Bad Girl Review: POM Iced Coffee

It's really been a long time since my first product review here on The Bad Girl's Kitchen. I was very excited when I received an email from Blue at POM Wonderful about trying a new product for them: POM Iced Coffees, the Healthy Buzz.

In the email describing their new Iced Coffees, POM stated: "They've got POMx – an all-natural, ultra-potent antioxidant – made from the same pomegranates we use for our 100% Pomegranate Juice. Plus, it’s coffee too, so you get all the antioxidants found in POMx, plus a great caffeine pick-me-up. We like to call it “The Healthy Buzz.”"

*(POM emailed me, I had no idea they even HAD an Iced Coffee product, so I told them I'd love to try some.)

Today, I picked up the mail and there it was: a box of POM Iced Coffee! (I started this post back in mid-September! Oops!)


First, my dad and I tried the Chocolate Iced Coffee. My dad, a chocoholic who has been known to eat chocolate chips by the bag, loved it. I'm a chocoholic too, I suppose, but I didn't love it. It tasted like you were drinking Hershey's syrup. "That's why I love it," my dad said. But I'd like to taste more coffee, a bit less chocolate.

Next, we tried the Cafe au Lait Iced Coffee--too bitter for my tastes, but Number One liked it. "It's good," he said eloquently. I put milk and sugar or flavored creamer in my regular coffee, so I guess I need some sort of flavor/sweetener to take the bitter edge off.

I had high hopes for the Vanilla Iced Coffee, because there's nothing I'd love more than another product to choose from when I'm looking for a drink, and so far I wasn't completely sold on these Iced Coffees.

Dare I say it? The Vanilla was too...vanilla-y. Or maybe just too sweet? Am I being too picky?

To me, a coffee drink is a delicate balance. You need to to taste the coffee, it can't be bitter...perhaps I should clarify: I am one of those people who gets annoyed at a diner when I have my coffee at the perfect ratio of coffee to cream to sugar and the waitress comes along and fills up the cup without even asking.

While I do LOVE that these are a "healthier" coffee drink, I honestly think the flavors need some fine-tuning. These might be better for using in a different drink recipe, or some other way. If you have any ideas, be sure and let me know, I'll give it a try.

The Verdict:
More coffee, please, less flavor.
That's my opinion...

Post Script: We were just wondering about the sugar content in these babies, after Number One said, "Antioxidants or no, I'm not sure how healthy those are." I couldn't finish the Vanilla Iced Coffee, so it was still in the fridge.

I have to tell you--in one bottle (10.5 fl. ounces), there are 28 GRAMS of SUGAR! Holy Cow! That is a LOT of sugar. (and now I'm wondering how much is in the sickly sweet chocolate flavor...)

Figuring that there are 3.94 grams of granulated sugar in 1 US teaspoon, that means there are, not joking, more than SEVEN TEASPOONS of sugar in ONE drink. YIKES! There are also 10 grams of "Sugar Alcohol" listed in the Nutrition Facts. What the heck is that? MORE sugar? I think the formula needs to be revisited before I will be convinced to drink these again!