Little's Creamy Caramel Flavour Infused Instant Coffee, 50g
Creamy here is describing a style of caramel rather than anything in the jar: soft and buttery, toffee rather than burnt sugar. Anyone avoiding dairy should still read the pack rather than take the word either way. It is a small jar, and that is the right size for a flavoured coffee, which almost nobody drinks every morning for a month. Keep it as the afternoon one and let a plain jar do the mornings. Caffeinated, and it lands drier than most people expect from anything with caramel on the label.
Little's Creamy Caramel Flavour Infused Instant Coffee, in brief.
Little's Creamy Caramel Flavour Infused Instant Coffee is a 50g jar of soluble coffee with a soft toffee-toned caramel infused into the granule itself rather than poured in as a syrup. That is the whole product. A syrup carries flavour and sweetens the drink at the same time; an infused granule only does the first, so the caramel arrives clean and you keep control of the sugar.
Rest the kettle a full minute, because flavour is the first thing boiling water takes.
Little's Creamy Caramel Flavour Infused Instant Coffee is a small 50g jar of soluble coffee with a creamy caramel flavour infused into the granule itself, rather than a syrup you pour into a finished cup. That distinction is the whole product, and it changes what you get in the mug in a way that surprises most people the first time.
A flavoured syrup does two jobs at once. It carries the flavour and it sweetens the drink, and because it is a sugar solution it also thickens the body slightly. An infused granule only does the first of those. The caramel here arrives as aroma and as flavour, and it arrives clean, without the drink being sweetened for you. If you expect caramel and sugar in the same spoonful you will find this drier than you assumed. If what you actually wanted was a coffee that tastes of caramel rather than a coffee that has been turned into a pudding, this is exactly the right format, and you can still add sugar yourself and keep control of how much.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
Caramel is also the flavour that goes wrong most often. Done badly it reads as burnt sugar or as a hard boiled sweet, which is what a cheap flavouring tends to give you. The creamy version of caramel is softer and rounder, more toffee and butter than burnt sugar, and it sits more comfortably on a medium roast coffee than a sharper caramel note would.
The Story Behind Little's
Little's is an independent British coffee brand that has built its range around flavour-infused instants in small jars, which is an unusual place to compete. The big houses sell flavour as a syrup or as a sweetened latte sachet, both of which sweeten the drink whether you wanted that or not. Infusing the flavour into the granule is more work and produces a subtler result, and a small jar suits it, because a flavoured coffee is generally something you keep alongside a main jar rather than instead of it.
The ingredient list, the flavouring declaration, any certification marks and the nutrition panel are printed on the jar you receive. Flavoured blends are reformulated more often than plain coffee is, so read the label in front of you rather than a listing written earlier.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; jar, lid and seal can require different disposal routes.
The Half And Half Trick
The most useful thing to know about a small flavoured jar is that you do not have to use it on its own. A full rounded teaspoon of this gives you a definitely caramel coffee. Half a spoon of this and half a spoon of your everyday jar gives you a coffee with a caramel note behind it, which is what a lot of people actually want and cannot buy as a product.
That also answers the obvious objection to a 50g jar, which is that it looks small. It is not competing with your main jar. It is the thing you reach for on a Sunday afternoon, or when somebody comes round, or when the alternative was going out for a flavoured latte. Treated that way, a small jar is the right size and lasts a good deal longer than the count suggests.
Getting The Most Out Of Little's Creamy Caramel, 50g
- Water temperature: about 90°C, and rest the kettle a full minute. Flavour is the first thing boiling water takes.
- Half and half: mix it with your everyday jar for a caramel note rather than a caramel coffee.
- Milk: a splash of hot milk suits caramel better than it suits most flavoured coffees.
- Sugar: taste first. An infused granule carries flavour, not sweetness, which is the point of the format.
- Storage: lid on tight, dry spoon every time, and a cupboard rather than a windowsill. A small jar of aroma is exactly what damp ruins fastest.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Little's Creamy Caramel Flavour Infused Instant Coffee, 50g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Little's
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; jar, lid and seal can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
Everything that matters about brewing a flavoured instant comes back to aroma, because aroma is what you paid for. Soluble coffee has already been fully extracted once at the factory and then dried, so nothing in the granule needs boiling water to release it, and water at 100°C drives volatile compounds off into the room rather than into the cup. On a plain jar that costs you some coffee character. On an infused jar it costs you the caramel as well, and that is a much worse trade.
The Mug It Is Built For
Beyond The Plain Hot Mug
Made with this tea
The Straight Caramel Mug
The cup that shows what an infused granule does differently from a syrup.
- 1 rounded teaspoon Creamy Caramel
- 200ml water rested a full minute
- A dry spoon
- Rest the boiled kettle a full minute so it lands near 90 degrees.
- Paste the granules with a splash of the hot water.
- Fill the mug, and taste it before reaching for sugar.
What you'll end up with: A clean caramel coffee that is drier than a syrup drink, with the toffee note outlasting the roast at the finish.
Half And Half
The most useful thing to know about a small flavoured jar, and it is not on the label.
- Half a teaspoon Creamy Caramel
- Half a teaspoon of your everyday jar
- 200ml water at about 90 degrees
- Put half a spoon of each into the mug together.
- Paste both with a splash of hot water and stir smooth.
- Fill and drink as usual.
What you'll end up with: A normal coffee with a caramel note behind it rather than a caramel coffee, and a jar that lasts twice as long.
Caramel Latte With Real Milk
Dairy and caramel are a natural pairing, and milk lengthens the finish rather than cutting it.
- 2 teaspoons Creamy Caramel
- 100ml water at about 90 degrees
- 180ml hot milk
- Paste two teaspoons with a splash of hot water.
- Fill with only 100ml so the brew stays concentrated.
- Top with hot milk and stir once.
What you'll end up with: A caramel latte you control the sugar in, which is the one thing a coffee shop version never lets you do.
Iced Caramel Latte
The best cold use of the jar, and the one place the drier style really pays.
- 2 teaspoons Creamy Caramel
- 60ml hot water
- A tall glass packed with ice
- 150ml cold milk
- Dissolve two teaspoons in 60ml of hot water completely.
- Cool for five minutes, or longer in the fridge.
- Pour over a packed glass of ice and top with cold milk.
What you'll end up with: A cold caramel coffee that is refreshing rather than cloying, because the sweetness was never poured in.
Caramel Affogato
Of the three flavours in the range this is the one the dish was waiting for.
- 2 teaspoons Creamy Caramel
- 60ml water at about 90 degrees
- 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
- Paste the granules and make a short, strong 60ml brew.
- Keep it hot while you scoop the ice cream.
- Pour it over at the table and eat it straight away.
What you'll end up with: Hot caramel coffee melting into cold vanilla, with no syrup bottle involved anywhere.
Caramel Coffee Buttercream
Dissolve and cool it first, or you get bitter dark flecks instead of an even flavour.
- 2 teaspoons Creamy Caramel
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 200g icing sugar
- 100g soft butter
- Dissolve the granules in the hot water and cool completely.
- Beat the butter and icing sugar until pale.
- Add the cooled coffee a little at a time and beat again.
What you'll end up with: A smooth caramel coffee buttercream with no gritty specks and the flavour still in it, because nothing was boiled.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Typical values per 100ml, as published | Per 100ml |
|---|---|
| Energy | 4 kcal |
| Fat | trace |
| of which saturates | trace |
| Carbohydrate | 0.7g |
| of which sugars | 0.1g |
| Protein | 0.2g |
| Salt | trace |
Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Ingredients, as published for this product: Freeze-Dried Coffee, Creamy Caramel Flavouring.
Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Soluble coffee | The bulk of the 50g jar | Everything underneath the flavour. Coffee brewed at the factory and then dried, so the granules are a concentrate you rehydrate in the mug rather than something coffee-flavoured. |
| Creamy caramel flavouring | Infused into the granule; inclusion rate not published | The reason to buy this jar. Infused at manufacture rather than poured in as a syrup, which means it carries flavour without sweetening the drink for you. Soft and toffee-toned rather than burnt-sugar sharp. |
| Roast level | Medium, per the brand's own positioning | Low bitterness underneath. A sharper roast would fight a caramel note rather than carry it, which is why flavoured instants are rarely built on dark bases. |
| Water (added by you) | The bulk of the finished cup | Around 1.8g of granules to a 200ml mug, at about 90 degrees. Rest the kettle a full minute; flavour compounds are the most volatile thing in the jar. |
| Your everyday jar (optional) | Half and half | Half a spoon of this with half a spoon of a plain jar gives a caramel note rather than a caramel coffee. It is the most useful thing to know about a small flavoured jar. |
Pack: Caffeinated. Best before date printed on the jar.
An infused granule carries flavour rather than sweetness, so this is not equivalent to a pre-sweetened latte sachet; what sugar and calories the granule itself contains are on the nutrition panel on the jar, which is the figure to work from.
Sourcing & blend. Little's is an independent British coffee brand that has built its range around flavour-infused instants in small jars, which is an unusual place to compete. The large houses sell flavour either as a syrup or as a pre-sweetened latte sachet, and both of those sweeten the drink whether the drinker wanted that or not. Infusing a flavour into the granule at manufacture is more work and gives a subtler result, and it leaves the sugar decision with the person holding the mug. A small jar suits that approach, because a flavoured coffee is usually something kept alongside a main jar rather than instead of it. Caramel is also the flavour most often done badly: pushed too hard it reads as burnt sugar or as a hard boiled sweet, which is the signature of a cheap flavouring. The creamy version is softer and rounder, closer to toffee and butter, and it sits more comfortably on a medium roast with low bitterness than a sharper caramel would. For the ingredient list, the allergen statement, the certification marks and the recycling route carried by the jar in your hand, read the current pack.
What is in Little's Creamy Caramel Flavour Infused Instant Coffee, 50g, and what is not:
- In: soluble coffee with a creamy caramel flavouring infused into the granule.
- Not a syrup and not a sachet: the flavour is in the granule, so it carries flavour without sweetening the drink for you.
- Not a coffee substitute: this is coffee, and it contains caffeine in the ordinary way.
- Allergen note: a creamy flavoured product can involve carriers that plain granules do not. Read the allergen statement on the jar rather than assuming plain-coffee shorthand.
- Water note: about 90 degrees rather than boiling, paste the granules first, and milk after they have dissolved.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Little's Creamy Caramel Flavour Infused Instant Coffee, 50g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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