coffee into a glass for her and gave her a straw. I gotta say I think that was a good idea, even though I was OK with the tin can in the end, drinking from a glass with a straw does somehow make a difference, I think it makes the "experience" more enjoyable.

She agreed with me that she thought it was a rich quality strong coffee and that is wasn’t overly sweet, but being that she doesn't normally add any sweetener to her coffee she did pick up on the added sugar and would have preferred it not had sugar in it.

She was glad her coffee did not have cocoa in it; she prefers a more straight up coffee with no "extras", so I was happy it worked out for her to get the Latte Macchiato and not the Cappuccino.

My friend said she thought the drink had too much milk in it for her liking, but that was not the main reason she doesn't not buy this (or any) can of cold coffee.

We both agreed it's easy to grab a can of cold coffee when you're on the go but we thought most coffee drinkers would rather a fresh cold coffee from their favorite coffee shop over buying a can of cappuccino. Since these Illy cans of cold coffee are mainly sold at kiosks and convenience stores, and as far as I know, almost all gas stations and rest stops on the highways here have a "coffee counter" in their convenience store, these days, we didn’t think many people would consider buying these cans.

I asked my friend if and when she would choose this can over a fresh cold coffee from the shop. She said that if she wanted a cold coffee she is more likely to order an "iced coffee"; the ones that are "slush-like" made with blended ice, and not a cold coffee like these cans. She added that if she was on the road and needed a caffeine "pick me up" and the gas station store did not have that kind of "iced coffee" she would rather buy a cold can of diet coke and not a cold can of coffee. But we both assumed there are people that enjoy the taste of coffee over coke and would be happy to have this cold coffee can option too.

These Illy cold coffees are made with 100% natural coffee beans and have no added preservatives. The coffees are dairy they have powdered milk in them.

There is no need to shake them just open the can and drink.

Bottom Line: Even not being a coffee drinker I found the can of Illy's Cold Cappuccino enjoyable enough. I actually liked the hint of cocoa they added to the coffee. My friend said the Latte Macchiato was OK, she thought it was a rich good quality coffee but she would much prefer a blended "iced coffee" on a hot summer's day.

250ml can 9.00NIS

Kosher Dairy Chief Rabbinate Denmark with approval from the Chief Rabbinate Israel
אבקת חלב נוחרי


Disclaimer: All items were purchased by me. No one is paying me for this review. All opinions are my own.



4 comments:

  1. They have drinks like this here... in fact, Starbucks makes one you can buy at their stores. There's also a "tetrapack" cholov Yisrael version made by J&J's called Iced Cappucino. I'm happy to hear that this exists in Israel, because I'm totally hooked on them! If you want a slushy drink, it's easy enough to toss it in the blender with some ice cubes. :-)

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  2. Hi Jennifer
    Actually if I'm not mistaken there is another company aside from Illy that has been selling cold cans of coffee for a while here but this is new to Illy/Coca-Cola. I gotta check if the other one is cholov Yisrael.

    Yes making "homemade" slushy iced coffee is very easy and can be "taylor made to your liking" always a plus:)

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  3. I have an illy machine and make illy coffee all the time, the cans have a taste of the metal, like a "tin" taste. Ruins the coffee

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  4. I had a feeling they might - there's another new cold coffee on the market here from Yotvata who make the Yotvata Ice Shoko (Cocoa) I reviewed http://isreview1.blogspot.com/2011/06/yotvata-ice-shoko-cocoa.html
    but Yotvata's cold coffee in a plastic container, I may check those out and see if I can notice a difference in the taste.

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