Be natural is there anything else

Pacific Natural Simply Coffee

I know some of you probably shun coffee and only drink energy drinks. Here at edjunkie.com though I’m down with pretty much any caffeinated beverage. I mean really coffee is the original energy drink. Coffee is the way that most people get their caffeine. Coffee as made some strides now and come ready to drink in cans, bottles, and boxes even.  Pacific natural when the box route for their organic Simply Coffee line and offer up 3 flavors. I’ll be reviewing all 3 flavors here

Packaging: Ok so they start with a 16 oz resealable Tetra Pak. This is a more environmentally friendly package which fits with the Pacific Natural foods image.  It’s a pretty big container and it prominently displays all its various certifications like Fair Trade and USAD Organic. There is plenty of room on this package and they use it to provide a lot of good product info. Still it is not cluttered and should appeal to the intended target consumer.  Grade B

Slogan: “Guilt-free decadence - naturally” is what I found on their web site and that is a pretty good effort I think. Not fun and catchy but it does make you expect it to be tasty and natural. Grade C+

Taste:

• Mocha: I open the little twist off lid to reveal a very dark cream beverage inside. It has a nice chocolate scent. It comes out fairly thick and rich looking.  I take a sip and it has a nice rich chocolate flavor up front with some dark roast coffee flavor at the finish. It has no bitterness to speak of. I found it to be rich but not over the top creamy like some RTD coffees are. I think this is a flavor that will appeal to coffee lovers as well as chocolate lovers. Grade B
• Latte:  This flavor is a nice creamy dark brown color with a nice coffee scent. It is less thick than the mocha. I take a drink and it has a nice smooth creaminess up front followed by some dark rich roasted coffee flavor. I really enjoyed the coffee flavor in this one. They did not overdo the cream and it let the surprisingly good coffee flavor shine through. The level of sweetness was spot on as well with it being lightly sweetened at just the right level. Grade B+
• Vanilla: When you pour out this light brown liquid you are hit right away with a sweet vanilla scent. Taking a sip it is cream followed by a light vanilla flavor and finished by just a tiny hint of coffee. There is no bitterness at and of the 3 this one has the least coffee taste. I like how this one is not overpowered by a strong vanilla and instead the vanilla just enhances the creaminess. Grade B-

Kick/Ingredients: Well each of these drinks has a little bit of difference ingredients wise.

• Mocha:  16 oz is a lot off coffee! I drank mine down in the afternoon and I got a pretty good amount of caffeine energy in the next 15 to 20 minutes. I was not jittery but I was very awake and energetic. I really flew through the rest of the work day. I got a solid 4 hours of caffeine fueled energy with no crash. There are 260 calories,46 grams of carbs, and 44 grams of sugar
• latte: Kick is the same as mocha. Per 16 oz you have 220 calories and 34 grams of carbs and sugar
• Vanilla: Kick is the same as Mocha and you get 240 calories, 40 grams of carbs, and 38 grams of sugars

Web Presence: The site at pacificfoods.com is a really nice site. It has plenty of product information (one of the best FAQ’s I have seen), looks really nice and healthy, is easy to navigate and they even provide caffeine content. There are no fun and games or anything like that but it is a well done. They provide a lot of good info on the company and what it stands for and they also have a store. I did not find the coffees in their store(they do have some delicious looking soups though!). They do list places online where you can buy their coffees though like Amazon.com. They also have a Twitter and a Facebook.  Overall this is one of the best sites as far as information goes I have seen in a long time. Grade A- for web presence

Recap: 

• Packaging  B
• Slogan C+
• Taste  Mocha B/Café au Lait B+, Vanilla B-
• Kick/Ingredients C+
• Web Presence B

Ok so I admit I was surprised by these drinks. The chocolate flavor was a bit of a let down from a coffee standpoint but for a chocolate lover it is great, the Au Lait made up for that with a delicious rich coffee taste. Lastly the Vanilla was easy on the vanilla and the coffee. These are a nice healthy alternative to your usual coffee drinks made with good wholesome ingredients (unless you’re watching your sugar intake) and a fair dose of sweet caffeine.  They are all made with Organic fair trade certified coffee, Organic Reduced Fat Milk, and Organic Evaporated Cane Juice. All 3 are certified Organic.  If you like coffee I can highly recommend these as they offer a good coffee kick and you can feel good about drinking them.

Back to the front Page