Review: Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Mocha
Jan 27th, 2009 by Steve
What the heck is "mocha"?
To a coffee drinker, I would assume that's a stupid question. However, to someone like myself who doesn't touch coffee, cappuccino, or espresso… well, I actually have to look this stuff up! So, for those who are clueless like myself, here's what Wikipedia has to say: "A Café mocha is a variant of a cafe latte. Like a latte it is typically one third espresso and two thirds steamed milk, but a portion of chocolate is added, typically in the form of sweet cocoa powder, although many varieties use chocolate syrup. Mochas can contain dark or milk chocolate." So basically we're talking about coffee, cream, and some chocolate. And that's what you get when you try Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Mocha.
Like the original Coffee and Vanilla flavors, the Mocha entry in the Doubleshot Energy+Coffee lineup provides a very sweet combination of cream and coffee. We talked about the positioning and history of this brand in that post, so if you haven't read it already, go take a look!
The Mocha flavor, like Vanilla, is available in Starbucks locations as well as connivence stores. It's 15 oz. of beverage packaged in a 16 oz. can, so the packaging can be a bit deceptive, but that's probably not what you are caring about if you are downing a drink packed with coffee and energy drink components! The can is light brown in color (lighter than the Coffee flavor), accented by dark brown and tan diagonal lines. The Starbucks logo is found on the top third of the front panel. The rim of the beverage is silver and denotes the flavor ("Mocha") while also highlighting the additional supplements (Guarana, Ginseng, B Vitamins). The back of the can notes that this drink is "charged up with coffee and mocha."
As far as appearing, Mocha looks just like original Coffee flavor and the Vanilla version… creamy brown, just like coffee with cream. This time around, the aroma produced when opening the can was that of coffee highlighted by a deeper, chocolate powder scent.
When drinking Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Mocha, the sweetness was obvious, as most in this series seem to be. It wasn't as creamy as Vanilla, but definitely less of a bite than Coffee. As I've noted in previous reviews, I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do like chocolate quite a bit. I've been pretty impressed with the drinkability of the Energy+Coffee lineup from my non-fan perspective, and Mocha was no exception. I liked it quite a bit, enjoying the coffee element, but also the other flavors present. Like the other Doubleshot drinks, this one is not carbonated.
My wife noted the taste of artificial sweetener sucralose in the Vanilla version, but didn't sense it as much with Mocha. She liked this far better than that flavor, ranking it as one of her favorites. Coming from a coffee drinker, that's a good thing.
Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Mocha contains the same amount of caffeine as the Coffee and Vanilla flavors: 146 mg., which breaks down to 9.7 mg/oz. This is just a little bit more than Red Bull (9.64 mg/oz.) and little less than Monster (10.00 mg/oz.)
Per 15 oz. can, you'll find that Mocha provides 200 calories, 160 mg of sodium, 26 g of sugars, and 2.5 g of fat. Itemizing the nutritional supplements, you'll find 325 mg of ginseng, 90 mg of guarana, 1800 mg of taurine, 450 mg of carnitine, 2000 mg of maltodextrin, and 180 mg of inositol. Nutritionally, this Mocha flavor is pretty much the same as the Coffee and Vanilla flavors.
A full ingredient list is as follows:
Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Mocha
Starbucks® Coffee (water, coffee), reduced fat milk, skim milk, sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose, taurine, natural flavor, cellulose gel, L-carnitine, panax ginseng root extract, inositol, sodium ascorbate (Vitamin C), guarana (paullinia cupana) seed extract, cellulose gum, calcium phosphate, niacinamide, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), sucralose, tricalcium phosphate, caramel color, pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), riboflavin, Vitamin A palmitate, cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), Vitamin D3
Packed with a hearty, robust, and somewhat chocolate-infused flavor, Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Mocha is the energy drink you never knew you wanted, assuming that you might have wanted an energy drink that tasted like a cold cup of coffee. Still, an abundance of flavors make this a smooth, yet refreshing experience.
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Other Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Reviews:
- Review: Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Coffee
- Review: Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Vanilla
- Review: Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Cinnamon Dulce
[...] 3 flavors in Starbucks' Energy+Coffee line that rolled out in June 2008: Coffee, Vanilla, and Mocha. We've happy to take a look at the latest installment, hitting stores in February 2009: Starbucks [...]
This is the first Doubleshot + Energy drink I have tried. After being a previous fan of the original starbucks doubleshot and bottled frappuccino, I was expecting to enjoy this as well. I could not finish the can. The 'creaminess' was overwhelming. Plus there was some weird 'tang' aftertaste that I can't explain.
I do agree that the coffee flavor wasn't strong, which surprises me. These are COFFEE energy drinks. There are plenty of ENERGY energy drinks already available, why not make the coffee line a bit stronger?
I will definitely skip out on the vanilla flavored can, and will report back after trying the standard coffee flavor.
[...] Review: Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Mocha [...]
[...] Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee Cinnamon Mocha [...]
The first time I tried Starbucks doubleshot Mocha Coffee, all I could taste was the added ingredients of Guarana,Ginseng,etc. Coffee flavor wasn't there (at least for me) and I started feeling light headed and wired. My heart started racing to the point I had to lie down for a few minutes before returning to normal. I had purchased a second can but stored it away for a couple of weeks and decided to try it again just in case the first encounter was just a fluke. The next time, there was more of a Coffee flavor but not by much and I still had some of the problems I had with the first can. I will no longer be buying any doubleshot drinks and I have to wonder if I'm the only one who has experienced these problems.