Califia Cold Brew Coffee: Mocha Noir

While I was grocery cat food shopping the other night I noticed something new in the milk aisle:  mocha flavored cold brew coffee made with almond milk. I'm always up for trying something new when it comes to a mocha coffee drink, but I tend to not try many since they're absolutely packed with sugar. I almost passed right by, but then I noticed that it said "25% less sugar" so I took a peek at the nutritional information. Surprisingly there's only 12 grams of sugar for the whole bottle. That's fairly low since so many of them pack 20 grams of sugar or more in a bottle. I will admit, though, that this bottle isn't as large as the Starbucks coffee drinks, so it's maybe not that much less sugar. That said, it was nice to see a bottle that is ONE serving size and not 1.5, 2 or 2.5.

If you like a strong coffee flavor, need something dairy-free and want less sugar, this is for you. Personally I found the coffee flavor a bit too strong for me. I prefer more of a hint of coffee rather than full-on, in-your-face coffee flavor, but I'm also not a coffee drinker so that's probably why. I ended up adding some of my Fairlife milk to it in order to tame it a bit. I also didn't care much for the almond flavor from the almond milk. I mean, I like almonds and I know what almond milk tastes like (almonds!), but it was weird to taste almonds when I'm drinking something that's mocha.

My verdict is that I would not buy this again. It was on sale for $1.89 and it's less sugar, which is what attracted me, but I wouldn't buy it again.

homemade iced mocha latte

Oh, how I sometimes wish I didn't figure out how to make one of these!

I'm not a coffee drinker, but I like coffee drinks.  Before my gastric bypass, I used to love getting a frozen mocha coolatta from Dunkin Donuts or iced mocha frappe from McDonald's. After surgery, though, those were pretty much off the table; they're absolutely loaded with sugar. A small mocha coolatta (16 oz.) made with whole milk packs 330 calories and 68 (!!!???) grams of sugar.  (I always got a large, which is 670 calories and 136 grams of sugar!) An iced mocha frappe from McDonald's is 420 calories. They don't specify size or amount of sugar, but I would have to guess it's a lot.

Recently I discovered Starbuck's. Being that I'm not a coffee drinker and I can't tolerate all the sugar in the iced drinks, I never had an occasion to go there.  I was at the bookstore in the mall, which has a Starbuck's inside the store, and decided to look at the menu. I assumed there would be nothing I could have, but then I noticed that you could get certain coffee drinks in a "skinny" version. That means nonfat milk and artificial sweetener. I decided to try a skinny iced mocha latte in the Grande size, which is about 16 oz. I forked over nearly $5.00 for it, but holy cow it was so worth it! It was delicious and chocolate-y! It didn't bother my stomach at all.  And the best part was that it was under 200 calories.

I could easily see this becoming an expensive habit, so I set out to make my own at home. I scoured the internet and the universal recipe seems to be a couple ounces of coffee, some chocolate sauce or cocoa powder, sugar, and a whole lot of milk.  I settled on one recipe and made it one weekend.  I substituted Equal for the sugar, used cocoa powder, and used Fairlife fat free milk (more protein and less sugar than regular milk).  The result was identical to the Starbuck's drink; however, mine didn't taste quite so artificial even though I used Equal in it. I used natural cocoa powder, although you can use whatever cocoa powder you have. My personal preference is natural, as it seems to have a better taste.

I definitely don't make this often, though, as I can see it becoming a very bad habit.  I reserve it for Friday mornings and weekends, and even then I try to limit it to a few times a month. Even though it's under 200 calories and has a ton of protein, I really don't want to drink all my calories.

So, here's my own recipe. It makes about 22 ounces, has 195 calories, 1 gram of fat, 18 grams of carbs, 12 grams of sugar, and 28 grams of protein. Yes, 28 grams!

Dawn's Homemade Iced Mocha Latte

Ingredients

6 oz brewed hot coffee (I use 6 ounces of water and one K cup; coffee must be hot)
2 TB natural cocoa powder (use any kind you like, natural or dutch process)
3 packets Equal or other artificial sweetener
16 oz Fairlife Fat Free Milk or any kind of milk you like

Directions

1. In a tall glass or Blender Bottle, mix the cocoa powder into the hot brewed coffee.  This is key when trying to get cocoa powder to dissolve. The liquid must be hot. If you are using leftover brewed coffee, heat it in the microwave first.
2. Mix the Equal into the coffee mixture. At this point you can chill the mixture or continue on to step 3. It depends how cold you want the drink and when you want to drink it. I sometimes prepare it ahead of time and chill it. Then the next morning I just add the milk and go.
3. Pour the milk into the coffee mixture and stir.
4. Chill in the fridge (if you didn't make ahead) or add some ice. 
5. Enjoy!

It's not super pretty, but it's delicious!