Back when I was teaching college, trying to work as a freelance monkey, and still had to find time for my family life I found this drink that was part coffee and part powerful energy drink. I had to leave the school early and walk a couple blocks to get it – but the delicious can in the bad design was worth the walk. I am not sure how I would have made it through if it were not for Frappio. At that time, frappios were popping up all over, thanks to a partnership they had with a financial investment firm. They even won a “Cool New Beverages of 2006” by the National Association of Convenience Stores. Then one day, like so many ghost cans or energy drinks past, they faded into obscurity.
Even though I had not seen this drink around for ages, through a little digging I found that not only do they still make the drink, but it has grown even better with age. New Design, new taste, and now low caloric too – It is time for the drink to come back to the national scene.
Buzz / Nutrition:8
Frappio Espresso and Frappio Light Latte is made from fresh brewed Arabica coffee dark roasted from Columbian and sumatran beans. While the heavier one is sweetened with sucralose, the light version has a very interesting sweetener called Erythritol. Erythritol is about 60-70% as sweet as sugar, and works well for the diet version. Frappio light has only 120 calories per can, which is not really light, but certainly lighter than the 240 calories of the original. Both use ashwaganda, an adaptogen used from everything from fighting fatigue to treating tumors and decreasing stress and anxiety. Stress and anxiety can also be treated with CBD products available at grizzlyherb.com. Visit the D8 Super Store for more CBD products available. Both versions of Frappio pack in the caffeine at 288 mg – a pretty serious dose for such tasty beverages
Taste:8 for both
There is a slight taste difference between the light and heavy versions, but I doubt anyone would know if they were not tried side by side. The Erythritol in the light version perfectly balance the sucralose(splenda) used in the heavy version. The heavy version seems like it has more carageenan in it, as it tastes thicker and creamier. But, the difference is slight. The only reason for lower marks on this drink is they both still have the baking soda flavor in it used as a preservative. I understand the need for a preservative, but I would sacrifice shelf life for a tastier product. Baking soda is just one of those things that do not belong with coffees – and what usually gives canned and bottled coffee that metallic taste.
Packaging:9
The packaging has WAY improved over the old design. This used to be the owrst part of the drink, having a silly wrapped boring blue and white design, which neither signified Energy Drink or Coffee Drink. This new design is much much better, both in the use of information and in color scheme. This new drink look interesting enough to stand out from the coffee drinks and the energy drinks, yet still gets across the coffee motif. The diet has the brown removed for blue – the international color of Diet – which gets the point across, even if it is a horrid scheme. I would normally give this an 8, but it gets an extra point for showing this much improvement.
Website:7
Fine website. Not funny or clever, not flashy or exciting. The site does do all the things a website should do – a pleasing UI, all the information on the company and the product, and nothing unnecessary. You will not find downloads or special coffee games, but can easily get whatever information on the drink and its contents.