Quick write up on “Cold Brew Style” pods for my cold brew lovers

Let me preface by saying that I'm a huge fan of Starbucks cold brew because of the bean they use and it's not an acidic cold brew. All around it's a well-balanced brew. Out of many places I think they really nailed it with their recipe.

I was gifted a Vertuo Pop and I love it so much. Naturally I wanted to seek out the cheaper alternative for the Starbucks cold brew so I opted to buy the Nespresso cold brew style pods. At first I enjoyed it but now they just seemed very mediocre and it mainly comes from the watered down flavor component. Here is a quick write-up of the cold brew pods in comparison to the Golden Caramel Pods over ice

-Cold Brew-

Aroma: It might just be me but I get some floral aromatics from it that aren't off-putting. It might just be the beans they use for it.

Flavor: Intense and earthy with slight sweet and floral notes. No acidity.

Body: I feel it has about a medium heavy body as it kind of lingers a bit after you drink it. But also it's noticeable that it is watered down.

I'm going to rate this a 6.5 out of 10. Mainly because the serving size is pretty great. You'll notice in the picture that it's filled up pretty close to the top with less than a half a cup of ice. You can serve two people with one pod. The flavor really isn't what I'm looking for and it just tastes like a watered down version of iced coffee. It's also visible how much lighter it looks in comparison to the second picture. I'm not saying don't try it but just try one sleeve and see how you like it.

-Golden Caramel- (picture 2)

Aroma: very noticeable caramely sweetness. With some hints of vanilla.

Flavor: Mild caramel flavor with notes of dark cherry. Mellow earthy tones. Slightly low acidity.

Body: It's got the body of an iced coffee but it maintains it's strength after is been diluted with ice. Kind of creamy.

I'm rating this one a 7.5 out of 10. It doesn't taste watered down and it's got a nice sweetness from the caramel. I would recommend this one over the Cold Brew Style.

One thing I forgot to mention was with the cold brew Style how much creamer I needed to add for it to get to my liking. In comparison to a Starbucks cold brew I would add about a tablespoon or less for 8 oz and it would be enough. With this pod I felt like I would have had to add double the amount. I don't like overly sweet coffees but I do like some flavor to it. Not sure why this is?

Anyway, hope this helped anyone who was wondering about these pods!