It’s personal taste, but I think it’s fair to say that the combination of coffee and hazelnut is a classic, and a great blend of flavours that just works.
So when I saw the “Caffe” in the chiller aisle the other day, and read that it was a coffee and hazelnut drink, what choice did I have but to give it a spin?
Alpro?
I’ll be honest, I had no idea that Alpro did any coffee drinks at all. I know them for dairy-free milks (soya, nuts etc). But why not? It’s dairy-free, it’s plant-based. It makes perfect sense.
I know them for their high-quality products, so it was a no-brainer to get in on the action.
A blend of coffee and hazelnut, made by people that specialise in things like nut milks. A guaranteed win, right?
Did you know that Alpro isn’t the only producer of milk substitutes? There are loads to choose from, so if this doesn’t float your boat, check these out.
Coffee?
According to the packaging, this drink is over 50% coffee! Perfect. A cafe-latte style drink with natural hazelnut flavour.
It tastes great, it really does. But the “coffee” element gets really lost behind the overpowering hazelnut flavour. It’s no bad thing, of course, but I’d struggle to say it was a good or bad coffee, because it’s so well hidden away.
You definitely get the “roundness” of the coffee when you drink it, and there’s definitely the in-mouth textures and elements of a standard frappe/chilled latte.
The coffee is there, but I can’t tell if it’s actually decent.
Let’s be honest, if you’re drinking a cold, milk-based coffee drink, I’m not sure the quality of the coffee is the biggest concern. In fact, for the most part I prefer coffee without any kind of milk.
The beauty here is that, you’re not tasting a coffee being hampered by milk or additional flavours. You’re actually having a really nice hazelnut drink with the robustness and feel of a coffee.
Coffee-Drink
I knew I’d enjoy it. I love hazelnut, I like the occasional chilled, flavoured coffee drink, and I like the idea that it’s more natural with less sugar than some big-chain alternatives in the super market.
So, I can certainly recommend this to anyone that enjoys a coffee-drink. I’m not sure I can recommend it as a “coffee” per se, but I would suggest that anyone that loves the classic hazelnut/coffee combo and fancies a chilled caffeine kick, this is definitely a great choice.
I was worried that it wasn’t “proper” coffee, but the fact is, I can rate it however I want. And seeing as though it’s coffee-based, it qualifies to be rated as a coffee here.
As such, Alpro Caffe – Hazelnut and Coffee gets the Ninja Refinery “recommended” rating. It’s not for the coffee purist, but it’s a decent coffee-drink with that classic hazelnut twist.
