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QUICK REVIEW: International Delight Limited Edition Oreo Iced Coffee

July 18, 2018January 22, 2021 Leonard

What is it?

Since the coffee flavor triumvirate of Mocha, Vanilla, and Caramel has already been showcased, International Delight’s Iced Coffee has decided to expand their line with a limited-edition Oreo flavor. It comes in a nice hefty half gallon container and is made with real milk and cream. It’s basically a ready-to-drink cookies and cream iced coffee.

How is it?

I wasn’t sure how Oreo in coffee would translate exactly, but they pretty much nailed the flavor profile. Taking a few sips makes me think instantly of Oreo cookies as if someone had secretly crushed some up and mixed them into my drink just before I had taken a sip.

The cream part of the Oreo is hard to distinguish since most iced coffees usually always contain some creamy element. The cookie part, though, wow! It tastes exactly how I would expect it to, and even the smell is indistinguishable as a chocolatey wafer cookie. There is a nice coffee base flavor to it that still comes through and it’s not too rich or sweet that I find some ready to drink iced coffees to be. (I’m looking at you Frappuccinos!)

Is there anything else I need to know?

The coffee has a slightly darker tone than maybe a regular flavor, but otherwise, the appearance is not immediately visible to be related to an Oreo. It would have been nice if there were actual cookie bits throughout to add an interesting visual element but you can’t have it all.

In addition, the carton has one side with a neat idea to freeze some up and add to your iced coffee in lieu of ice cubes. I highly recommend it as it does elevate the whole experience. Nobody likes watered down coffee. Nobody!

Conclusion:

This is a pretty delectable iced coffee, perfect as a creamy caffeinated treat during the hot summer months. If you’re tired of the same old coffee flavors and love Oreo cookies, then give this a try as you won’t be disappointed.

Purchased Price: $3.56
Size: Half gallon
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 cup) 120 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 240 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of dietary fiber, 20 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: International Delight Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Coffee Creamer

August 22, 2017September 5, 2023 Vin 11 Comments

I have a no-frills coffee routine every morning — two mugs with a splash of fat-free half and half. It’s my 30 calorie start to what will ultimately be a mundane day.

Ya see I’ve become a caffeine fiend (A Caffiend? ™The Impulsive Buy) as I’ve gotten older, and I often find the hot morning Joe isn’t enough to get by. I often stop at a 7-Eleven, Dunkin’, or Starbucks to indulge in an afternoon iced coffee or cold brew.

Over the past couple weeks I’ve noticed that 7-Eleven has stocked their little coffee nook with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups International Delight Creamer, and well, it’s troubling. A new threat to my boring coffee existence had reared its ugly head. Then, I found it in my local supermarket and there was no turning back.

I’m a Reese’s junkie. At this point, Reese’s could make toothpaste and I’d camp outside Rite Aid ’til its release. I’ve managed to bypass all the other candy-based creamers until now, but Reese’s?! Peanut butter in my coffee?! Obviously, I had to pick up a bottle.

After popping the top, I was hit with that unmistakable Reese’s smell. We were off and rolling.

I figured the best way to do this review was to try it right from the bottle, in hot coffee, and mixed with iced coffee.

Coffee creamer is not meant to be drunk on its own, but I had to do my due diligence for the review’s sake. I took an ice-cold shot of this and it was ridiculously good. It was the melted Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup milkshake I never knew I needed. I had to stop myself from going back for more.

Next, I poured myself a mug of piping hot coffee and poured the same amount of creamer in. That Reese’s taste got a little lost. It did add a strong creaminess to the coffee, and the flavor was still there, but it’s subdued. I got some light chocolate with a nutty finish. It wasn’t all that different from a standard hazelnut coffee. The nuttiness wasn’t specifically peanut butter. I’m sure if I added more it would have tasted better, but therein lies the problem. I don’t want to start my morning with a cup of melted ice cream.

So, while it’s still really good, hot coffee isn’t the best delivery system for this creamer. Iced coffee, however, was awesome. I got a plain cup of the aforementioned 7-Eleven iced coffee and added the splash of Reese’s. It tasted like Yoo-hoo with peanut butter mixed in. This definitely works better when cold.

I’m nitpicking because it’s pretty great. If I had the ability to cold brew at home, I’d have this every day. As far as the hot coffee goes, it’s gonna slip into the rotation every few days. I’m not quite ready to change my mundane existence just yet. Someday.

Someday.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 tbsp. – 35 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 5 milligrams of sodium, 5 grams of carbohydrates, 0 gram of fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and 0 gram of protein.)

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 32 fl. oz.
Purchased at: ShopRite
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Melted Reese’s milkshake. Spices up boring coffee. Delicious in iced coffee. Reese’s anything. Available at 7-Eleven.
Cons: Tasted worst in hot coffee. I don’t make iced coffee at home. Creaminess borders on filminess. Caffeine Addiction. More than double my usual morning coffee’s calories.

REVIEW: International Delight Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate

October 23, 2015August 12, 2023 Dan 5 Comments

I was a dumb kid.

Growing up, I never understood society’s romanticized view of hot chocolate. I wondered why people applauded its chocolaty taste, when every time I made hot chocolate it tasted bland and runny.

And why did they so happily warm their hands with the stuff on winter days, when mine got lukewarm and nasty halfway through?

Oh, that’s right. Because up until I turned [EMBARRASINGLY HIGH NUMBER REMOVED] years old, I thought hot chocolate was made by simply microwaving chocolate milk.

I was a dumb, dumb kid.

Perhaps by reviewing International Delight Hot Chocolate, I can atone for my choco-sins. This new refrigerated hot chocolate dairy beverage (“Hello, is this the Oxymoron Police? Yeah, it’s me again.”) comes in dark and milk chocolate varieties. I chose the former, figuring it was less likely to just be classier chocolate milk.

The drink claims to contain all the goodness of hot cocoa* after only 45 seconds in the microwave.

*In the unending civil war between people who say “hot cocoa” and people who say “hot chocolate,” I’m choosing to remain as neutral as a mug of Swiss Miss.

Pouring out the viscous liquid, I curiously wondered what “Cold Chocolate” would taste like. I also wondered whether “Cold Chocolate” would be a better name for an Android operating system or an Icelandic techno-pop supergroup. But that’s beside the point.

And unlike an actual feline, who would find chocolate quite toxic, curiosity didn’t kill this cat. Rather, I found the syrupy, chilled drink to have a dense, tasty mix of sweet, fatty milk and rich, creamy cocoa. There was no dark chocolate bitterness, though, so I can only imagine how cloying the milk chocolate flavor would be.

I suddenly realized that it tastes exactly like a slightly melted chocolate Snack Pack! I never knew that “pudding milk” was something I needed so badly in my life, but now that I’ve acquired a taste for it, I don’t think I can ever go back. This must be how Count Chocula got his start.

Returning from pudding nirvana, I actually followed the instructions and microwaved my 8 fluid ounces of Hot Chocolate. After a brief stir, I sipped the steaming, frothy liquid, and the first taste set off sad Price is Right trombones in my head. The heating process made the previously lovely goo much thinner and considerably less potent from a chocolate standpoint.

What was once whole-ier than whole milk was now more like hot 2% and Hershey’s syrup. The thin cream taste had processed cocoa notes that required frequent stirring to save from sinking into the brown abyss.

I’m no food scientist, so I don’t know what about microwaving makes this taste so diluted, flat, and even kinda slimy. Do microwaves burn off fat? If they do, those “One Weird Trick To Cut Off Belly Fat” banner ads are about to get a whole lot weirder.

But even a food scientologist can tell this isn’t quite real hot cocoa. Even adding marshmallows didn’t help; it was just putting sugary white lipstick on a pig.

I recommend buying this drink, but only if you immediately cross out the word “Hot” with Sharpie. Like that shameful misunderstanding from my past, it’s best if we all just pretend it didn’t happen and instead happily chug International Delight Chocolate straight out of the refrigerator.

Oh, and if you do, you might want to cross out that whole “200 calories per serving” part, too.

See no evil, no evil goes straight to my thighs, right?

(Nutrition Facts – 1 cup – 200 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 320 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 31 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein.)

Item: International Delight Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate
Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 1 quart
Purchased at: Meijer
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Whole-y cold pudding milk, Batman! Becoming a chocolate vampire. Munching many mini marshmallows. Escaping childhood shame.
Cons: Completely fails at its intended purpose. Pretty much “Microwaved Chocolate Milk 2.0.” Wasting 45 seconds I could’ve spent microwaving Pizza Rolls. Taking the phrase “brown abyss” out of context. Still only owning one glass cup.

REVIEW: International Delight Very Vanilla Nog

November 21, 2014August 12, 2023 Marvo 2 Comments

Are you one of those weirdos who lets vanilla ice cream melt into a liquid before consuming? Well then, Mr. or Miss Melty Pants, I know of a product that will save you some time if you want liquified vanilla ice cream. No, it’s not a microwave oven. It’s International Delight’s Very Vanilla Nog.

Speaking of weird, it’s odd to see an International Delight product that has nothing to do with coffee. Although, technically, one could use ID’s Very Vanilla Nog as a liquid coffee creamer.

To be honest, it also feels a bit weird to call this product a nog.

I don’t want to use the fifth grade tactic of using a dictionary definition to make a point, but I feel I must here. According to my computer’s dictionary, nog is short for eggnog. Nog also “a small block or peg of wood,” so feel free to use the word “nog” as new slang for male genitalia that has shrunken from cold weather.

Anyhoo, if we’re to go by the definition, International Delight’s Very Vanilla Nog is not nog. It’s notg. It doesn’t have eggs, cinnamon, or nutmeg. International Delight does have a Classic version of their nog that, according to the ID website, has “a hint of sweet nutmeg flavor and notes of light rum.” But it has no eggs, so it’s also notg.

Not having eggs in a holiday nog that has dairy is like having Thanksgiving without the turkey, Christmas without mall Santas, and Black Friday without the YouTube videos of folks getting into fights over cheap crap at Walmart.

While International Delight’s Very Vanilla Nog doesn’t have eggs or the spices associated with eggnog, it does have a couple of ingredients found in most store-bought eggnogs — delicious guar gum and carrageenan. Wait. Did I say “delicious”? I meant, necessary to thicken this beverage so that it’s the consistency of melted ice cream.

Now with all that said, I wish International Delight’s Very Vanilla Nog never goes away because it really does smell and taste like vanilla ice cream, and, oh my goodness, it makes eating things you usually consume with milk much better.

Cereal…better.

Hershey’s syrup…better.

Oreo dunking…better.

So International Delight should just drop the nog name so that they can sell it throughout the year. Call it Magic Milk. That’s probably taken, so they should go with a different spelling, like Majic Mylk. I mean, if International Delight can get away with calling their Very Vanilla Nog a nog, they can probably get away with alternate spellings.

(Nutrition Facts – 1/2 cup – 120 calories, 20 calories from fat, 2 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 18 grams of sugar, 4 grams of protein, and 15% calcium.)

Item: International Delight Very Vanilla Nog
Purchased Price: $4.49
Size: 1 Quart
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Smells and tastes like vanilla ice cream. Has a consistency similar to melted vanilla ice cream. Makes eating things you usually consume with milk much better.
Cons: It being called “nog” even though it doesn’t have eggs or spices. It’s weird this product has nothing to do with coffee. Getting a nog in cold weather.

REVIEW: International Delight Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Cream Iced Coffee

May 13, 2014August 14, 2023 Marvo 4 Comments

If you were to hack into the databases that contain my Safeway and Target purchases, you’d know I buy a lot of International Delight Iced Coffee…and Pepto Bismol. However, because I buy IDIC regularly (yes, I’m too lazy to type its name out, but not lazy enough to type an aside that says I’m too lazy to type its name out), I’ve gotten a little tired of the flavors they have — original, mocha, vanilla, and caramel macchiato.

The overcaffienated folks at International Delight (ID) have a long history of teaming up with other brands to make a variety of coffee creamers that’ll make any burnt office coffee (Except yours, Brad!) taste so much better, like Almond Joy, Cinnabon, Heath, York Peppermint Patty, Cold Stone Creamery, and Hershey’s. And now the jittery employees at ID have done the same with their iced coffee, creating International Delight Cold Stone Creamery Sweet Cream Iced Coffee and Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Iced Coffee.

The latter combines iced coffee with the flavor of Hershey’s I-Want-To-Say-They’re-Popular-But-I’ve-Never-Seen-Anyone-Buy-Them Cookies ’n’ Creme candy bar. If you’re one of those people who has never purchased a Hershey’s Cookies ’n’ Creme bar, it’s made with white chocolate and tiny chocolate cookie balls. Although I’ve never seen anyone else buy it, I do purchase it on occasion and prefer it over a regular milk chocolate Hershey’s bar because of its flavor and it’s like a bizarro Nestle Crunch bar.

In previous IDIC reviews, I mentioned how the coffee flavor is heavily masked by the cream, sugar, and flavoring, but it’s somewhat noticeable. Well, with International Delight’s Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Iced Coffee it’s almost nonexistent, getting lost within the chocolate cookie balls flavoring. This causes the creamy beverage to taste more like a cookies ’n’ creme-flavored milk. This will be a problem for those who enjoy the flavor of coffee, but it appears it hasn’t been an issue for me because I’ve purchased three cartons so far. Actually, I don’t know if it’s because I’m tired of the other flavors, but this flavor is now my favorite.

What I like most about International Delight’s Hershey’s Cookies ’n’ Creme Iced Coffee is how they nailed the flavor of the chocolate cookie balls from the candy bar. It’s as if they went the cereal milk route and dumped a bunch of chocolate cookie balls into an iced coffee with a lot of milk and then strained the liquid. The creme doesn’t taste like white chocolate, which is a good thing because I don’t think white chocolate milk would be pleasing.

International Delight’s Hershey’s Cookies ’n’ Creme Iced Coffee is creamy and thick (Thanks cream and carrageenan!) and has a unique flavor that makes it taste like a fancy chocolate milk. A caffeinated fancy chocolate milk, I might add (76 milligrams of caffeine per cup). I’ll definitely be purchasing more with my Pepto Bismol.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 cup – 150 calories, 25 calories from fat, 2.5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 23 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein, and 15% calcium..)

Item: International Delight Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Cream Iced Coffee
Purchased Price: $4.99 (on sale)
Size: Half gallon
Purchased at: Safeway
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: My favorite International Delight Iced Coffee flavor. International Delight nailed the chocolatey cookie flavor and it’s the most dominant flavor. Thick and creamy (Thanks cream and carrageenan). If it’s like their other flavors, it has 76 milligrams of sweet, sweet caffeine. Getting to type “chocolate cookie balls” several times in a review.
Cons: Drink something else or add more coffee to this if you love the flavor of coffee, because it’s like drinking Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme milk. Still no caffeine content listed on carton.

Tag: International Delight