Flavored Coffee: Trendy Maybe... But Really...

Is there no limit to the lengths some coffee companies will go to in order to make sales? Are there no boundaries of good taste? Writer Ian Froeb reveals one odd flavor spotted out on one of America’s highways in his post “Annoying Trend of the 1990s Meets Annoying Trend of the 2000s at Gas Station”. Froeb’s twin trends are the rise of higher-end flavors and “un-coffee-like coffee drinks” coupled with cupcakes. Yep, cupcakes are trendy. There are surely some traditional coffee drinkers who scoffed in disgust as the second wavers of coffee purveyors introduced vanilla lattes. If you’re old enough to remember that introduction, did it seem a bit crazy, a little too far out of the box? Vanilla was soon followed by hazelnut, almond and other somewhat classic flavors which really did a lot for coffee sales and the development of the coffee culture, once we got used to the idea. Creative minds can’t stop at just simple one-word names of beverages it seems, so the coffee beverage became wackier and crazier as the names grew longer. How do you top butternut-fudge-marshmallow-sundae-latte? Then there are the breakfast flavored coffee beverages which even include the bacon. Disgusted yet? Froeb’s entry in the Gone-too-far-with-flavor hall of fame is the “Red Velvet Cupcake Cappuccino”. Worse yet, it’s from a coin-operated barista - aka a vending machine – a non-human at that. Under his article is a link to a sequel in which he critiques the taste of the cupcake cappuccino. As in many automated flavored coffee drinks, it tastes nothing like coffee or cupcakes, but mostly like sugar. We’re now in the third wave of coffee. Let’s hope that the third wavers maintain some class in their coffee flavorings. Can bad taste taste good? In the meantime, ROASTe has some great flavors, without the sugar....