by Maggie Schneider
A few weeks ago, a cold brew coffee company reached out to The Connector about trying their canned drinks. After accepting, the company sent a variety of coffee flavors to let students try for free.
We are approaching the end of the quarter, which means that caffeine is quickly becoming one of our best friends. I love coffee anytime, but it’s crucial to my survival when going through midterms and final projects. There are so many local coffee shops and brands to choose from now, with a greater emphasis on offering the best, sustainably sourced beverages.
According to RISE Brewing Co., “Our coffee is organic, non-GMO, non-dairy and low acid. Think a super light, refreshing stout beer meets iced coffee with a frothy head. An infusion of nitrogen gives RISE its distinctive, creamy cascade.” The company offers subscription packages where you can order their products online based on the flavor you want and quantity — then they’ll deliver the products directly to your home.
RISE Brewing Co. offers a variety of canned cold brew drinks, including Mocha Latte, Original Black, Classic Latte and more. Two unique flavors the brand offers are Blood Orange and Lemonade. Their most celebrated drink continues to be the Oat Milk Latte, which just recently won the 2018 Best New Organic Beverage NEXTY award. Their products have almost twice as much caffeine than standard coffee, are 70 percent less acidic, and free of all harsh chemicals and additives.
We had the great opportunity to try all of these flavors, and asked fellow students to take part in reviewing each drink with us. Here’s what they had to say.
“The mocha was creamy and sweet. It is convenient, with the coffee being in a can, so I can grab it and go to get to my classes on time,” said Ansley Fincher, a second-year fashion marketing student.
“I really liked the coffee – it was really good for canned coffee,” said Shantel Lankford, a first-year film and television student.
“I would recommend the Classic Latte,” said Samuel Kem, a first-year animation student.
The cans are small but offer a healthy amount of caffeine. They are also compressed with carbonation and will fizz like soda once opening the tin tab. It’s good for on the go and busy schedules, but many students said they wouldn’t drink it while lounging around.
The most popular flavors were the Oat Milk Latte and the Classic Cold Brew Latte. Each one seemed to have a nice balance of sweet and bitter. However, the least popular flavors were Lemonade and Blood Orange, as they had more of a bitter taste. Though some students enjoyed it, others said the bitterness was too much. Many people also expressed the want for a caramel and vanilla flavored option. Students believe the added sweet flavor would make for a great on-the-go coffee drink.
If you want to order coffee from RISE Brewing Co., check out their website for more information. They have also offered the discount code “FuelYourMindWithRISE” for 15 percent off your order.
