Not familiar with the term? Prior to 1953, the world wasn't familiar with the idea of a TV dinner. As technology evolves, so does the terminology we use about it. "Cutting the cord" refers to someone who no longer has cable television. When I moved out of my parents years ago, I never imagined I could live without cable. It was just to be on a trial basis. If I couldn't handle it, we would adjust the household budget to accommodate my human need to be in control of hundreds of channels that offer nothing I actually wanted to watch anyway. Turns out, cutting the cord was easy and freeing. Just about every show becomes available on streaming services and I don't mind being behind a few seasons if it means saving money... that I will inevitably spend on coffee and books. Instead of spending hours flipping channels and sighing through commercials, in our house, we took full advantage of the internet instead. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, casting from a device to the boob tube via ChromeCast, and don't forget the occasional DVD. Tons of options for entertainment while using a service we were already paying for. Lucky for us, YouTube was created in early 2005 by a set of guys who had already been working together at PayPal. By the time we chose to cut the cord, the husband and I already had established several YouTube channels we subscribed to and would watch different content just like with TV channels.
A favorite of mine is Good Mythical Morning. GMM is a variety show that had been around just about as long as YouTube has. This show, which is also the name of the channel, features two guys, Rhett and Link, who run the hilarious (and sometimes educational) series daily (Monday-Friday), uploading in the mornings but with a late night show set up. One of the segments they feature is a taste test meets ranking system. They take a style of "food", get five or so products in that style, taste everything, and then rank the products in order of how they decide mutually the like to dislike ranking of each item.
I bring you, Cold Brew products, reviewed the GMM way.
Coffee can be brewed several ways. Traditionally, hot water poured through finely ground coffee and served hot. Coffee made that way but at double the strength can be poured over ice, there you have iced coffee. Cold brewed coffee is made with cold or room temperature water, soaking the grounds anywhere from 3 to 24 hours for taste, acidity, and strength. Typically, cold brew coffee is higher in caffeine due to the long extraction time it takes without hot water.
Reviews and Ranking:
Trader Joe's Coconut Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate: Thick concentration meant to be diluted with milk or water. Tried it on its own and the rich coffee flavor would be great poured over vanilla ice cream. Added water and the flavor went from bold to water with a hint of coffee. Tried with some hazelnut creamer, as we were out of milk, and that was the best version of this but still not that great.
La Colombe Mocha Draft Latte: Milky and creamy with a hint of chocolate. Claimed to be 2 cups of coffee within the 9oz can. It was the only thing I went back and finished after the taste test and it didn't give me the jitters. Delicate coffee flavor made for possible chance of sneak up and overdose on caffeine so must be noted that this was sold adjacent to the coffee flavored energy drinks.
Signature Reserve Colombian Cold Brew Caramel Ice Cream: Airy and sweet with bits of chocolate and swirled creamy caramel. Very light coffee flavor. Vons/Pavillions brand made but surprisingly high quality and fresh. Perfect as a summer coffee substitute.
Rebbl Maca Cold Brew with Coconut Milk Elixer: Organic and ethically sourced is good but the rest of the label was pretentious and ridiculous. Claims Maca is an herb promoting energy and stamina, however, that can be obtained through the extra caffeine a cold brew coffee provides anyway. Ingredients included Stevia which gave an over powering fake sugar taste that took away from the initially light coffee flavor.
In numerical order of 1 being best and 5 being worst, here are the results of the Cold Brew Taste test. If I could give Rebbl a 6, that would have happened. If you enjoy a cold coffee taste on a hot day, the top 3 I would recommend but watch for the quick melting power of 1 and 3. Overall, it was fun but now you will know if my eyes twitch when we talk, it's because I'm super caffeinated.
The award winning talk show that inspired today's cold brew review made the decision to cut the cord very easy for us. Daily content offering easy on the eyes hosts, fun and obscure topics, celebrity guests, games and trivia, and another brilliant original segment known as "Will It". Taking an ordinary "food" or topic and using creative combinations to see if 'it will' create something new and amazing or just a be a big failure. Rhett and Link have appeared multiple times on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, have a 2 season YouTube Original series, a best selling book, and a long line of "mythical" products for sale on their website. Follow these links to watch the brief history of Rhett and Link, see one of the episodes that inspired this blog, and a cold brew recipe that will leave you laughing.
A Brief History of Rhett and Link
GMM: Pumpkin Spice Taste Test
GMM: Will It Butter?
You Suck At Cooking, Cold Brew
Well that was eye opening.
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