Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix Is Yummy!

The Good: Fairly easy to prepare, Good flavor, Environmentally-responsible packaging.
The Bad: Comparatively expensive, Could use more caramel flavoring.
The Basics: Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix is quite good, even if the salted caramel is more hinted at than a primary flavor.


I love how my local grocery store jumps the gun on any number of products it chooses to stock. Virtually ever new premium beverage that the store gets in arrives on the clearance rack long before most consumers here realize it was ever stocked on the shelf. I like this aspect of where I live because I get to try so many delicious things at severely discounted prices. Tonight, I am thrilled to review the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix.

Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix makes a delightful drink, but it does not quite have enough caramel flavor to truly delight those who come to the drink for that taste.

Basics

Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix is part of Maxwell House Indulge Max's new premium Coffee Drink Mix line and one suspects that the company is trying to compete with the flavors from the International Delights Coffee Drink Mix line. This mix comes in a 12 oz. cardboard canister, found in the coffee or cocoa section of most grocery stores. The canister represents 12 or 13 full servings of the resulting beverage.

Ease Of Preparation

Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix is fairly simple to make. The single serving is two Tablespoons of the mix and eight fluid oz. of water. One must measure out the drink mix in order to use it properly; these are not individually portioned servings, which makes the canister more environmentally friendly than most instant coffee beverages!

To make the drink, pop the plastic lid off the canister of Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix. Then, measure out two Tablespoons of the powder from inside the canister and place the powder in a mug that is able to hold at least 10 oz. of liquid. Once that is done, simply pour hot water - near boiling, but not actually boiling as boiling water cooks the ingredients as opposed to simply dissolving them - over the powder and stir. Stir the powder until there are no blobs of coffee granules visible in the water. This drink mix always seems to crackle when hot water is added to it and it was near-impossible to get all of the drink mix to dissolve when using the proper amount of water. Chunks of powder in the drink aside, this makes for a fairly potent beverage! The Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix, when mixed up, makes a dark brown liquid that is opaque, like coffee with creamer or hot cocoa.

Taste

The Mocha + Salted Caramel smells strongly of coffee and chocolate. The mocha scent is potent and inviting; this smells exactly like what one gets when they mix hot cocoa together with coffee as a beverage and anyone who likes that combination is likely to be brought right in by the scent of this drink.

In the mouth, the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix lives up to the aroma's potential. The scent of the beverage adequately foreshadows the flavor. The strong mocha flavor dominates the drink. The salted caramel flavor does manage to manifest, but it is a secondary flavor that is dry and buttery as the dry, dark chocolate flavor fades. The coffee flavor manages to remain strong all throughout.

The Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix leaves a fairly dry aftertaste that lingers in the mouth for a few minutes after the last of the drink is consumed.

Nutrition

Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix is a coffee mix and therefore is entirely lacking in real nutritional value. There are 100 calories, 25 of which come from the 3 grams of fat in this drink. It seems like there is an undisclosed amount of caffeine in the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix, as one of the latter ingredients is "instant coffee," not instant decaffeinated coffee. In addition to nineteen grams of carbohydrates, there is a single gram of protein and 2% of the RDA of Iron.

Made primarily of sugar, nondairy creamer and cocoa, it is unsurprising that the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix is not very nutritious. Because it contains milk, this is not Vegan compliant and it is not marked as gluten free or kosher.

Storage/Cleanup

So long as one leaves the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix mix in its canister, it ought to stay usable. The canisters I purchased on clearance two months ago all had April 6, 2018 expiration dates, but it is hard to imagine what might make it go bad even after that. One assumes it will last quite a while and dissolve appropriately when one attempts to use it.

Cleanup for the Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix is very easy; 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

Maxwell House Indulge Max Mocha + Salted Caramel Coffee Drink Mix is quite good, though the salted caramel aspect of it is unable to hold its own against the rich mocha flavor that dominates the beverage.

For other instant coffee drinks, please visit my reviews of:
Taster's Choice Original Gourmet Instant Coffee
Starbucks Via Iced Coffee
Nescafe Caramel Latte Memento

6.5/10

For other food or drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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