Cinnamon let me in
Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Cinnamon Dulce
Wow I was just sitting around talking the other day and someone ask me “Is Starbucks coming out with any new flavors for their Doubleshot Energy+Coffee”? I said I was not aware of any. But then to my surprise I received a can of a new flavor (good to be the edjunkie sometimes!). Cinnamon Dulce? I was very interested right away. This was a flavor that was outside of the box. Sure many coffee energy drinks have mocha, vanilla, or hazelnut flavors. No one that I know of has anything close to this one. I placed my can in the fridge and waited with anticipation. You think watching the clock is slow trying watching the fridge. At least the hands on a clock move. After about 10 minutes staring at the fridge I decided to sleep on it. Needless to say I had a hard time sleeping well knowing what lay in store for the morning.
Packaging: This 15 oz can is in the same style as the other Doubleshot Energy+Coffee cans. The can is silver mostly with a kind of wood grain pattern diagonal on the front. At the top the can is the flavor along with key ingredients. Below the silver top is the familiar Starbucks logo that is a green circle that has a Siren in it. I always thought it was a mermaid but I did some research and found a cool site about the Sbux logo . Below the logo is the name in a black with silver outline followed by a graphic of 2 stars. Below that is a listing of “Guarana, Ginseng, and B Vitamins”. Further down it reads “Premium energy coffee drink”. On the back you have nutrition facts as well as a blurb about the drink, its benefits, and the flavor. I will give them a grade of B+ for packaging. It is a classy looking can that will appeal to Starbucks customers.
Slogans: This can has a little different slogan on it that relates to the flavor. “Your Extra Shot, Latin Style” Pretty nice that they made this slogan go with the flavor. B for slogan
Taste ect: I really did not know what to expect of this flavor. I popped the top and I got a nice coffee scent mixed with a sweet smell I could not really pin down. It did not have a strong cinnamon scent. I had shaken it up some (let rest before opening) and it poured out a nice medium brown color with a little froth. Very appealing in appearance for sure. I took a sip and it was extremely delicious. It was very indulgent with a sweet desert like taste. I did some research and Dulce is a kind of brown sugar and butter flavor. Wow Once I read that I could really taste it. It was not overly creamy like the Monster javas are but it was actually more indulgent. You could taste the butter and brown sugar up front and then a hint of cinnamon and a slight coffee taste at the finish. The cinnamon is not as strong as I expected but that is good. I am going to say something I don’t usually say. This is probably the best coffee energy drink flavor wise I have ever had. It was all I could do not to drink it down without stopping. I did take my time though since I really wanted to savor it and I only had one can. Grade A+ for taste
Kick/Ingredients: Ok so I drank this fairly early in the morning. I was at a basketball game until about 11 and then got to bed about 12. I woke up at 4 am and I knew I was gonna need some help. I drank the can as slowly as I could(it was hard not to drink it faster) . In 15 minutes I was rockin pretty hard and was doing my work as well as carrying on conversations with several people at the same time. This drink got me through a grueling 4 hours where I should have hit the wall. I did not hit the wall thanks to this drink. There was really no crash to speak of.
The ingredients are the usual amounts found in the other flavors of Doubleshot Energy+Coffee. Caffeine 146 mg, 2000 mg of maltodextrin, 1800 mg of Taurine, 450 mg of L-Carnatine, 180 mg of Inositol, 325 mg of Panax Ginseng, 90 mg of Guarana, and some B vitamins. You have 200 calories, 3 grams of fat, 33 grams of carbs, 28 grams of sugar and 12 grams of Protein. One thing I had not noticed before is that there are vitamins A, C, and D in this drink and you get 20% of your DV for calcium! Main ingredients are coffee, reduced fat milk , and sugar. I will give them a B+ for kick/ingredients. There is less sugar than in a lot of energy drinks and only 3 grams of fat. For something the delicious it is pretty healthy
Web presence: Starbucks of course has a huge website at starbucks.com but there is a separate site at starbuckscoffeeonthego.com. The site is now really good and has the nutrition info you need including caffeine amounts. I like the navigations and the hand drawn looking scroll bar. It is not loaded with fun or anything but it is well designed easy to navigate. Grade B-
Recap:
I might not be a fan of big companies but I have to say that Starbucks really knows how to bring it. This drink has a good kick, premium mature packaging, healthy ingredients, and the best taste of any coffee energy drink I have tried. If I was running an energy drink company I would rush to steal away the people behind this drink. They know what they are doing in all aspects.
