Worth It
La Colombe Coffee
Amazing. Chef’s kiss. J’adore La Colombe Coffee. This canned coffee latte comes in mainly three flavors: vanilla, mocha and triple shot. Special flavors are also offered such as an oat milk cold brew or pumpkin spice. Each can is only around 100 calories, ranging from 115 mg of caffeine to 175 mg, depending on the flavor. This coffee is my recent obsession. I can taste the quality in each sip with no weird chemicals to make my stomach churn and no guilt since the sugars are kept to a minimum. Prices for La Colombe are a little on the higher side, but Costco offers a large pack of them for around $20, which is a pretty good deal. This brand is focused on quality coffee; I highly recommend.
Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew
If I am ever running late to class, catch me buying one of these from a vending machine. With 155 mg of caffeine, these to-go canned coffee drinks will really give you a boost. On an empty stomach, they can make you a little shaky, but if you’re a caffeine addict like me, the caffeine kick is the best part. In general, this coffee comes in three flavors: dark caramel, black and vanilla sweet cream (I’m a sweet cream girl myself). Similar to La Colombe, the sugar content is kept to a minimum, with around 11 grams of sugar in the caramel and vanilla flavors. They don’t satisfy quite as much as a fresh Starbucks coffee, but they are definitely a close second!
Celsius
Celscius is the only non-coffee caffeinated drink I will drink in the morning. This carbonated beverage has become increasingly popular lately; I see students carrying one around at least multiple times a day. While this drink is not terrible in the morning, I would most-highly recommend drinking one before working out, especially if you’re not a weightlifter. Most of the other pre-workout drinks are full of creatine, which I am not a fan of. Celsius comes in a wide assortment of flavors, though the most popular seem to be wild berry, kiwi guava and orange. The biggest positive: Celsius give you a huge caffeine boost of 200 mg, so it’s definitely bound to put you in a better mood.
Not Worth It
Starbucks Frappuccino Iced Coffee
While these iced coffees are delicious, they are just not something I would recommend. First of all, the sugar content in one drink is 32 grams; you’re basically drinking a soda. Second of all, the caffeine content in certain flavors is pretty low. The vanilla flavor only carries 75 mg of caffeine, which is not enough to get someone like me through the morning. A perk of these, however, is the abundance of flavors from mocha to smores. No hate to people that love these, you’ve probably got your caffeine addiction under much more control than me. I just wouldn’t recommend them.
Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee
The main problem that I have with these is that they just don’t taste like the real thing. Maybe it’s because I get my Dunkin iced with no sugar since the cream and flavoring are sweet enough for me, but drinking one of these feels like I’m consuming a liquid donut. There are 40 grams of sugar in one bottle; that’s actually absurd. While the caffeine content is a good 184 mg, the sugar intake is likely to give you a headache that will replace the caffeine headache you were trying to get rid of by drinking the coffee in the first place. No hate to Dunkin Donuts; I am an avid fan, but this drink is just not worth the hype.