Barnie's Creamy Buttery Caramel

I was not impressed by my first sampling of what Barnie's Coffee & Tea has to offer. Will the second go-around be better? I sure hope so!

Is Barnie's Creamy Buttery Caramel as smooth as this guy?

BARNIE'S COFFEE & TEA COMPANY: CREAMY BUTTERY CARAMEL

The foundation of this blend is medium-roasted Arabica beans, and there was nothing noticeable aroma-wise either when the bag was first opened nor as the coffee brewed that gave any hint that this was anything but normal coffee. It smelled great, as brewing coffee always does, but that was it.

When I poured the first cup, I likewise couldn't detect any aroma other than coffee. When I took the first sips of it black, there was a mild sweetness to the blend, but nothing I felt could be identified as a caramel flavor. It also didn't seem any more buttery than an average medium roast, but it was probably sweet enough for someone who usually puts a little sugar or milk in their cups to drink black. Me, I'm a wimp and I need a little more flavor or sweetness or milk to cut the coffee taste.

When I added Unsweetened Almond Milk to this blend, the caramel flavor showed itself ever so slightly, but this was still not something I'd describe as smooth. Again, maybe the blend would work with just the almond milk if you take your coffee lightly sweetened, but it was still a little too intense for my weak palate. I tried the blend with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk as well, and it sweetened it a bit more but didn't bring out the caramel flavor more clearly nor any  creaminess.

When I mixed the Creamy Buttery Caramel blend with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, the drink finally felt as creamy as the name implied it should be. The caramel flavoring also seemed to pop a bit more. It was still a bit more subdued than I liked, but it was present and this was now a very enjoyable drink.

The most positive thing I can say about this blend is that its flavors remain stable as it changes temperature. Whether its mixed with either variety of almond milk or the creamer, the tastes describe above remain as described. Even chilled and over ice, the caramel flavor came through--in fact, it even seemed to grow a little stronger, which is atypical in my experience: More often than not, the flavors tend to become washed out when these coffees are iced... or, worse, a vile saltiness comes to dominate. All in all, this might be a blend that you're better off drinking chilled and iced. Even black, this coffee tastes sweeter when iced... even if I still couldn't taste much in the way or caramel nor did it seem any smoother than any other iced coffee I've had.

This blend from Barnie's falls somewhere in the middle of the pack as far as the flavored coffees I've had; it's not terrible, but I've had better. It is good enough that I'm not going to snark about their slogan this time out. I think it would appeal to those who are looking for something that is just slightly flavored or sweetened... while those who want more intense and in-your-face caramel flavors should turn to the Salted Caramel blend from Bones Coffee. (In fact, I think I'm going to mix what's left of my Barine's Creamey Buttery Caramel with the 4-oz sample pack of Bones' Salted Caramel in the cupboard to see what happens. If the result is a taste sensation, I'll let everyone know! (Heck, I'll also fill you in if I end up with something terrible...)

Barnie's Cafe Mocha Truffle

Welcome to Sunday and another coffee review at Shades of Gray! I have, once again, expanded my consumption horizons by adding a blend from Barnie's Coffee & Tea Company to the list of brands whose wares I have sampled and reviewed.

I became aware of Barnie's while I was poking around for suitable items to review in place of the Bones Coffee varieties that had been the mainstay of this post-series since it began in mid-2021. (I have mostly  run out of Bones offerings to review!)

I liked the look of Barnie's packaging and their flavors sounded tasty, so I ordered a combo trio of bags. I went the opposite direction with Barnie's as I did with Coffee Beanery; I didn't even look to see if they had sample packs, because of needing to watch myself with every drop of items from the one-pot Coffee Beanery sample packs, I wanted to be sure I had plenty for my established taste-testing regiment.

 

Who Is Barnie's Coffee & Tea Company?

(If you want to get straight to the review, scroll down to the picture of Johnny Cash about to enjoy a cup of coffee. Otherwise, read on for a little bit about Barnie's.)

Barnie's Coffee & Tea Company is a Florida-based coffee retail outlet that opened its first shop in 1980 and eventually expanded to 150 outlets across the U.S. and around the world. They occupied the same specialty coffee shop space as Starbucks, and, like so many other firms, they eventually felt the pressure of the Starbucks juggernaut. Eventually, Barnie's shrunk back to a dozen or so retail outlets--with many of its locations acquired by Starbucks and converted into Starbucks stores--and the company's main focus shifted toward putting their name on bags of coffee for sale in grocery stores. Reportedly, the founders of the firm recently re-entered the picture, and they are hoping to rebuild Barnie's as a retail chain and once again offers unique coffee drinks to customers in friendly, cafe-style environments.

Johnny Cash sang that he's been everywhere. That must include a Barnie's store!

Time will tell how successful they will be. Meanwhile, I've been brewing and drinking one of their branded blends...

BARNIE'S COFFEE & TEA COMPANY: CAFE MOCHA TRUFFLE

According to a label on the back of the bag, this blend is a medium-roast made with Arabica beans and nothing but natural flavors. The promise of chocolatey goodness wafts up from the pre-ground coffee once the bag is opened. That promise is not fulfilled, however.

Once brewed, this blend has a very mild touch of chocolate in its flavor profile, but it's a bitterness that dominate every cup that I drank. Whether I tried it hot, room temperature, or chilled and over ice, this coffee was dominated by a bitter and borderline sour flavor. It wasn't the sort of bitterness that one might associate with cheap, unsweetened dark chocolate--which I actually could have appreciated--but just a straight-up, undefinable flavor that could have arisen from a variety of badly roasted coffee I've not encountered before, or perhaps just from a badly done attempt at making a chocolate flavored coffee.

As I said, the bitterness dominated no matter what temperature I tried the coffee at. It also dominated no matter what I mixed it with, be it Unsweetened Almond Milk, Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, or sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer. I was also unable to tease anything but the faintest hint of a chocolate flavor out of the mixtures. Basically, this blend was unappealing to me no matter which of the standard mixers I used.

Since I had an entire bag of the Cafe Mocha Truffle blend, I had an opportunity to give it a few extra chances. I tried it with sugar-free Rice Krispies Treat creamer, hot and room temperature and iced. The creamer flavor almost overcame the bitterness of the coffee, so it was something of an improvement. 

I also tried it iced with Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk and vodka, as well as with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and vodka. Finally, the drink seemed "decadent, rich, and chocolatey"... at least when I mixed it with the chocolate almond milk. Seriously, though, the vodka did mitigate the unpleasant bitter flavor that dominated and ruined every other attempt I made to enjoy this coffee. So, the only use I can see for this blend is as a component of my half-assed, homemade takes on Black or White Russians (where a "Black Russian" is coffee, vodka, and chocolate milk and a White Russian is coffee, vodka, and vanilla almond milk. Sometimes, I just skip the coffee and just do the vodka and milks...).

Barnie's says on their bags of coffee that "no one does flavor like us." If my first experience with their offerings is any indication, we can all count ourselves fortunate for that!

And, yes, that was probably an unfair cheap shot, but I brewed and drank several pots of their Cafe Mocha Truffle blend and the best thing I can come up with to say is, "well, at least they make it with all natural ingredients."

I don't like writing negative reviews, and I like writing negative coffee reviews less than any others. I get the coffees I review with the intend of enjoying them, and I hope to share that enjoyment with all of you out there. I have two more bags of Barnie's varieties in the cupboard. I feel confident that I will have a better experience with those than I have with this one. After all, this is a company that's been around for more than forty years. Most of their coffee has got to be good, right? Right?!

Here's to a more positive review next week, my friends!