☕Review - La Colombe Unsweetened Espresso Roast Cold Brew

With the tagline "Bold Never Burnt", this ready-to-drink dark roast coffee from Philadelphia's La Colombe provides a self-described nutty flavor in a convenient format. It can be found nationally in the USA in standard retail outlets like Target or Publix, 48oz container for around $5. I do not see it on the La Colombe official website which focuses more on direct consumer retail. Made with specialty-grade beans, it is brewed strong with around 280mg caffeine per serving, a good deal more than a standard cup per volume. Not much other data available, but let's get into it!

🌍Origin: Noted as Colombian in the product description - 100% Arabica

🔥Roast Level: Dark - Espresso Roast

🧪Brew Method: Immersion Cold Brew (assumed)

👃Nose: Mild as they tend to be with cold brew. Generically roasty.

👅Flavor: Initial palate is nut forward as advertised which deepens into roast and a chocolate adjacent gentle bittering note towards the finish. Aftertaste and back of finish have some nice berry notes which remind me more of African coffees. Fruited flavors are VERY slight but present, building over the course of a cup. The roast definitely dominates, but there is some surprising delicate complexity.

🏆 Score: 3.5/5 - Smooth and Well Developed - Mass market cold brews have largely left me underwhelmed. The format is inherently a vector for selling basic, roast-dominant, beans as most consumers will mix the end product, eliminating the need for nuanced flavor or experience. La Colombe's Unsweetened Espresso Roast Cold Brew is a nice departure from the monotony due to the coco and fruited aspects, even if they are slight.

💵Would buy again? Sure, especially on sale! This one was a BOGO from Publix.

⚖️Scale:

🥃Review 92: 1.75L Costco's Kirkland Kentucky Bourbon 2026

Costco has historically worked with Barton 1792 for it's bourbon line, putting out a small batch , bottled-in-bond , and single barrel edition in liter bottles in waves over the last few years. This new 1.75L edition debuted in Spring of 2026 and mysteriously lacks a named distiller. The label proudly states that it was distilled and aged in Bardstown, Kentucky before being bottled in Columbia, Tennessee by DC Flynt MY Domaines & Estates (never heard of them). Flynt appear to be more wine focused and have led a number of wine bottlings for Costco historically in addition to some Gins. Distilleries at scale in Bardstown include Jim Beam, Barton 1792, Heaven Hill (though primary production is at Bernheim in Louisville), Lux Row, Willet, and Bardstown Bourbon Company. I doubt it is Barton 1792 since they proudly label their existing collaboration and I suspect it may be a producer without a 1.75L bottling line (would justify the move better than just adding logistics for ...

☕ All Java Monster Flavors Tasted & Ranked

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🔌Review - Costco's Kirkland Sparkling Energy Drink - Orange

Released earlier this year in 2026, the Kirkland Sparkling Energy Drink lineup features three flavors: Orange, Tropical, and Peach. The style, ingredients, and caffeine content seem to be talking aim directly at recent CPG success, Celsius Energy. It echoes that brands "clean" veneer with no high fructose corn syrup, GMO ingredients, or artificial colorings. 🛒 Price: $16.99/24 ~$.7/each - Costco. Celsius is normally around $20/12 without sales, so figure around 95 cents savings per can vs. full sticker which is around 58% savings. Celsius is showing up frequently on sale around $15 now but that's still not nearly enough to reach parity. ✨Calories: 10 , 12oz. can 🍵 Caffeine: 200mg, around a third more than a cup of coffee, more than Monster and Red Bull - similar to Celsius. 👅 Flavor: Very effervescent, I get tons of bubbles - close to Red Bull and more than Celsius. It does have a thinner mouthfeel vs Monster Ultra and Red Bull on balance whi...

🎮Call of Duty Zombies: The Drinking Game - Rules

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🥃Review 53: Costco's Kirkland 15YR Highland Single Malt Scotch 2025

The 2025 release of Costco's Kirkland 15-year Highland Scotch hit shelves in late January and is a recurring installment on an annual cadence. The first pallet to hit my local store sold out almost immediately. Thankfully, we got two more shipments at one pallet each that hung around a bit longer and I was able to snag a bottle. Like in previous years, this Highland Scotch is finished in sherry casks. Alexander Murray & Co. is the bottler with MISA imports out of Texas bringing it to the States for consumption (Costco's standard sourcing pattern for Scotch). The bottle has a nice heft to it and there is an ensconced Alexander Murray Lion adding some nice texture to the front of the bottle. Steve Lipp, CEO of Alexander Murray, calls it "Perfect for after dinner drinking." All-in-all, this shows an attempt to elevate the product and presentation from the ubiquitous blends and non-age stated iterations you'll sometimes find under the Kirkland label. Neither Alex...

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