Blue Bottle Coffee - New Orleans Style Iced Coffee
Pros
- Widely available
- Not too thick
- Quality ingredients
- Not too sweet
Cons
- Expensive
Several years ago, I wrote a not-so-glowing review of Blue Bottle Coffee's New Orleans Style Iced Coffee. At the end of the review I wrote that one day, I would maybe give it another chance.
Well, I must have meant what I said, because today is that day.
I picked up another small carton of Blue Bottle's New Orleans Style Iced Coffee with a delivery from Spoon Rocket, and my experience was completely different this time around.
Do tastebuds really evolve this rapidly? Or did Blue Bottle change up the recipe over the years?
I'd only be speculating…
Ratings
When I originally rated Blue Bottle's New Orleans Style Iced Coffee, I couldn't get past the sweetness. I also only had one rating category for RTD coffee drinks at the time: taste.
Things have changed though.
For one, I no longer found the NOLA Iced Coffee to be too sweet. Secondly, I now have four rating categories I use for RTD coffee drinks.
You can learn more about how I review RTD coffee drinks here.
Taste
Pretty much on par with Stumptown's Cold Brew with Milk, if not ever-so-slightly inferior. I'm really not sure if anything changed in the ingredient list since the first time I reviewed it, but whatever the case, it was working for me this time.
Score: 4.5
Price
Paying $4 for a small little carton (10.66oz) seems steep to me. Granted, it isn't really that much more expensive than some of its closest competitors, but I still don't think it is close to the best bang-for-your-buck.
Score: 2.5
Ingredients
There are no artificial sweeteners. Everything is pretty much organic. The chicory and coffee work nicely to balance the sweetness.
Score: 5
Availability
This is one of the more widely-distributed RTD cold brew coffees. You can definitely find it at Whole Foods and other bourgeois grocery stores.
Score: 4
Tried Blue Bottle's NOLA Iced Coffee?
I would love to hear your thoughts on this tasty cold brew option if you've had the chance to try it. Or, if you're interested in making it yourself you should download my cold brew guide below. It includes a link to Blue Bottle's recipe, as well as a whole bunch of other cold brew coffee recipes, experiments, and more.
Love Cold Brew?
Get the PDF of my cold brew coffee guide so you always have easy, offline access to great cold brew coffee, whether you buy cold brew coffee at the store or want to make it yourself.
[…] their on-tap cold brew (more on this in the video)…but I also had very high expectations for Blue Bottle’s Iced Coffee and ended up being extremely […]
Does it need to keep in refrigerator?
Yes
[…] have already reviewed two other popular cold brew options earlier: Blue Bottle and Stumptown, so I was curious to see how this much pricier option […]
[…] I already reviewed their straight cold brew here, and it was probably one of my favorites of those that I’ve reviewed so far. And to be honest, I didn’t expect much from their milk and sugar version given how little I liked the retail version of the New Orleans Iced Coffee by Blue Bottle. […]