Thursday, October 31, 2013

A Wonderful Dessert Beverage, Bolthouse Farms Salted Caramel Latte Delights!


The Good: Tastes good, Exceptionally nutritious
The Bad: Expensive! Not the strongest flavor ever.
The Basics: Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte is a healthy, good beverage well worth trying, if not stocking up on.


One of the wonderful things about changing my diet to eat healthier is that I get to try all sorts of wonderful new (to me) products. In the case of the Bolthouse Farms Salted Caramel Latte, the delight is in trying a truly new-to-market product. Fortunately, Bolthouse Farms created a beverage worth trying in its Salted Caramel Latte. It is not the best, most nutritious, drink produced by Bolthouse Farms, but it is flavorful and true to its promised flavor. In fact, the only people it is bound to underwhelm are those looking for a strong, decent coffee beverage. This is like an amped up, flavored milk drink than a coffee drink.

Basics

Bolthouse Farms is a company that makes, among other things, healthy drinks, which are like energy drinks except that they are designed for more of a full-health solution (as opposed to being a liquid vitamin supplement) and they tend to taste better. This is like a dairy beverage that is enhanced with nutrients. Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte comes in a 15.2 fl. oz. plastic bottle that is smooth and very portable. The #1 recyclable bottle is filled with the opaque tan liquid, reminiscent of weakly produced chocolate milk, that is Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte. Bolthouse Farms is one of the leading manufacturers of healthy prepared beverages.

The 15.2 fl. oz. bottle is intended to give consumers just under two servings, which seems pretty ridiculous to me. It would be nice if Bolthouse Farms added the other .8 oz. so we actually got two full servings out of a bottle!

Ease Of Preparation

Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte is a liquid in the 15.2 fl. oz. bottle and is a ready-to-drink beverage. So, preparation is as easy as opening a plastic bottle. Bolthouse Farms has a plastic cap that easily twists off and can be put back on in order to reseal it. It is important to note that this is supposed to be refrigerated, so quality of the beverage may degrade if it is left out at room temperature before or after the bottle is open. This has a pretty standard security seal ring around the lower half of the cap and informs the consumer as to whether the product has been opened by cracking off when the top is twisted.

Taste

Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte smells very lightly like coffee or caramel. In fact, this is one of the least aromatic Bolthouse Farms beverages I have yet tried. Instead, the scent does not preview much of a flavor at all. It hints at nothing, making one believe they will just be drinking milk when they sip from this bottle.

On the tongue, the Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte is like liquid caramel, sweet and lightly salted. The creamy, milklike flavor of the beverage entirely overcomes the coffee flavor. Still, the flavor is entirely true to salted caramel, which makes the drink a smashing success on the flavor front.

The aftertaste from the Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte beverage is very dry, so this is not at all a thirst quenching drink. Still, given that it is salted caramel, it is unsurprising that the aftertaste would be very dry, so this is not unsatisfying.

Nutrition

As a healthy dairy and coffee beverage, Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte is designed to fill in some of the nutritional gaps one might have in their diet, while tasting pretty awesome to boot! Nutritionally, Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte is a great option for those who are dieting or are trying to improve their health. Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte is primarily composed of low-fat milk, coffee and caramel syrup. It contains nothing bad, but does have additional vitamins pumped into it. While it is gluten free, it contains milk and whey, so it is in no way Vegan compliant. On the plus side, though, there are no preservatives, artificial flavors or colors or genetically modified ingredients!

This drink is also exceptionally healthy for you. One serving of Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte has 2.5 g fat and 130 calories, 25 of which come from the fat. While there are 20 grams of carbohydrates, the beverage has only 15 mg of cholesterol and an impressive 7 grams of protein! Unsurprisingly, there are 150 mg (6% RDA) of sodium in each serving. A single serving is a sufficient source of Vitamin C, Calcium (30% RDA!), and Vitamin B12. It has more than your daily needs for Vitamin B6, so this truly is a healthy beverage (ironically, healthier than many fruit juices I have reviewed!).

Storage/Clean-up

Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte comes in a plastic bottle and it keeps for only a few months. The bottle I bought the first week of October had an expiration date of November 11, 2013. This beverage must be refrigerated!

This drink is a dairy product and fairly light, despite the coffee in it. If this gets on clothes, it will certainly stain them. Consult a care guide for your clothes, though I suspect light clothes would need bleach to get this out. Still, the drink wipes off surfaces easily with a cloth, assuming they are impermeable.

Overall

Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Salted Caramel Latte is flavorful and healthy, but not a particularly satisfying thirst quenching experience. Those looking for a coffee pick-me-up will be let down, but those looking for a nice dessert beverage and a healthier alternative to a simple shake, the Salted Caramel Latte fits the bill nicely.

For other Bolthouse beverages, please check out my reviews of:
100% Matcha Green Tea Soy Latte
Mango Coconut Splash Coconut Water + Juice
50/50 Tropical

6/10

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

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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