Product Review: Café Escapes K-Cups

Disclaimer: I’m a member of BzzAgent, which is a community that sends you free stuff to sample and review. I was invited to join the Café Escapes campaign, and thought you all might be interested as I assume you’re all caffeine fiends like myself. I got the K-Cups for free, along with some two dollar coupons to give to friends.

Coffee. It’s the lifeblood of the modern workforce. There are many ways  to make your ideal cup; Aeropress, pour over, siphon (my personal favorite for the weekend), or the go-to French Press. During the week though, I tend to prefer using Keurig K-Cups. A coworker bought one about a year ago and it is wonderful for what it is. It’s better than the office swill, everyone can bring in whatever they want, and it requires minimal fuss. I know most coffee snobs abhor these contraptions (and drip brewing in general) but they work for me.So I was excited when I was invited to try the new Café Escapes K-Cups.

The coffees.

The Coffees – I had originally intended to write a review for each of these flavors individually, but I found that what I had to sayabout them was basically the same. I was very disappointed when I brewed my first cup and found it to be very reminiscent of the “instant latte” from Folgers I used to drink in high school. Even brewed on the smallest cup size (6oz) I found the flavor to be nonexistent.  When I pulled the K-Cup out of my Keurig it was empty, confirming my suspicions that this was in fact instant coffee. I passed what was left to a coworker who likes lighter flavored coffees (he’s a big fan of the bottled Starbucks Frappuccinos  and asked what he thought. A resounding “meh.”

The hot coco.

The Hot Chocolates – These I enjoyed. They were on par with your typical instant hot chocolate, but with the benefit of being able to pop it into the Keurig and be done. My office is constantly lacking utensils, so this is actually a big benefit for me.  Plus, I always seem to have this problem with instant hot chocolate where it is either clumpy, or the hot chocolate is on the bottom of my mug by the time I’m done. I didn’t have either of those problems here. I recommend brewing these on the 6oz setting on your Keurig.

The Tea – I don’t have much to say here. I don’t like sugar/milk in my tea. I did give it to a coworker who it turns out already had a box of these in her desk so she obviously enjoys them.

Overall, I found the hot chocolate to be the only enjoyable variety. They are a little pricey ($11.99 for 16) so you’d have to decide if the price is worth it or not to you.