Zola Coconut Water Espresso

Zola has been on the Canadian market for years. In fact, one of my very first reviews, more than 6 years ago, was of Zola's Immunity Smoothie. The smoothie was the best tasting product on my blog for years so when I was given a can of their Coconut Water Espresso (or should it be Espresso Coconut Water?), I had very high expectations.

Taste

The contents of this can look like any other iced coffee - medium brown and very muggy. The aroma is also very similar to any other iced coffee with a strong coffee presence. There is no coconut presence, but with a flavor as dominant as coffee, it is easy for the coconut notes to get lost.

The taste is very interesting. I kept drinking and drinking trying to decipher and put it into words, but I found it a bit difficult. OK, so I was expecting coffee to the dominant flavor, but I was greeted by a semi-sweet, very well defined coconut flavor at the start of each sip. That was followed by the tiniest hint of sourness you get from coffee, which was then followed by more coconut, a bit of chocolate and a hint of coffee. The finish is where the coffee finally came out and lingered well into the aftertaste. The aftertaste, itself, is long, a bit dry with a strong coffee presence and a hint of sweetness. Since there is a tiny bit of milk added to it, a bit of the typical iced coffee raunchiness is also present in the aftertaste.

I knew the coffee was there, but I sensed it not through its flavor, but through its other characteristics, like bitterness and sourness and even a tiny bit from its aromas the top of my mouth was exposed to...well until the flavors finally came out in the finish. Very interesting and enjoyable.

The beverage is very smooth and very easy to drink. The sweetness is well balanced and the coffee is more of a supporting character than the main one.

Energy

What, did you not expect this to have any caffeine? Come on, that is literally in the its title. There are 150 mg of caffeine in the can, which is very typical.

"Oh, but the can is so much bigger than other energy drinks...this sucks". Well, my response to this is to read the label. Despite its large appearance, the can contains only 47 mL more volume than your standard energy drink. That's less than 10% more!

So not only are you drinking coconut water that your mom tells you is good for you, but you are also getting jazzed up. The effects are a bit slow to roll out as it took around 15 minutes for me to feel the kick, but the effects are much smoother than your typical sugary energy drink. This drink almost gave me the jitters when it started to kick in, but I didn't really feel like shaking my leg more than once. Once it started to kick in, I felt much more awake and very focused before all the caffeine kicked in and I just felt exhilarated and really into reading a few reports I had on my desk. The kick lasted for a good 3-4 hours and ended without a crash. Excellent kick!

Scores:
Cost - unsure
Taste - 8.8/10
Energy - 8.5/10

Overall - 17.3/20...interesting coconut/coffee combo with a great and focused kick