The Lowdown
Ready-to-Drink Fire Department Coffee is priced a touch higher than the more mass-produced cold brews, but they also use high-quality coffee, and they give back to first responders through the sales of their products. If you’re the type to keep prepackaged cold brew around and you love the idea of supporting a small business that makes excellent coffee, these should be on your radar!
Overall
Pros
- All the flavors taste excellent
- Buying FD Coffee supports a vet-owned business that gives back to first responders
- Canned options make it convenient to get your coffee fix on-the-go
Cons
- The spirit-infused coffees might make your coworkers wonder exactly how rough your morning has been
- There is a high sugar content in some of the options
Fire Department Coffee has been serving up specialty beans roasted and crafted by a team of veterans and firefighters since 2016; Judie wrote about their roasted coffee beans last year. But sometimes, you don’t have time to brew on the go, and that’s where a ready-made cold brew is quite handy. Fire Department Coffee is taking their signature tasty roasts and sending them on the go with ready-to-drink versions, and we had the chance to check them out!
Ready-to-Drink Fire Department Coffee includes four flavors of nitro cold brew: Nitro Vanilla Bean Bourbon Coffee, Nitro Irish Coffee, Nitro-Charged Latte, and Nitro-Charged Shellback Espresso. They’re not the cheapest cold brews available, coming in at $47.88 for a 12-pack or roughly $4 per can.
Are they delicious enough to justify the cost? That’s what I wanted to know as I taste-tested each of them!
Nitro Vanilla Bean Bourbon Coffee: So first, the good news. This one was my favorite of the flavors, and normally I’m not too fond of flavored coffee. They’re not kidding when they call this “Spirit-Infused.” The taste of bourbon comes through so strongly and clearly that I had to check the can to ensure it was truly non-alcoholic! That’s also the bad news, in that it smelled so authentic, I don’t think I’d crack one of these open in an office environment or the car.
However, if you don’t need to explain why your coffee smells like the hair of the dog, it’s very tasty. Note that these do have some carbs from the flavoring, around 15g, so if you’re concerned about sugar intake, maybe take it easy on them.
Nitro Irish Coffee: This is also part of the Spirit-Infused coffee line, but the flavor isn’t as strong and overpowering as the bourbon one; the lighter flavor made it more of an everyday drink. Like the Vanilla Bean Bourbon flavor, this version has 15g of carbs.
Nitro-Charged Latte: This is a more straightforward cold brew; it’s just a coffee and milk flavor. It’s super tasty, and the coffee flavor comes through nicely. Fire Department Coffee says to drink these chilled; I had forgotten to put it in the fridge first, so I poured it over some ice cubes, and it still tasted excellent. This is a solid choice if you’re a coffee with milk person and don’t do flavors.
Nitro-Charged Shellback Espresso: 99.99% of the time, I drink my coffee black over ice. So this was my top choice because it was basically how I would normally brew coffee but in convenient can form. Even if it’s already chilled, this one is extra tasty over ice cubes, sipped while reading the news. This is the flavor I would grab if I needed a premade cold brew on the go.
Ready-to-Drink Fire Department Coffees are all delicious, and depending on your tastes, any of these might be a good choice. The only downside is they aren’t inexpensive. A 12-pack is $47.88 for a one-time purchase, although you can set up a subscription making them slightly cheaper at $45.49; they’ll eventually be hitting retail at $3.99 per can as well.
Ready-to-Drink Fire Department Coffee is priced a touch higher than the more mass-produced cold brews, but they also use high-quality coffee, and they give back to first responders through the sales of their products. If you’re the type to keep prepackaged cold brew around and you love the idea of supporting a small business that makes excellent coffee, these should be on your radar!
A 12-pack of Ready-to-Drink Fire Department Coffee sells for $47.88; it is available directly from the manufacturer.
Source: Manufacturer provided review samples
What I Like: All the flavors taste excellent; Buying FD Coffee supports a vet-owned business that gives back to first responders; Canned options make it convenient to get your coffee fix on-the-go
What Needs Improvement: The spirit-infused coffees might make your coworkers wonder exactly how rough your morning has been; There is a high sugar content in some of the options
I like that its owned by a veteran and that they give back!
I like products benefit a worthy cause.
This is a product I would be proud to get behind!
I’m all in on giving back to first responders, and the coffee sounds interesting!
The review captured the salient points exactly – quality, convenience and a charitable measure are definitely plusses but the negatives limit which flavor options might be suitable.
This sounds like a great choice for a ready-to-drink coffee, and it supports good causes. Thanks for the review!
Cold coffee is so great. Let me see. A small veteran owned business that provides a quality product and gives back to a great cause. Count me in.
Sounds delicious! Especially the Nitro Irish Coffee. Great that the company is veteran-owned and helps first responders. Must try!