I have to say, Jeff and I were a bit surprised when two large packages came up at the door about a week ago. Almost immediately Jeff notified me of this and sent me the package of Starbuck's energy drinks. Tearing open the package we were surprised to find all of Starbuck's energy drinks, including one of their newest flavors expected to hit the markets February of 2009, the Cinnamon Dulce. It's been a busy time, and difficult to review lately, but we've got to fit in time to review these great drinks Evan Pham was courteous enough to send. After taking a few minutes to decide I knew it was the right choice to review the newest energy drink first; I know it'll be a good one. So, glancing at the can, I find Starbuck's trademark good can design, being a swirling combination of light browns, and dark browns, representing the color of the Cinnamon spice and caramel syrup. Some lighter and darker shades of brown are representable for the colors and roasts of coffee in the mix. Since I've never come across Cinnamon and Caramel (Dulce) in a coffee blend, I'm eager to try it. But coffee is real easy to mess up sometime, but knowing Starbuck's this one will most likely be a pass, here on Canned Reviews.
Cracking open this smooth 16 ounce can, I find myself whiffing at a scent of sweet caramel, with some robustness of general coffee. There are light notes of cinnamon in the background, but are hard to notice; I'm sure there'll be more of it as soon as I taste it. Pouring it out of the can and into a cup, the color is different than most energy-coffees, being way lighter, almost the color of milk, dirty milk, that is. Swigging the drink from the cup, I search my taste buds and find a flavor from this Cinnamony coffee of thick, sweet caramel-milk, with powerful heaps of cinnamon prominently mixed in. The flavor is appetizing, as there's some nice robustness form Starbuck's coffee evenly spread in, and sweet Dulce to balance it all out. One thing Starbuck's did improve on is the presence of Sucralose in the drink. Unlike the previous three Starbuck's energy drinks, this Cinnamon Dulce flavor masks the Sucralose so it's hardly noticeable at all. Digging deeper into the drink, I find its aftertaste is merely a light reminisce of cinnamon, with a nice boost of milkiness, but very little actual coffee roast. It's really not that gummy, as is with most coffee energy drinks, though what more can you expect with only 33g of sugar in the whole can? One thing I noticed after about three-quarters of the way through the can is that the flavor gets a bit boring, though the flavor is still pretty subtle. Overall, Starbuck's really nailed a Cinnamon and caramel flavored coffee energy drink, and when you'll try it next month I can almost guarantee you'll say the same exact thing. Don't take too long deciding which Starbuck's is best, go for the Cinnamon Dulce.
According to this can of Starbuck's Doubleshot Cinnamon Dulce, we see a complete a ingredients list, which I'll describe to you here. I see: Starbuck's Coffee (water, coffee), reduced-fat milk, skim milk, sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose, taurine, natural flavor, cellulose gel, L-Carnitine, panax ginseng, Inositol, Sodium Accorbate, guarana seed, calcium phosphate, celluose gum, niacin, Sucarlose, ascorbic acid, Tricalcium Phosphate, Carrageenan, caramel color, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin A, Cyanocobalamin, Vitamin D3. Most of these ingredients are standard in energy coffees, as I could recall seeing these in Java Monsters and Rockstar Roasteds. Per can, you are aiming towards about 200 calories, and only 33g of sugar, just like I had mentioned earlier in the review. The calorie content really isn't that bad, especially for a sweet energy coffee like Starbuck's, though you gotta remember what the sweetener(s) actually are. In this case, you have maltodextrin, sucrose, a bit from the reduced-fat milk, and a whole lot from the Sucralose. Sucralose contains very little amounts of calories, and virtually no real sugar, so they can pose that as a sweetener with technically not having to add it to the nutrition facts. In terms of kick, I note that after about 15 minutes, a large burst of jitteriness kicks in for about 2 hours, and then later a deteriorating focus with eventually a lame crash. All in all, this Starbuck's Doubleshot blew my mind. Coming from a past of disappointing debut energy drinks, Starbuck's made a great improvement and I'm excited for the next idea the folks at Starbuck's come up with.
Taste: 8.5 - Creative idea of Cinnamon and caramel in a coffee; smooth, rich, and milky coffee to add to the creativity
Kick: 8 - Generally a good kick, usual coffee jitteriness, and usual coffee crash
Overall: 8.3 - Definitely want to pick one of these up as soon as they come to a store near you
Reviewed by: Chan
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