Jiva Coffee Cubes

[Anonymous]

"I believe the CEO of Starbucks is on record that his business didn't take off until they started selling "milk shake" coffee flavored drinks like the Crappachino."

To mask the taste of the swill they pass off as "coffee".

[rowan !]

These actually sound tasty to me; I may have to try them. I like a little sweetness in my coffee, and I love the flavor of molasses. I've yet to find any instant coffee that tastes good to me, so I usually just stick to tea while backpacking now.

[Lapsley Hope]

Thanks for the review. Ordered a few to try.

[Stephen Barber]

Ordered Jiva Classic and Hot Chocolate cubes, and found them very good! Yes, the coffee could be stronger, but these are made more to South American taste than North American or (apparently) Australian. Very similar to the coffee I loved in Brasil. They've got a regular customer in me!

[Ken Thompson]

John does a write up here with more pictures and explanation.

Hike Lighter, Jiva Coffee Cubes

[Kenda Willey]

After reading Roger's review, I was intrigued and ordered a box each of Jiva's classic and mocha flavors. Surprisingly, they're not very sweet–I prefer my coffee with lactose-free milk, which is somewhat sweeter than regular milk, so I am used to (and like) some sweetness to it.
While Jiva is sweet, it's not a cloying sweetness, and I rather like it! I agree with Stephen that it tastes kinda South American. I just wish there were more coffee to it: two cubes into 16 oz. of hot water, and it's not strong enough. I've tried three cubes to 16 oz., and don't notice any difference. Weak as it is, it's still a satisfyingly caffeinated drink. I'll use up the two boxes, but I don't think I'll buy any more–Jiva's expensive and I have to order it, whereas Starbuck's Via is also expensive but I can buy it at the store. And it tastes better.
For the lover of thin coffee–and this is most Americans, North, Central and South–, Jiva is worth trying. Even though the panela cubes are large, they don't produce that white-sugary sweetness. Those who prefer a more European strength will probably not like it.

[Michael Gunderloy]

Here's another potentially interesting coffee product for backpackers: COFFEE BLOCKS – Instant Butter Coffee, Just Add Hot Water.

[Greg Mihalik]

^^^^

"Coffee Blocks are made with wholesome grass fed butter, organic coconut oil, free range egg yolks, and coffee. They’re individually packaged and frozen, just waiting for you to drop them into hot water. "

Perhaps OK at home, but in the woods they will require a loooong extension cord.

[Eric W. Kratzer]

I initially contributed to jiva through their kickstarter campaign. I've been using their cubes for drinking coffee in the mornings while backpacking ever since. The cubes are nearly perfect for backpacking. Nice and tidy with dehydrated coffee and sweetener all in a single wrapper. The coffee is sweet, just the way I like it. Unlike other dehydrated coffees I don't feel the need to add milk to these cubes. The coffee is rich and delicious and frankly extremely luxurious for backpacking. Pick up a box and give it a try on your next trip. You'll be glad that you did and I guarantee you won't switch back to whatever you use now.

[Billy Ray]

Sugar is heavy stuff.
Stevia is lighter… and less bulk…

billy

Hey All,

So I was a kickstarter backer of the "Jiva Cubes 'Black'" flavor, which was stated as being much stronger and with more caffeine and they showed up yesterday.

My own thoughts on the Jiva cubes echo'ed much of what Roger said. You can read about mine at http://hikelighter.com/2014/05/27/jiva-coffee-cubes-hiker-worthy-coffee/ but the TL;DR is basically that they (a) were not strong enough and required 2+ cubes for a good cup of trail coffee, (b) that the molasses came through a big too strong, and (c) were more costly than soluble coffee options out there that we hikers have been using.

I pulled out a white bowl from the back of one of my cupboards and took some photos of the new "Black" flavor to see how the cube diluted. I used f200° water and a single cube.

You can view the photos at: https://www.dropbox.com/sc/d4kaf02dbeqxx1n/AADJ0oad7ajsXX_CE25oZtOea

You can download the original photos from that link, but be aware they are .tif format and 8-10 megs each.

Here is an image from the kickstarter page about the new 'black' flavor:

And here is the image from the 'strong classic' which both Roger and I originally reviewed:

So here are my thoughts on the new 'black' flavor:

– The strong molasses used to bond the coffee is gone.
– It is stronger, and one cube seems to be strong enough.
– I have made up two cups of coffee (12oz) so far with one cube and one cup of coffee (again, 12oz) with two cubes. The latter of which actually tasted like a good strong cup of coffee to me.
– The cost factor is still high, especially if you want really strong and have to use two cubes
– The convenience factor is obviously really good.
– Less waste/trash to carry around than other soluble coffee products (Nesquik, Via, etc) as the packaging is significantly smaller.
– If you like coffee with sugar, they did a good job on getting this 'black' flavor to not need sugar, yet not have the molasses/panela flavor that some seem to not like – I do.

I still prefer using the GSI Ultralight Java Drip with the legs cut off, and come Christmas time I buy a case of Starbucks Christmas Via (which I truly love) but if Jiva could get their pricing down on these new black cubes, I might just buy a whole bunch of them… it does not get any easier and faster than these Jiva Cubes.

[Author]

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