Beekeeper is a new line of RTD cold brew coffee drinks that are made with Guatemalan coffee and a touch of honey. The line is launching with four varieties packaged in 8 ounce cans. 

These four varieties include three that are dairy-based (Caramel Latte, Vanilla Latte, and Mocha Latte) and one that’s plain cold brew with a touch of honey called Double Black, which is listed as having 0 calories and 0 grams of sugar (and 180mg of caffeine). They do call out that the honey adds a negligible amount of sugar. 

The three dairy SKUs land at 150 or 160 calories per can along with 125mg of caffeine, 4.5 grams of fat, 8 grams of protein and 7 grams of added sugar (17-18 grams of total sugar from added sugar and honey). Other ingredients include dipotassium phosphate, acacia gum, and gellan gum to help with the consistency and stabilize the product. These products are definitely on the higher end of the calorie spectrum as far as premium RTD coffees go and it’s clear that they are trying to make products that win on flavor.

Speaking of flavor, Beekeeper definitely tastes good. This starts with their lattes, which are rich, creamy, sweet and indulgent. While there’s no shortage of coffee flavor, the milk and added flavorings feel like more of the focal point.  These drinks are also pretty sweet, no surprise given the level of calories and sugar in them. The only thing that felt slightly like a miss was the use of honey, which isn’t something that adds to the flavor in any discernible way. 

Last but not least, there’s the dairy free Double Black. This product is a bold and smooth brew with a touch of honey that doesn’t seem to add any sweetness, which is fine by us.

Moving on to the packaging, Beekeeper comes in an 8 ounce can with a black top.  The products have a matte finish label that includes several glossy stripes that run horizontally across the lower portion of the label. On the latte flavors, these are used for SKU-specific colors that help differentiate the SKUs while on Double Black, the stripes are black and add a bit of visual contrast to the matte black background.  

There are a couple of key pieces of text on the label, including the product statement “cold brew latte” (or “cold brew coffee” on Double Black), the logo, which, despite being one word, is on two lines, and a four line product statement that blends product attributes with a bit of charm (e.g. “a touch of vanilla & a whole lot of hustle”). Finally, at the bottom, you’ll find the actual flavor name.

While we’d like to see the name of the flavor a bit higher on the label (perhaps swapping placeswith the product statement), t Beekeeper definitely has an aesthetically pleasing and polished look. We especially like the black can top, which adds a nice pop.

Ultimately, Beekeeper is a product that’s technically sound in terms of both liquid, packaging, and SKU variety. But aside from the use of honey, which doesn’t actually impact the flavor, there isn’t something about the product itself that sets it apart from other players in the market. For some consumers the branding, which definitely looks sharp, will win them over, but this otherwise feels like a brand that’s going to have to win with execution.

Since there’s not a lot happening in the RTD coffee set right now, that’s probably not a terrible strategy.