When I first picked these up at the store I was admittedly hesitant. Many attempt have been made to recreate a Coffee house mixed drink from a single serve coffee maker. It is incredibly difficult to replicate the rich flavors found in a typical macchiato or latte with a simple cup of coffee and some dry milk powder. Steamed milk and espresso are leaps and bounds ahead of any other at home knockoff.
However: There alway has to be an exception to this rule. Those of you who have visited the page before know that I am a huge fan of Gevalia coffee. Their Dark Royal Roast is, in my incredibly humble opinion, the best coffee available. But, being totally fair, I can’t even stomach their regular house roast (…you know, the one you can find everywhere and is always on sale), so I’m not completely biased.
The best, and most noticeable thing about this coffee is it’s aroma. It smells incredibly sweet, and very much of caramel. It truly reminds me of a Coffee House caramel macchiato in the way that the rich smell quickly fills the room. Coupled with a nice head of foam that forms at the top of the mug, this simple k-cup has you thinking you’ve just spent $5 on something fancy.
For coffee, the flavor of this drink is truly extraordinary. Any macchiato, latte, or coffee house drink will normally be made with espresso. The only time you are typically drinking “coffee” at a coffee house is when you order just that. All the fancy drinks are made from espresso, because the flavor is bold and strong enough to hold up against the sweet caramel or chocolate. This drink is made with coffee from a k-cup, so it is a little unfair to compare the two. At least, that’s what I thought before I tasted it.
I would love to run a blind taste test between this two-step drink and an actual macchiato. I doubt most people would be able to taste the difference. I know I was pleasantly surprised when I gave this combination a try. It is the perfect balance between bold and sweet that leads to an absolutely incredible experience.
I do have a couple of pointers from my experiences: Be sure to follow the directions and put the powder in the mug first. It is almost impossible to dissolve if you try the other way. Plus, that is how the head of foam is able to form, which adds to the experience. Also, be sure to give it a good stir before tasting. The first time I made one of these, I assumed that the hot coffee pouring over the powder was enough to dissolve it. That is NOT the case, and will lead to a pretty disappointing surprise. Lastly, make sure you run the k-cup in a lower volume setting (I would suggest the second smallest: the one that looks like a cappuccino cup on a saucer). If you go any bigger than that, the coffee flavor gets a little watered down. If you go any smaller, you don’t quite have enough liquid to dissolve the power.
I know the idea of mixing a powder into your coffee is unsettling for some of you. I know it was for me, especially after the disastrous time I had with the Starbucks 2-step PSL (please take my word for it, it was so terrible!), but Gevalia does an incredible job with this one.
I rate it 4 out of 5 beans. I was really impressed overall. It is difficult to get a 5/5 rating from me. The major reasoning behind my rating was simply due to the fact that it is a coffee based drink. I poured a shot of espresso from my Nespresso machine over the very same powder and my head began to spin (it was actually better than anything I had ever had in a coffee shop before). The fact that they are limited to a k-cup is obviously detrimental to the flavor, but not enough to stop this from being an incredible product.
If you want to check it out on Amazon, I would really appreciate it if you used the link below. If not, look for it at your grocery store. It is definitely worth a try. Let me know what you think in the comments!
