Recently I was at a local grocery store, and I saw in the bargain bin (maybe a bad sign~~~) some bottled coffee. At a super expensive 80 cents per bottle, and with 500 ml of coffee in each one, it seemed like a steal of a deal and I picked up two bottles, one Grande Latte, and one Grande Hazelnut coffee.
Let’s Be Coffee is made by the Lotte Company, which is one of the largest conglomerates here in South Korea. While not as famous internationally as Hyundai and Samsung, locally there are very famous.
Looking at the two bottles, the design seems pretty standard. The Grand Latte has a stereotypical heart on the latte art on the front of the bottle. The Grande Hazelnut has a nice simple design with an iced black coffee as its front image.
The Let’s Be Coffee also has two languages, with Korean on one side, and English on the other.
The first thing I did before opening them is to choose two different mugs that would match the similar nature of the two Let’s Be coffees, and after doing so, followed the instructions to shake each bottle thoroughly before opening.
The labels said that to get the best flavor, that shaking was very important.
As I opened the Grande Hazelnut, the sweet smell of packaged hazelnut coffee filled the air. The drink poured easily into my cup and had an interesting shiny sheen to it.
The Grande Latte was likewise easy to pour, and the color seemed to indicate a nice mixture of coffee and apparently real milk.
As I tried the Grande Hazelnut, the perfume-y aroma and flavor of chemical hazelnut assaulted me. The drink was very sweet, and the hazelnut flavor was very strong. The coffee flavor was mild, and the aftertaste was lacking in acidity, but was strong on the hazelnut. As I continued drinking, the flavor became less pronounced, as the drink seemed to be more watery, even though I did not add ice.
Next I tried the Grande Latte. This was even sweeter, and the flavor of sweet milk was the most evident, although there was a tiny hint of coffee notes in the drink. I believe that there was some added sugar in it as well, which made it a little tastier, but less healthy.
For the price, it wasn’t the worst coffee that I have had, and if I was stuck on a long road trip and needed some caffeine to help me keep going, then I could see buying one of these. The Grande Hazelnut has 122 mg of caffeine, and the Grande Latte has 190 mg of caffeine, so they would definitely give you a quick pick-me-up.
Otherwise, I don’t know if I would try them again, despite the extremely affordable price that I paid.