This is not a sponsored post.
California’s resident cool girl, Emma Chamberlain, has a coffee company called Chamberlain Coffee. They recently released a Variety Pack bundle with two of each of their five flavors in the available steeped bag form. The 10 single-serve bags retail for $20. Coming out as $2 per drink, these are cheaper than your average order at a cafe.
As someone who is fond of quality coffee and does not own a coffee maker, these steeped bags are ingenious.
Family Blend
This was the first flavor released by the brand, renamed after the introduction of the other flavors. It has a pleasant taste that is made unique by the cherry flavor note. I have repurchased this a couple of times.
Social Dog
Velvet is the perfect word to describe this flavor. Almost like chocolate, the smooth taste worked well as is and when accompanied with cream and sugar.
Night Owl
My favorite flavor – this dark roast is excellent when kept black and served hot. This is my preferred method of consuming this blend as I can appreciate its almost smoky notes of dark chocolate and toasted walnuts. The “honey sweetness” is not noticeable but must be the culprit behind its velvet feel.
I have not tried this blend sweetened. That’s how good it is!
Careless Cat
Not bland, but not outstanding, this coffee is adequate for a low-stress type of day – when you don’t need a burst of energy nor need a piece of luxury for some self-soothing. I’d recommend this blend for coffee lovers looking to cleanse their palate, or for someone looking to take a break from their usual coffee order.
Early Bird
Having the most caffeine of all the blends, this one intimidated me. I was hesitant to try this with sweetener because I did not need that sugar crash on top of the caffeine crash. However, this flavor is best when accompanied with cream and sugar. I did not like this neat. Surprisingly, this light roast has a lot of bite. Its caramel apple flavor note comes across as acidic and slightly sour. The milk and sugar serve to smooth out its tartness and bring out the subtle chocolate flavor. I can easily see this being someone’s favorite flavor.
My preferred method of consumption for this blend is served iced with vanilla-flavored plant milk along with turmeric, cinnamon and honey to taste.
Things to Consider
My variety box had bags that were listed as past their “best by” date – specifically, the green Careless Cat single-serve bags. While these dates do not particularly concern me, this could definitely be upsetting to some people. It could explain why I wasn’t fond of the Careless Cat flavor. I could not taste the nuisances as described on the Chamberlain Coffee website. The other flavors mostly lived up to their descriptions.
I also noticed that if a single bag is over used or submerged in liquid for a long period of time, then it makes the flavor turn stale. Acting with frugality, at first I tried to make the bags last longer by reusing them, like I would with a tea bag. I found that when heated up, the steeped bag becomes unpleasant after about 1 hour of sitting in the cup. Even if quickly removed, making another beverage with the same steeped bag would not taste as good as the first. Similarly when making cold brew, I do not recommend exceeding the 20 hour mark.
Aside from the cute packaging, the bags are described as compostable. I thoroughly enjoyed dumping rinsed coffee grinds onto my plants’ soil.
If you know what you like, I definitely recommend getting your preferred flavor(s). It was fun to try out what Chamberlain Coffee has to offer with the Variety Box. I urge potential customers to wait until one of the many sales or special offers.