La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew With Lemon Review: It's Like Iced Tea With A Sicilian Twist

Before there were hybrid cars, there were hybrid animals like mules and hybrid drinks like the Arnold Palmer. Now, there is a hybrid coffee drink that tastes a lot like iced tea: La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon. This seems to be the first of its kind and one has to wonder how the company came up with it. We tried it and even though the combination sounded a bit strange at first, the unique taste was worthy of review.

La Colombe first introduced this canned coffee in April of 2021, but with the pandemic, the new drink didn't reach the masses and get a ton of love. It's being relaunched on National Cold Brew Day, which is April 20, 2023. The timing should be better this time since its re-release is in the middle of the spring when people are more likely to switch from hot to iced coffee. It has a niche market, and this latest addition to the product line just might garner La Colombe more attention. We think that the concept of lemon and coffee is intriguing and we just had to try it.

"La Colombe" is the French word for "the dove." The company was founded by Todd Carmichael and J.P. Iberti who are committed to causes like supporting Haitian coffee farmers, emergency school lunch funding programs, and National Parks advocacy. Their goal is to use their influence to benefit communities through socially-conscious positive practices, sourcing, and events. Sustainability is a priority and they implement it through environmentally-friendly practices. Iberti cut his teeth in the French restaurant industry and was able to develop his company into an American wholesale business before going into retail.

La Colombe's flagship cafe and bakery is located in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood and there are now more than 30 locations in the U.S. The company sells packaged whole beans, espresso, French press, drip, and other grinds, with baristas serving fresh coffee on tap to customers. There are light, dark, and medium roasts, with flavors enhanced by additions like milk chocolate, Bartlett pear, and sweet cream. The cold brew and cold lattes selections are just as extensive, with choices including those with infused oat milk, ice cream flavors, caramel, mocha, and hazelnut. La Colombe had one other nitro option up until now –- the Nitro Extra Bold Cold Brew.

La Colombe's Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon combines 100% single-origin Colombian cold brew coffee and lemonade made from Sicilian lemons sourced from the Mediterranean coast. The only other ingredients are cane sugar, acacia, ascorbic acid, and xanthan gum. Rather than acting as a sweetener, the acacia tree's hardened sap contains a protein that acts as a stabilizer and emulsifier in beverages. Brewers like acacia because it stabilizes foam, and in this case, it gives the canned cold brew more of a cafe-like feel.

Beer manufacturers were making nitro brews well before the pandemic to produce creamier, full-bodied brews, and nitro coffee is now in the spotlight, fast becoming a coffee shop staple . Nitro coffee is made by steeping the grinds  in cold water for a few hours and then infusing them with nitrogen. The bubbles inject the liquid with more flavor, leaving an amazingly smooth texture. So, when drinking La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon, you get a more intense coffee flavor in addition to the kick from Sicilian lemons.

Sicily, Italy, is known for its stunning scenery; anyone who watched season two of "The Lotus" can attest to that. But this Mediterranean city is known for other things too, like its amazing lemons. Ninety percent of Italy's lemons come from Sicily, and it's even called the "Lemon Riviera." Many feel that the world's finest lemons are produced here.

So why are Sicilian lemons so good? This tart fruit has been cultivated here for more than 1,200 years and the region is still one of Italy's biggest growers and exporters. The lemons have a noticeably sweet taste that's different from those grown in other countries; the trees thrive in volcanic soil and get a boost from the sunny Mediterranean climate. It's also believed that lemons provide health benefits like anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, as well as plenty of vitamin C. Lemonade that's made with Sicilian lemons simply tastes better, and we'll soon let you know what it does for coffee.

The La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon can is a 9-ounce serving. It's plant-based, dairy-free, gluten-free, Kosher, and vegan. The label shows that it contains 70 calories, 10 milligrams of sodium, and 1 gram of protein. You'll also be drinking 30 milligrams of calcium, 160 milligrams of potassium, 2 grams of fiber, 17 grams of carbs, a trace amount of iron, and 167 milligrams of vitamin C from the lemons. But since plain lemons are sour, La Colombe adds 13 grams of sugar to each can. The American Heart Association states that beverages are a main source of added sugar and suggests monitoring your intake. It recommends 36 grams per day for male adults and 25 grams a day for female adults as a guideline.

In comparison, a regular cup of coffee, which is typically 8 ounces, has 2 calories, 4.7 milligrams sodium, and 0.3 grams of protein, according to MyFoodData.com. It also contains 4.7 milligrams of calcium, 116.1 milligrams of potassium, and 7.1 milligrams of phosphorous. 

This cold brew coffee tastes best when ice-cold, and we refrigerated it overnight for the best results. It can be temporarily frozen in case you forget to stick it in the fridge, too. Ice cubes can be added, but if the drink isn't consumed fast enough, those will melt and dilute the taste. One tip is to pour a can into an ice cube tray to create cold brew ice cubes; use them instead of regular ice so they don't hinder your drink's flavor. Of course, there's no reason why it can't be enjoyed straight from the can with or without a straw either, as there's no metallic aftertaste.

You can drink La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon at any time of day, but we liked it as an afternoon pick-me-up. It is also easy to pack a few of these cans in a cooler with ice to take along with you. We cracked open a few after playing tennis and they were totally refreshing. And to make it even creamier, just add a bit of half-and-half or a splash of regular or plant-based milk -– you only need a few drops.

The best way to determine the taste of a new drink is to have several people try it. We did exactly that and got a variety of opinions. This cold brew is incredibly smooth and had a nice, white foamy head when poured into a glass after the can was shaken up. The color is medium-brown without any yellowness. And it went down nice and easy, without any bitterness at all.

There were a few surprised looks on our faces because this hybrid drink tasted so much like lemon iced tea. It certainly smelled like great coffee and there were subtle notes of that plus a pleasing coffee aftertaste. The lemon flavor is more obvious, though, and even though it has 13 grams of added sugar, this drink is not overly sweet. The best way to describe it is lemon iced tea with a hint of coffee, even though there isn't any tea listed in the ingredients. Adding milk balances out the lemony flavor, but don't wait too long to finish the can –- the warmer this drink gets, the more Sicilian lemon you will taste.

The amount of caffeine in one cup of regular coffee depends on the bean variety and other factors, but on average, there are about 95 grams. La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon contains 100 milligrams of natural caffeine, so there's really no difference there. La Colombe's Nitro Extra Bold Cold Brew contains more than double that amount, at 210 milligrams. Some caffeinated coffee drinks can have as much as 500 milligrams of the stuff, so La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon is pretty tame when you consider that.

Still, it's easy to drink several of these cans because they're smooth and go down so easily. The FDA recommends no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day, but countless people drink four or more cups of java like it is water. La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon has a moderate amount of caffeine, but if you drink too many of them you might get jittery and have trouble going to sleep at night.

La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon is available on La Colombe.com, Amazon, and La Colombe cafes. The latter are located in Texas, Massachusetts, California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. A single 9-ounce can costs $3 and a 12-pack is $40. To put that in perspective, Amazon has an 8-pack of Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew for $26.99 with each can containing 9.6 ounces. That comes to $3.37 per can, but there are 0.6 more ounces in each one.

On April 20, La Colombe will be offering its first-ever "free" promotion in its 32 cafes. Customers can enjoy a free draft latte or signature cold brew on tap with a purchase of an on-tap beverage. This is a one-time offer to celebrate National Cold Brew Day and the reintroduction of its Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon. The company's also offering 30% off all cold brews, including Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon, lattes, and fridge packs on LaColombe.com from April 19 through 21.

This cold brew canned coffee has broken new ground and we can't come up with another drink that has a close flavor profile. It tastes more like lemon iced tea than coffee and that can turn people off. Yet even though the fruity notes might not be appealing for some palates, others might love it. Healthline shows that an average cup of tea has 47 milligrams of caffeine (green tea has less), so La Colombe Nitro Cold Brew with Lemon is a good choice for people who want more than that in their pick-me-up drinks.

The taste of the Sicilian lemons is considerable enough to overpower the coffee and one grumpy reviewer said, "If I wanted iced tea I'd buy iced tea." But that wasn't the consensus, since others enjoyed the unusual flavor combination and found it to be tasty and refreshing. While it might be a polarizing flavor combo, the final verdict is that this one is worth a try. You might just find it's your favorite new summertime cold brew.