Nescafé KitKat White Latte: White Chocolate in a Mug

White chocolate is the trickiest confectionery flavour to turn into a hot drink, because it brings sugar and dairy fat but none of the cocoa solids that give milk and dark chocolate their dry, faintly bitter backbone. This sachet answers the problem with a toasted, biscuity note borrowed from the wafer half of the bar.

The trouble with white chocolate in a mug

Milk and dark chocolate both bring cocoa solids to a drink, and those solids taste dry and a little bitter. That dryness is what keeps a sweet chocolate mug from turning flat. White chocolate has none of it: it is essentially sugar and dairy fat. Build a drink on that and nothing pushes back against the sweetness, which is why so many white chocolate drinks end up tasting of warm sugar.

The published ingredient list shows how this one is put together: sugar first, skimmed milk powder at 18.1%, glucose syrup, inulin and coconut oil, then instant coffee at 2.9% and flavourings. Cocoa does not appear on the list at all. Instead, a toasted, wafer-like note sits beneath the creaminess. Without it the mug would be sweetness alone; with it, there is a finish to hold on to.

Balancing the sweetness

You cannot take sugar out of a finished sachet, but you can give the sweetness something to lean against. Salt helps: the tiniest pinch stirred into the powder turns plain sweetness into something that tastes more like flavour. Unsweetened cocoa dusted over the foam restores the dry edge white chocolate never had. Hot milk instead of water sounds tempting, but with this much sweetness already in the mug we would not bother.

Water temperature matters more here than in a darker drink. Give the kettle a minute's rest once it clicks, so you pour at around 90 degrees. Water straight off a rolling boil can make milk powder taste cooked and faintly metallic, and with no bitterness anywhere in the recipe to mask it, that off note is easy to pick out.

Who the box suits

Seven sachets come in the 140g box, so each is roughly 20g and makes one standard mug with nothing but hot water. It sits in the sweetest corner of the milk-coffee shelf and is sold that way. If you would rather set the sweetness yourself, the brand's unsweetened-taste cappuccino sachets are the better choice, and a jar of instant will always taste more of coffee than this does.

It carries a confectionery name, so everyone compares it with a bar they know by heart, and it comes closer than you might expect thanks to that wafer note. It suits an evening mug for someone with a sweet tooth, or a treat after a cold walk. The allergen statement published for it says it contains milk, so a milk-free household should pass it by.

The packs we stock

• Nescafe Kitkat White Latte Coffee, 7 Sachets 140g (barcode 8445292640145)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Nescafe Kitkat White Latte Coffee, 7 Sachets 140g says it contains milk. Check the current box of KitKat White sachets, since Nescafé may revise the white chocolate recipe and its milk label.

Ingredients, as published: Sugar, Skimmed Milk Powder (18.1%), Glucose Syrup, Inulin, Coconut Oil, Instant Coffee (2.9%), Flavourings, Lactose (Milk), Acidity Regulators (Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid), Thickener (Xanthan Gum), Salt.

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. Your KitKat White box decides.

What to eat with it

• Border Dark Chocolate Ginger Organic Biscuits, 150g: Dark chocolate and ginger heat bring the bitterness and spice that a white chocolate mug is missing.
• Maryland Cookies Double Chocolate, 200g: Cocoa-rich cookies supply the dry chocolate note the drink leaves out.
• McVitie's Hobnobs Milk Chocolate Biscuits, 262g: Oats and milk chocolate add bite and a little cocoa beside a soft, creamy mug.

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

How sweet is KitKat White Latte? Very. White chocolate brings no cocoa solids, so nothing in the recipe pushes back against the sugar.

Is there any cocoa in it? Cocoa does not appear on the published ingredient list, which is a large part of why the drink relies on its toasted wafer note.

How many sachets are in the box? Seven, from a stated 140g, so about 20g each and one mug per sachet.

Can I make it on hot milk? You can, and it becomes much richer, but with this much sweetness already in the sachet most people will find water is enough.

Is it suitable for a dairy-free diet? No. The published allergen statement says it contains milk, and the ingredients list skimmed milk powder and lactose.

Curator's note: A pinch of salt in the dry powder is the one trick worth learning here. On a mug this sweet it changes more than you would expect. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Nescafé KitKat White Latte: White Chocolate in a Mug

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

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