Britain has fallen for iced coffee. Once a treat from a high-street café on a hot day, they are now ubiquitous – helped by the fact that, this summer, practically every day has been a hot day.
In the late May heatwave, purchases jumped by 137 per cent. But it’s no new trend – sales have grown by 22 per cent annually over the past five years, while almost a quarter of younger consumers, those under 35, are drinking them year round.
There are a number of reasons why people opt for iced coffee. They’re refreshing in hot weather, of course, but many find them smoother and easier to drink than hot coffee. They are sometimes blended with sugar or caramel, often closer to a milkshake than an americano.
Not limited to cafes, you can now find tinned versions at every supermarket and corner shop. With the UK set to see hot weather continuing, I blind tasted 14 options commonly found in supermarkets around the country.
As a coffee drinker, one who usually sticks to hot, black coffee, I was hoping to find options that balanced milky sweetness with a good kick. I opted for a range, including lattes and cappuccinos, with a couple of oat milk numbers thrown in. While some were excessively sweet – and including up to a quarter of the daily recommended sugar intake – a few impressed. Here’s what I found.
