Bones Coffee's Salted Caramel

 It's Sunday, so that means another post about coffee we've been drinking here at Shades of Gray! Like most reviews so far, this one is based on coffee made from a pre-ground 4-oz. sample pack that made about 15 cups via a drip coffee maker.

Lily Gao: Caffeinated and ready to kill zombies!

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: SALTED CARAMEL

This is another of the flavored blends from Florida-based Bones Coffee. Like most of the ones we've had by them, it's a medium-roast using Brazilian Arabica beans, so it starts with a perfect foundation.

Opening the package was itself an experience; I could detect the aroma of caramel even before actively taking a whiff of it. That wonderful smell remained strong during the brewing process, and I could smell it all the way down the hall in my office.

And things only got better.

If you've read any of the previous entries in this series, you already know that I'm a wimp when it comes to coffee; I'm always putting almond milk and/or various creamers in everything I brew, from breakfast blends to the darkest of roasts...
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But this blend? This one I can drink straight without needing to cut it. What a FANTASIC blend! Who needs to head to Starbucks or any such places when you can just brew a pot of Bones' Salted Caramel blend?!

Hot and fresh from the pot into the cup, this blend carried a perfect blend of caramel and salt and tangy coffee. Even as the coffee cooled, the flavor remained pleasing, with the various elements remaining in balance with one another. (This factor may be more important to me than some of you out there; I drink my coffee while working or reading, so it tends to sit awhile and grow cold as I drink it.)

At no point did I feel like my cups of this Salted Caramel blend needed any almond milk or sweetener, but, to remain consistent with other reviews of Bones' products, I did it anyway. 

When I added unsweetened almond milk, I felt it detracted from the flavor instead of enhancing it, washing it out instead of making it palatable. I also tried a cup with just a dash of Italian Sweet Cream-flavored creamer, which was a little better. The sweetness of the creamer blended well with the caramel and seemed to bring out more saltiness.

⁠Speaking of saltiness, when this blend was consumed chilled and over ice, the salty flavor emerges a bit stronger than when it is hot, but it mixes pleasantly with the caramel and coffee, instead of becoming overwhelming and ruining the flavor as happened with the Sinn-a-Bon blend. Over all, though, the flavor remained fairly stable whether I was drinking it hot or cold, the Salted Caramel flavor was perfect.

Although I was perfectly happy with the "uncut" taste of this blend over ice, I tried drinking it with unsweetened almond milk added, just so I could remain conistant with my other reviews. While I felt the milk detracted from the blend when hot, it didn't seem to add or reduce anything. The milk mixed with the existing flavors, but otherwise didn't seem to really seem to enhance or detract from my enjoyment. I didn't bother trying it with the Italian Sweet Cream creamer, because... well, because there's just no way to improve upon Bones' Salted Caramel blend.  

So--thanks, Bones! Now I can have maximize my caffeine intake with a minimum of fuss and effort, even if I'm in the mood for fru-fru coffee! I can have delicious Salted Caramel flavored coffee without spending waaaay too much money at a retail outlet and without even having to leave my home!

Picture Perfect Wednesday with Lily Gao

Lily Gao is a Canadian model and actress who has most recently been seen as the would-be U.N. Secretary General in the latest episodes of the sci-fi series "The Expanse" on Amazon Prime. (That's a show that's outside the scope of this blog, but I strongly recommend watching all four seasons of it. It just keeps getting better and better.)

Today, Ms. Gao is here to demonstrate the unifying theme at Shades of Gray.