Having enjoyed my mocha Frappuccino light from starbucks the other day, but balking at the cost, I wanted to be able to make them myself before I ended up burning a hole in my wallet.
Ice, milk and coffee are easy enough to come by, but the classic taste came from the syrup – something that isn’t readily available around here. Amazon offered up a few sugar-free syrups (most are only sold in the USA, darn it), and with the exception of the hazelnut, I bought them all.
Well, they arrived today, and after the success at Borough Market I was very excited to try them out! (Must be all this sunny weather going to my head).
First, the Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup. I had my doubts about this one, which proudly exclaimed “calorie free!” on the front in big bold writing. Reviews had not been so good online, but it was the only sugar-free chocolate syrup available, and I want my mochas!
The syrup was incredibly runny, despite being advertised as poured over ice cream in a thick stream on the cover, (though this would work to my advantage in coffee). I took a big sniff, hoping to smell chocolate (ha!) but instead felt my stomach grow uneasy. There was an initial metallic taste, which quickly developed into a slightly caramel/nut like chemical aftertaste, with no hint of cocoa whatsoever. It was disgusting! I attempted to eat it with one of my Borough Market strawberries, but it just ruined that too. The aftertaste also persisted long after chugging down gallons of water in an attempt to get rid of it, by which time the syrup had started congealing into an unappetising, gloopy mass on the spoon…yummy. The bottle has gone straight in the bin.
Verdict? Don’t waste your money, unless you like licking old cars in your spare time.
0 out of 10
Sweetbird Sugar-free, naturally flavoured, coffee syrup – Vanilla & Caramel flavours
Moving onto the Vanilla sugar-free syrup, this time from the company Sweetbird, (which is actually meant for drinks and used by some UK baristas), I was feeling slightly apprehensive. Unlike the Walden Farms disaster, this actually smelt like the real deal – vanilla. Obviously you’re not supposed to have it straight, and instead blend it into a drink, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t trying to hide beneath other flavours like the “chocolate “ syrup was obviously hoping to do.
Surprisingly, as I cautiously dipped my tongue in, this tasted sweet, syrupy and of vanilla. I mopped it up with a strawberry and that really set off the flavour. Licked the spoon clean.
Definitely gonna add this to iced coffee! The bottle is snazzy too with a very useful pump for quick and precise servings, and the syrup is a gorgeous colour.
Caramel
I was looking forward to trying this after the vanilla’s success, despite not liking caramel as a flavour too much. Again, there was a promising smell, not as light as the vanilla but definitely of syrup and caramel.
Verdict - Wow, that surprised me! Although it initially tasted the same as the vanilla in terms of the syrupy sweet ness (without the vanilla overtone obviously), it instead had a beautiful undertone of caramel coming through. It was less sweet than the vanilla flavour, and I found that I licked the spoon clean before even thinking about a strawberry! Would be nice in a cold iced coffee, or even a hot one.
Rating wise, I’ll leave these until I try them with coffee, but they’re pretty darn good. :]
If only sweetbird did more sugar frees…. I want my mochas! There’s a brand called Monin in America that does so many sugar free flavours, like gingerbread, chocolate, peppermint, raspberry…the list goes on! So jealous.
(If you live in the USA and are willing to sell some to me, just leave a comment and I’d be uber grateful!)
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