Review: Coffee Bean’s New Low Sugar Drinks

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf recently released a new low sugar menu, I decided to test them out. Coincidentally, I also have been reducing sugar in my diet, as part of my goal of improving my complexion, health and all around energy.  So this new coffee drink menu provided a great opportunity for me and other health-conscious people.  Normally I am a Starbucks customer but I knew I had to give this Coffee Bean effort a try when I heard about these new ideas.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf shop in Henderson, NV, near Las Vegas.

So, one weekend (before the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak), I went with my Dad and Christy to a Coffee Bean shop in Henderson, NV.  We each picked a drink from the new menu and provided our reviews. Now, as we are in the middle of the coronavirus social distancing phenomenon, some Coffee Bean shops still are open, while others are just doing takeout, or are closed completely.  So, if yours still is closed, I hope this article gives you some ideas for when things get back to normal!

The Coffee Bean menu.

Mango Cold Brew Tea

For my pick, I decided to get a low sugar version of the Mango Cold Brew Tea. I had tried the full sugar version before and liked it, but thought it was too sweet. I liked this one a lot more. It had a light mango taste, but was not overpowering like the old one. It was sweeter at the bottom because the sugar floated to the bottom of the drink. I think I should have mixed it up a bit first so this would not happen.  It was very refreshing with the mix of peach and tea. It tasted like a perfect summer drink, and I could imagine drinking one poolside in the Summer. I am definitely ordering this again.

Cold Brew Coffee

I picked a cold brewed coffee for my Dad. It is not on the new low sugar menu but it only has one gram of sugar so I thought, why not? My dad liked it a lot. He said it tasted better than Starbucks’ cold brewed coffee. He said it had an interesting nutty or earthy flavor to it. He thought it tasted just like iced coffee. He even asked the worker what blend it was.  She said it included Sumatra and Ethiopian beans. However, there was some controversy, as Christy was less enthusiastic and said that this was not a true cold brew because a cold brew comes cold out of a tap already cold. She felt that is how Starbucks does it. My dad was still really impressed with it even if it was not “real” cold brew, and said he would order again.

Iced Vanilla Latte

Christy ordered an iced vanilla latte. She liked how there was no artificial flavor in it like a lot of low sugar drinks typically have. However she was not super impressed with it. She thought it was “okay,” but not as good as Starbucks’ version of this drink. She said there was nothing special about it, and might have just ordered the wrong thing. Next time she will order something different.

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Overall our review was pretty mixed.  I would say if you order the right thing, the low sugar menu at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf can be a great, new, healthy alternative to the standard sweet coffee shop fare. I hope this article gave you some ideas. Will I switch to exclusively Coffee Bean?  Not really, so Dutch Bros. and Starbucks have not lost a customer, but Coffee Bean will certainly stay on my coffee shop list.