It's iced coffee season, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're in the mood to make it every morning. Even if you cold-brew big batches of your own concentrate with a Filtron or Toddy -- and you should -- there will inevitably be days when you can't even muster the energy to mix it. Or you find yourself craving coffee, but you're surrounded by more gas stations than proper coffee shops.
For these occasions and more, bottled iced coffee can be a savior. But which to buy?
HuffPost conducted a taste test of several brands back in 2011, but the category has exploded since then -- along with cold-brew coffee in general -- so it was time for another head-to-head competition. We rounded up all the brands of iced coffee with milk and sugar we could find to see which one we liked best.
Frankly, our 12-person panel wasn't very enthusiastic about most of the options. Many of the bottled iced coffees available are just too sweet. That may reflect the coffee-drinking preferences of most American consumers, but it didn't sit well with us.
But we found one brand we loved, and several others that would be totally adequate in a pinch.
As usual, the brands included in no way influenced our results.
Starbucks Iced Coffee & Milk -- Best In Show
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Average Rating: 7.1 Tasters Said: "Nice roasted balanced flavor." "Not too sweet. Drinkable." "Sophisticated." "A little watered down but doesn't bother me." "Passable." "Really solid." "Light & refreshing." Price: $2.39 for 11 ounces Calories: 110 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Reduced-Fat Milk, Sugar, Pectin
Real Beanz Diet Cappuccino -- Highly Recommended
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Average Rating: 6.5 Tasters Said: "Milky and a little sweet." "Chocolatey!" "Fairly sweet." "More like a dessert than a coffee." Price: $1.99 for 9.5 ounces Calories: 60 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Reduced-Fat Milk, Erythritol, Maltodextrin, Sugar, Natural Flaovr, Caramel Color, Salt, Sodium Phosphates, Guar Gum, Mono- Di- and Tri-Glycerides, Conjugated Lionoleic Acid, Sodium Citrate, Carrageenan, Stevia Rebaudinia Leaf Extract, Chromium Picolonate
High Brew Double Espresso -- Highly Recommended
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Average Rating: 6.2 Tasters Said: "I could drink a lot of this." "This is pretty strong, not as sweet as bottled coffee usually is." "Dark and sludgy." "Nice balance." "Very lightly sweetened. Solid, fairly bold flavor." Price: $2 for 8 ounces Calories: 50 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Reduced-Fat Milk, Sugar, Natural Flavors, Pectin, Potassium Phosphates
Kohana Cold Brew Coffee Island Latte -- Highly Recommended
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Average Rating: 6.1 Tasters Said: "Creamy." "Not too sweet. Enjoyable." "This is right up my alley." "Too light and creamy." "I don't mind this." "Nothing wrong with that! Balanced and drinkable." Price: $2.50 for 8 ounces Calories: 100 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Reduced-Fat Milk, Erythritol, Sugar, Monk Fruit Extract, Carrageenan, Potassium Phosphates
Grumpy Cat Grumppuccino -- Recommended
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Average Rating: 5.9 Tasters Said: "A little milky and sweet, but not unpleasant." "Smells like caramel." "Feels full bodied." "Tastes like butterscotch. Good for dessert." "Kind of like a caramel candy." "Middle of the road." Price: $3.19 for 13.7 ounces Calories: 275 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Reduced-Fat Milk, Sugar, Pectin, Natural Flavors
Hi Ball Energy Cold Brew Coffee With Milk & Sugar -- Recommended
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Average Rating: 5.8 Tasters Said: "Chocolatey. Slight coffee flavor but not much." "Condensed milk." "Reminds me of Mexican hot chocolate." "Seemingly vanilla flavor, pretty sweet." Price: $2.79 for 8 ounces Calories: 140 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Non-Fat Milk, Sugar, Cream, Pectin, Dipotassium Phosphate, Vitamin B3, Guarana Extract, Ginseng Extract, Tripotassium Phosphate, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12
Marley's One Drop Coffee -- Recommended
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Average Rating: 5.2 Tasters Said: "Inoffensive but boring." "Lacks a definitive taste." "Too smoky." "I like the flavor but I wish it were less sweet." "Decent balance." "My sister who doesn't like coffee would like this." Price: $2.19 for 11 ounces Calories: 220 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Low-Fat Milk, Cane Sugar, Natural Flavors, Pectin
Califia Farms XX Espresso Cold Brew Coffee With Almond Milk -- Recommended With Reservations
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Average Rating: 5 Tasters Said: "A bit odd." "Nutty taste." "Too healthy!" "Very watered down." "Not a good look." "Weird for me... too nutty." Price: $2.69 for 10.5 ounces Calories: 110 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Almond Milk, Cane Sugar, Vitamin/Mineral Blend, Natural Flavors, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt
Vita Coco Cafe Latte -- Recommended With Reservations
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Average Rating: 4.9 Tasters Said: "Not enough coffee flavor." "Tastes like melted coffee ice cream and has weird speckles in it." "This is just awful." "Kid's cough syrup... more like 'iced cough-y'!" "It tastes like popcorn and taffy, which is just NOT working for me as a coffee." Price: $2.99 for 11.1 ounces Calories: 140 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Coconut Water, Skim Milk, Sugar, Natural Flavor, Carrageenan
Illy Issimo Cappuccino -- Recommended With Reservations
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Average Rating: 4.8 Tasters Said: "Pretty balanced -- I don't hate it." "Weird chemical aftertaste." "Bitter." "Stomach-turning. Like spoiled milk, but bitter." "A little funky." "Sweet and light. I can imagine buying this." Price: $2.69 for 8.45 ounces Calories: 100 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Low-Fat Milk, Sugar, Cocoa Powder, Potassium Bicarbonate, Cellulose Gel, Potassium Citrate, Cellulose Gum, Carrageenan
Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee With Milk -- Recommended With Reservations
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Average Rating: 4.7 Tasters Said: "The creamiest of them all -- in a bad way, like melted ice cream." "Almost gagged." "Blech!" "I actually like this. Very milky, but with a bitter aftertaste." "Very distinctive taste, I'll give it that." Price: $3.19 for 16 ounces Calories:Ingredients Besides Coffee: Half and Half, Cane Sugar, Carrageenan
UCC Coffee With Milk -- Not Recommended
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Average Rating: 3.7 Tasters Said: "Has the flavor of burnt airplane coffee. Yuck." "Thin watery flavor." "Plasticky artificial flavor." "The aftertaste reminds of the smell of a tennis ball." "Hospital coffee. Nothing going for it." Price: $1.99 for 11.3 ounces Calories: 140 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Sugar, Milk Powder, Emulsifier
Blue Bottle New Orleans Iced Coffee -- Not Recommended
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Average Rating: 3.7 Tasters Said: "Bitter and cardboard-y." "A little like your mouth tastes after vomiting." "Strange grassy or vegetal taste." "Off, stale." "Tastes like rubber." "Sour." Price: $3.99 for 10.66 ounces Calories: 160 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Milk, Chicory, Cane Sugar
Rockstar Roasted Caffe Latte With Almond Milk -- Worst In Show
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Average Rating: 2.8 Tasters Said: "Just wrong." "Splenda bomb. Like cancer in a bottle." "Tastes like artificial sugar." "Too sweet for me." "Fake flavor." "Tastes like chemicals." "Liquid sugar." Price: $2.99 for 15 ounces Calories: 220 Ingredients Besides Coffee: Almond Milk, Sucrose, Soy Protein, Taurine, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Salt, Natural Flavors, Caffeine, Cellulose Gum, Sodium Bicarbonate, Pantothenic Acid, Inositol, L-Carnitine, Ascorbic Acid, Niacinamide, Milk Thistle Extract, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, Ginseng Extract, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Guarana Seed Extract, Cyanocobalamin