Iced Latte by Costa Coffee review: These ready to go bevvys balance the cream and the coffee

Canned coffee is a mixed bag. Perhaps it’s been sitting in the refrigerator aisle too long and soaked up a bit of the old aluminum taste. Or it’s too sweet, too bitter, too much cream, too little coffee… There are a million ways things can go wrong when it comes to getting your fave caffeinated beverage in the form of a to-go can.

Thankfully, Costa Coffee’s new Iced Latte line gets it all right.

The ready-to-drink beverages (all of which were provided to Guilty Eats for review) come in three flavors: Signature Blend; Caramel; and Mocha. So, nothing out there in the line, just hitting your basic latte, plus one with caramel, and one with chocolate.

I decided to try these three in the above order, mostly because whenever it comes to canned or bottled coffee beverages, I’ve found the mocha is usually the best of the best, with the additional chocolate adding the necessary smoothness and sweetness to tamp down any bitter coffee. There was also a point in my life when my main coffee consumption was purely the bottled Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino beverages, which could not have been good for my health.

So imagine how surprised I was when the basic Costa Coffee Signature Blend was good on its own. For informational purposes, I’ll mention that the Signature Blend and Caramel are both 150 calories, and Mocha 160 calories, so they’re not tipping the scales here. They also are all actually coffee and milk (in fact, those are the first two ingredients), with cane sugar, cream, natural flavors, sodium bicarbonate, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, and carrageenan rounding out the list. Point being, it’s a good canned iced latte because it starts with good coffee, and adds milk. That’s relatively speaking, all there is to it.

I was less surprised to like the Caramel flavor, and the Mocha flavors because I was more inclined to be into them anyway (full disclosure, I prefer coffee with milk and that’s it, unless I’m having something pre-packaged). They’re not too sweet, and unlike certain Starbucks beverages I may have mentioned above, don’t leave your mouth coated in a thin film of sugar after you’re done.

It makes sense, in retrospect, why Costa (which is a division of the Coca-Cola Company) partnered recently with yoga studios to launch their line nationwide. If you’re going to have coffee before or after yoga anyway, this is a relatively refreshing alternative that will perk you up, but won’t fill you up.

While I’ll always reach for a fresh cup of hot coffee instead (yes, even in the summer), when it comes to the refrigerator aisle, my bottled Frappuccino days are over; make mine Costa Coffee.