POMx Iced Coffee: A Review

Size: 10.2 fluid ounce bottle

Price: $1.99 to $3.99

Availability: Some markets

Website: http://www.healthybuzz.com

If you thought Starbucks and the big energy drink companies such as Rockstar and Monster were the only ones getting into the bottled iced coffee market, think again.

POM, the company behind the successful line of pomegranate based drinks, has launched their own line of iced coffee drinks...and yes they contain real coffee.

I stumbled upon POMx Iced Coffee in the supermarket, alongside other POM beverages and orange juice. A coupon display offered a dollar off the new drink, so I grabbed a bottle of the Chocolate flavored POMx and the coupon.

The first thing I noticed was that POMx doesn't actually contain any of POM's famous ingredient: pomegranate juice. Rather it contains an polyphenol antioxidant extract that comes from pomegranate fruits according to their website. I'm assuming coffee and pomegranate juice doesn't go well together.

The next thing I noticed was the whopping amount of caffeine loaded into this tiny bottle. Since they are using real coffee beans here and not just adding caffeine later, they estimate that each bottle has between 175-200mg of caffeine per bottle. To put this in perspective, the average small cup of coffee contains anywhere from 80mg to 150mg of caffeine. Monster Energy's coffee inspired energy drink has around 160mg in a 16 ounce can.

The taste:

I chilled the bottle and as directed, shook the bottle a lot. You have to drink this beverage ice cold. It was a bit syrupy, kind of like it someone had poured chocolate syrup right into the bottle. I detected notes of bitterness, which is either due to the coffee or dark chocolate in the drink.

It was smooth but thick, the taste lingered and I had a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. It wasn't bad, but POM could have made a larger bottle and diluted the drink a bit with some filtered water to reduce the syrupy texture and taste.

The buzz:

POM claims POMx Iced Coffee is the healthy buzz. Well it does contain less sugar than other similar drinks as well as fewer calories. But keep in mind here that other drinks usually come in larger bottles; with the exception of Starbuck's Doubleshots and Starbuck's Frappucino bottles. Compared to these two similar drinks, POMx had less sugar, calories, and fat. I should also point out that this drink has no artificial flavoring or sugary syrups like sodas and other energy drinks.

The high caffeine content is good if you want a quick boost in a drink small enough to drink down quickly. Maybe this was designed to be an oversized shot style drink. After the taste faded away, the buzz kicked in and it was a bit crisper than a regular coffee buzz.

With less sugar than similar drinks, the crash was smaller and that is always a big plus. Overall the buzz was what you'd expect with something like an expresso shot or two, and with an average price of $2.99, it may be cheaper than your daily Starbuck's expresso fix.