K-cup Reviews: Cafe Escapes Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa

That's right.  Two in a row!  I don't normally drink 2 cups of hot chocolate on the same day, but I'll consider one my desert.  I also felt the need to do a back to back with the Grove Square because...well, you should know which one makes the better cocoa.

Outsides:  A standard K-cup making a slightly darker than normal hot cocoa.

Insides:  Ok, the Cafe Escapes Hot Chocolate is not quite as sweet as the Grove Square and a little more chocolaty, but it tastes like it has artificial sweeteners when I don't think it does.  It's more of an aftertaste but  you don't get that with normal hot cocoa.  This is a bit sad because it's actually pretty good until that.

Overall:  Honestly, what's wrong with just using your Keurig to brew 8 oz of water and mixing a packet of hot chocolate in it?  It's gonna be cheaper than this stuff.  It's gonna be better than this stuff.  So yeah, don't buy it.

My Rating:  Pass.  Here's the GM affiliated site:  Cafe Escapes

K-cup Reviews: Cafe Escapes Cafe Vanilla

I'm probably going to need some tea after this...

So, I got a free sample of the new Cafe Escapes Cafe Vanilla and Cafe Caramel.  As shocking as this may sound, the Cafe Caramel is horrible.  And you know what?  I don't have that much hope for this one either.  The one saving grace is that this is both naturally and artificially flavored as opposed to the CC's artificial only.  I'm not even a big fan of vanilla.  Oh, it's good mixed in with things or in the background, but it's just so...vanilla.

Outsides:  Your standard K-cup.  The liquid is a lighter color than the caramel and smells equally of instant coffee and vanilla.

Insides:  This one's better.  It still has a bit of that aftertaste but it's not as prevalent.  The vanilla flavoring isn't overpowering either and goes well with the hint of coffee that's in here.  It's not terribly offensive and I daresay that it's better than a lot of the cappuccino coolers that mix instant coffee with flavors, but I can't say it's amazing.  I think the natural vanilla helped though.

Overall:  I can drink this.  I don't feel the need to and personally prefer making real coffee if I want something that kinda tastes like coffee, but it's better than the other one.  Heck, I'll even suggest that this is kinda good.  Try and see if you can snag a sample.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site:  Cafe Escapes

K-cup Review: Cafe Escapes Cafe Caramel

Sorry about the bad quality.  

Ok, lets get this straight.  I love caramel.  It's probably my favorite chocolate filling (assuming the chocolate isn't too sweet) and it's even good with tea!  There's nothing quite like pure sweetness and creaminess to end your day.  It's kinda nice thinking that there's an option using a Keurig, although the Cafe Escapes are obscenely expensive for instant coffee and hot chocolate (that's right, Keurig is obscenely expensive.  Who would have thunk it?).

Outsides:  Standard K-cup.  You'll smell the caramel when it brews and it looks more like hot chocolate than....I really have no idea if this is supposed to have coffee in it or not.

Insides:  It starts out good:  Sweet, creamy and not overpowering in flavor.  And then this weird aftertaste kicks in, probably because they use a non-dairy creamer (mixed with non-fat milk so screw you Lactose-intolerant people).  There's maybe a hint of instant coffee in here but this is probably good for non-coffee drinkers assuming you have no taste.  But man, that aftertaste.  It's not much but it kinda tastes like soap in your mouth.  You know what, this is awful.  It's creamy, I'll give it that.  But it's a little too sweet and just tastes so fake.  You could probably buy caramel-flavored hot chocolate that doesn't taste like drain cleaner instead.

Overall:  Sorry Cafe Escapes.  I appreciate your free samples but try making better products first.

My Rating:  Pass.  Here's the site:  Green Mountain's Cafe Escape Subsite.