Review: New Orleans Style Iced Coffee

With about a dozen company-owned retail outlets and a popular retail and wholesale coffee bean business, Blue Bottle Coffee is a name that is well known in the high end coffee circuit. With the cold-brew coffee category heating up, it’s no surprise that Blue Bottle is throwing their hat in the ring with this product, a New Orleans Iced Coffee. The product, which was introduced earlier this year, is produced through a partnership with Clover Farms of California. The USDA Organic certified product uses a milk-heavy formulation that uses cold-brew coffee, chicory (hence the New Orleans style), and evaporated cane syrup. While it’s not as heavy on the coffee as products you’ll find from some of its competitors, such as Stumptown, it’s definitely a very well-executed play on a classic iced coffee drink. And the coffee itself is top notch in terms of flavor. It’s bold, but smooth, with the chicory adding a nice complementary flavor. There’s a moderate amount of sweetness to the product (19g of sugar), but it doesn’t get in the way of enjoying the coffee. All in all, we really like what the company has created -- but we can't help but wish that there was a bit more coffee flavor to the product. On the packaging front, the choice of a milk carton is something that definitely makes the product stand out from the cold case (assuming it’s being merchandised outside of the dairy aisle). The white packaging does a very nice job of showcasing the Blue Bottle logo, while also presenting a polished and minimalist themed product. Honestly, the only concern we have is in its similarities to a milk product being something that helps or hurts it. Overall, Blue Bottle’s New Orleans Iced Coffee is a very well-executed and welcome addition to the coffee category. Hopefully it will be the first of many additions from this coffee brand.

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