Bottled Coffee's Comeback

The first time bottled specialty coffee was popularized....

During the pandemic, coffee shops made an innovation by selling coffee in 1lt bottles. It was so popular that coffee shops and chains all across the country began selling them. The trends lasted for a while until after the pandemic eases when people start going to coffee shops again. I tried a few of them in the past and hated how they always tasted. The flavor was just off and you could tell the difference between individually made coffee versus coffee made in batches. These days, while bottled coffee is around, it isn’t as popular as it was during the pandemic. So, I stopped buying them completely until the past week, I was piqued again.

How it piqued my interest again

I got bored of the coffee shop/cafe scene in my town that I don’t find anything special anymore. If I can have the same comfort at home and even better, why not just have them from home? The only problem I normally have is that I can drink 200-300ml/day and sometimes up to 500ml/day. I could order a few cups of the same flavored latte but the amount of plastic cups I would accumulate would be beyond me. Besides, they are also a little more expensive than if I were to buy litres coffee.

1lt from Beli Kopi, my verdict!

These days, there are only about 3-4 places selling these types of bottled coffee where I live. I first tried the coffee franchise called, Beli Kopi. They are a low-end coffee chain and their coffee is just so-so. It’s not exactly the best place to get your coffee but they still get your caffeine fix. Anyway, I got their caramel macchiato for less than $5. As you see below, the bottle is pretty huge and surprisingly, they taste pretty alright. I actually added an extra shot by paying extra but I can pretty much tell that the coffee was too subtle even with an additional espresso shot. So, I would rate it 3.5 out of 5. It’s okay if you enjoy sugary coffee but if you want balance and coffee with specialty blends, buying from a low-end franchise is definitely not a good idea.

500ml from Hakui, my verdict!

The second one I tried was from a place called Hakui. It’s a coffee shop in town offering proper coffee. I visited the place a couple of times and they use good beans that are brewed with nuova simonelli Appia II. The pricing already shows a significant difference. For 500ml, it was already $5 and their 1lt bottled coffee was a little over $8. I got their most basic taste, which is their milk coffee. When I tasted it, they tasted the same as if it was individually made. It was a balanced mix between the coffee and the milk. The coffee also tastes similar as if they were blends of specialty arabica. So, for the price, they certainly deliver quality. I would rate it 4 out of 5. I could rate it 5 but their packaging was too simple whilst it should have had more information such as label, portion, or just how to serve it.

In one sitting....

Honestly, I never thought of enjoying this type of coffee but I ended up loving them. They make a great alternative, low-cost and one of the best ways to get sugary caffeine fix. When it comes to specialty coffee around here, I’d normally just brew them myself or get it from my favorite place where I know, they don’t mess up their brewing. This type of coffee makes a great friend when you’re doing something on laptop and before you know, you can drink 500ml in one sitting, just like what happened to me the other day 😄

I have quite a few coffee stories lined up. I just haven’t had the time to compile them yet. I also recently tried yummy Ethiopian coffee that I would consider, the only kind that I love to drink from Ethiopia. So, stay tuned for more reviews on that.