The product comes from celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. It is a latte that comes in a self-heating can. The lattes come in four flavors; espresso, mocha, caramel and French vanilla. Pressing a button on the container starts a self-contained chemical reaction that is supposed to heat the coffee. An indicator button turns white when the liquid is hot.When testers tried the lattes at room temperature it worked well and took about six minutes to get a hot cup of coffee. Unfortunately the testers didn't like the taste very much.When the cans were stored at 39 degrees in a refrigerator testers said the coffee only got lukewarm."If you have them outside on a cold day, say you're ice skating or camping, and you activated it, it wouldn't get very hot," said Megan Steintrager of Consumer Reports. "When we put them in a car on a sunny day, the coffee inside reached almost 200 degrees when heated. That's hot enough to scald you."Testers said the worst part of the Puck lattes was steam and liquid leaked from all four drinks as they heated up.Consumer Reports also criticized the beverage's packaging. The magazine said it was bulky and not recyclable. The conclusion for now is if you want a quick latte you're better off sticking to your neighborhood coffee bar.
Self-heating lattes not so hot
For the millions of Americans who contribute to the $9 billion we spend annually on specialty coffee drinks, there is a new self-heating latte that tries to bring the coffee shop to your fingertips. Consumer Reports recently checked it out.
