Bachelor on the Cheap

By Mike Thayer

This is the Aldi discount brand, replacing Friendly Farms?

Every morning, millions of Americans wake up to (or need it to wake up) a cup of coffee, java, joe, brew, mud, bean juice, morning jolt, wakey juice, call it what you will.... Many of those folks can't drink it black however, it's GOT to have some creamer in it.....

I'm in that latter category. Creamer is must! If I had to drink my coffee black I'd be more of a curmudgeon than I already am.

My preference is Hazelnut flavored creamer, Italian Sweet Cream is my Plan B (Shout out to Vicki S. for cluing me in on that option) if a Hazelnut selection is not available. Coffee with cream is just one of those simple pleasures in life, a good way to start the day and that Hazelnut flavor kicks off that start better than any other flavor for me.

So in need of creamer and picking up a few things from Aldi recently, I grabbed a bottle of hazelnut coffee creamer made by Barissimo Coffee.  This is a fairly new offering for Aldi, their discount brand used to be a creamer made by Friendly Farms, which I liked, but Aldi made a switch perhaps, or maybe it's just a temporary 'not available' thing.  With no Friendly Farms brand on the shelf, I'll be sampling the Barissimo stuff for the first time.

This stuff sucks!

Barissimo uses Soybean and/or Palm oil in making their creamer.  I hate that flavor, it reminds me of International Delight's creamer which I'll never buy again.  Other competitors don't use Soybean or Palm Oil.  It definitely changes the flavor profile vs. using a traditional vegetable oil.  It's not as sweet, it's almost savory which is not a good thing in a cup of coffee.  And like International Delight, the Barissimo creamer has a bitter finish.  Drinking coffee with this creamer isn't satisfying, it's a disappointment.

It has Palm Oil in it - YUCK!, I hate Palm Oil.

Costing me $2.45, I'm giving Barissimo Coffee brand Hazelnut Flavored Coffee Creamer just 2 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  The price is reasonable, but I hate the Soybean and/or Palm Oil element in the flavor profile.  I should have read the label before putting the creamer in the cart, but I didn't think to look for the Soybean and/or Palm Oil ingredient, assuming International Delight was the only creamer maker having those oils in their recipe.   Ooops!  This is NOT a repeat buy, I've since bought some Kroger Hazelnut creamer so I can enjoy my coffee again, I'll be using this Barissimo stuff to make some ice cream with.  Hopefully I can hide that palm oil taste with some other flavors.

Related: Creamer vs. Creamer: Coffee Mate vs. International Delight vs. store brand vs. discount brand