Nescafé Caramel Latte Sachets: Getting the Mug Right

Everything a caramel latte needs apart from the water is already sealed into each sachet: the coffee, the milk as a powder and the caramel sweetening. That leaves you only three things to control, the kettle, the mug and the spoon, and each one matters more than people expect.

What is actually in the sachet

Read the published ingredient list and the drink explains itself. Sugar comes first, then skimmed milk powder, glucose syrup and coconut oil, and the coffee, a mix of instant and roast and ground, is listed at 7.5%. So this is a milk drink flavoured with coffee and caramel rather than a coffee with a splash of milk, and it tastes exactly that way in the mug.

The caramel is the confected, toffee-like kind rather than a dark, burnt-sugar sauce, and the sweetness is fixed before the box is opened. That is the one thing to understand before buying: sugar can be added to a drink but never taken out. If you would rather choose the sweetness yourself, an unsweetened Nescafé cappuccino sachet with a little caramel syrup of your own is the better route.

Kettle, mug and spoon

Water straight off the boil is the usual mistake. It cooks the milk powder and leaves a flat, tinny taste, so give the kettle a minute to settle to around 90 degrees before pouring. Then stir properly. A cappuccino sachet wants its foam left alone, but a latte is about a smooth, even body, and the caramel has to dissolve fully or it sinks and sits at the bottom of the mug.

Mug size is the other lever. One sachet is dosed for roughly 180 to 200ml, which is an ordinary mug rather than a big one; pour it into a 300ml mug and the result is thinner, not larger. For a richer cup, make it with hot milk instead of water. That is not required, since the milk is already in the powder, but it turns an everyday mug into more of a treat.

Where the seven-sachet box earns its place

This is not an espresso-bar caramel latte and it should not be judged as one. Its job is the gap between a bleak mug of black instant and a trip out: the desk drawer, the caravan, the hotel room, or the evening the milk in the fridge has turned. Because the milk is dry and sealed in, the box travels flat and needs no fridge at all.

It is also a drink that divides people. It is sweet enough to stand in for a pudding, and few will want one every day, so seven sachets tend to last a good while. Keep it for an afternoon when plain coffee feels like too little. If caramel turns out to be the flavour your household drinks most, the twelve-sachet caramel latte box in the same range is the larger option.

The packs we stock

• Nescafe Caramel Latte Instant Coffee, 7 Sachets (barcode 8445291746084)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Nescafe Caramel Latte Instant Coffee, 7 Sachets (barcode 8445291746084) says it contains milk. Before buying the 7 sachet caramel latte box, check its current label: Nescafé may change the recipe or milk warning.

Ingredients, as published: Sugar, skimmed MILK powder (21%), glucose syrup, coconut oil, coffee (7.5%) (instant coffee (7%), roast and ground coffee), lactose (MILK), natural flavourings, acidity regulators (sodium bicarbonate, citric acid), salt.

Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The caramel latte box itself is the final word.

What to eat with it

• Lotus Biscoff Caramelised Biscuits, 250g: A crisp caramelised biscuit echoes the toffee note of the drink and adds the crunch a soft, milky mug lacks.
• Border Lemon Drizzle Melts Organic Biscuits, 150g: Bright lemon cuts across the sweetness, so the last mouthful of the latte tastes as clean as the first.
• McVitie's Digestives Biscuits The Light One, 250g: A plain digestive gives a dry, crumbly contrast and lets the caramel stay in charge.
• McVitie's Digestives Dark Chocolate Biscuits, 433g: Dark chocolate brings the bitterness that the sachet keeps in the background, which keeps the caramel in check.

Elsewhere in the Nescafé range

• Nescafe Azera Americano Decaff Instant Coffee, 90g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Instant Coffee, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Intense Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Decaf Americano Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 135g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Decaf Unsweetened Taste Instant Coffee Sachets, 7 Sachets 105g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Instant Coffee, 7 Sachets

The full range is on the Nescafé brand page.

FAQ

Do I need to add milk to a Nescafé caramel latte sachet? No. The milk is in the sachet as a powder, so hot water is all it needs; hot milk makes a richer mug if you want one.

Can I make it less sweet? Not once it is made, because the sugar is already blended into the powder. To choose the sweetness yourself, start with an unsweetened cappuccino sachet and add caramel syrup.

What temperature should the water be? About 90 degrees, which means giving the kettle a minute's rest once it has boiled. Boiling water gives the milk powder a cooked taste.

How big a mug should I use? One that holds about 180 to 200ml. A larger mug only dilutes the drink.

Does it contain caffeine? Yes. It is a caffeinated coffee drink, although the coffee sits well behind the milk and caramel.

Curator's note: Give it a minute off the boil and a proper stir, then save it for the afternoon when you want something sweet rather than something strong. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Nescafé Caramel Latte Sachets: Getting the Mug Right

More from the tea wiki

• Nescafé: The Instant Coffee Benchmark
• Tea vs Coffee: Taste, Caffeine and Switching
• Caffeine in Tea
• Tea vs Coffee
• Tea for Coffee Drinkers: Where to Start
• Chai vs Coffee
• Best Instant Coffee UK

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