The Good: Easy to prepare, Good scent, Tastes good.
The Bad: Poor environmentalism of the single serve packages, Does not taste at all like coffee . . . or pumpkin pie!
The Basics: The Hills Bros. Cappuccino Pumpkin Pie flavored drink mix is one of their lesser outings . . . fortunately, it is only seasonally available!
In trying to surprise my wife for the holidays last month, I tried to find a few gifts she knew nothing about. One of them was a Hills Bros. multipack of instant cappuccinos. Given how much she enjoyed the English Toffee Cappuccino (reviewed here!), I thought the four pack of individual servings of the coffees would be a slam-dunk gift. In fact, one of the key flavors that sold me on the multipack was the limited edition Pumpkin Pie flavor instant cappuccino. In retrospect, perhaps the multipack is the only way they could unload the flavor because it does not live up on the flavor front!
Basics
Hills Bros. Cappuccino Pumpkin Pie instant coffee is part of Hills Bros.'s new premium instant coffee line and one suspects that the company is trying to compete with the flavors from the International blends instant coffee line. This mix is a powder that comes in a .95 oz. paper envelope for the single serving. The single serving packages come three to a box. The mix is very fine and I could not find it in bulk locally. That is fine, though, because the cappuccino is not one I would want to bulk up on.
The individual packets are environmentally irresponsible and proportionately exceptionally expensive.
Ease Of Preparation
Hills Bros. Cappuccino Pumpkin Pie instant coffee mix is fairly simple to make. The single serving is one packet of dry mix, added to eight oz. of water. One does not need to measure out the product, but they need to mix this product. This is a very simple beverage to prepare.
After pouring the mix into a mug, simply pour boiling water over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of coffee granules visible in the water. The beverage will have a very light tan color to it.
Taste
The Pumpkin Pie flavored instant coffee has an aroma to it that is lightly pumpkin pie spiced. Even when this is steaming hot, it is not the most aromatic blend. It does not smell at all like coffee.
The Pumpkin Pie Cappuccino flavor is sweet, with a dry, cinnamon and nutmeg aftertaste. There is no real flavor of pumpkin to this beverage. Instead, it is smooth and creamy with a vanilla/cinnamon flavor more than anything distinctly pumpkin flavored. It is not unpleasant, but not at all the flavor it promises. It has not even a hint of coffee flavor to it.
This beverage has a dry aftertaste that dissipates within a minute.
Nutrition
Hills Bros. Cappuccino Pumpkin Pie instant coffee is a coffee mix and therefore is mostly lacking in nutritional value. There are 120 calories in this drink, 35 of which come from fat. With 4 grams of fat (6% of one’s RDA), the Pumpkin Pie Cappuccino is pretty high in saturated fat (3.5 grams!), though it only has 140 mg of Sodium. The 20 grams of carbohydrates prevents this beverage from being appropriate for those doing low-carb diets and the gram of protein is not nutritionally significant. The only vitamins and minerals in this drink are 2% of the RDA of Iron and 4% of the RDA of Calcium. This is a nutritionally underwhelming beverage.
Made primarily of sugar, creamer, and corn syrup, the Pumpkin Pie drink is not Vegan compliant, but is marked as Kosher. It contains milk and soy ingredients.
Storage/Cleanup
So long as one gets Hills Bros. Cappuccino Pumpkin Pie instant coffee mix sealed, it ought to stay usable. Visiting my local supermarket, most of the packages of this instant coffee had an expiration date a year away. The box of Pumpkin Pie I picked up in early December had an expiration date in April 5, 2014.
Cleanup is very easy as well. If the product spills while dumping it into the mug, simply wipe it up or brush it up with a dry or damp cloth. If it has already been reconstituted with water into coffee, simply wipe it up. Light fabrics are likely to stain if this gets on them, in which case consult your fabric care guide to clean it up.
Overall
Hills Bros. Cappuccino Pumpkin Pie is a bit of a disappointment for those looking for a pumpkin-flavored or coffee-flavored drink.
For other Instant Coffee drinks, please visit my reviews of:
Taster’s Choice French Roast
Nescafe Caramel Latte Memento
Starbuck’s VIA Columbia Coffee
1.5/10
For other food or drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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