I was recently sent a box of Coffee Blocks to try out and wanted to share our first impressions with the readers of the blog. I’m always excited to see products with simple, organic and whole food ingredients (that I can actually eat on Paleo and SCD!) and coffee blocks fits the bill.
I have to admit I am not much of a coffee connoisseur but I brought in the second opinion of my partner to round out the viewpoints.
We cover the following....
What are Coffee Blocks?
First I should probably mention what’s cool about Coffee Blocks. Apparently started as a Kickstarter campaign in 2014, they offer a version of Paleo friendly “butter coffee” that you can take with you wherever you go, with single use packets that look a bit like a large ketchup packet, while being created from whole food ingredients. It’s like having coffee and a whole foods version of a coconut butter coffee creamer in one convenient package.
Heating instructions
We did our best to follow their suggestions of the best way to heat up the coffee blocks:
This was to:
- Knead the package to smooth it out so all the ingredients are together, then squeeze it out into a canteen
- We like it best in a dual insulated canteen with hotter water.
- Shake the canteen and then it should be frothy and delicious when you’re ready to drink!
I would say it was pretty frothy, which was a nice touch:
Coffee Blocks Ingredients – Black Coffee and Coconut Oil?
I wanted to talk a bit about the ingredients as well. I actually inquired a bit about some of the ingredients with the staff at Coffee Blocks, given my background in the SCD diet and the encouraged skepticism of packaged ingredients.
Specifically, I was wondering about the powdered pastured organic egg yolks. Was anything inadvertently added during the process of turning the egg yolks into a powder? The team at Coffee Blocks confirmed that the egg yolks were Spray Dried, a process that appears to simply be a large scale form of dehydration.
I do like that they made it a point to include organic coconut oil, New Zealand Grass Fed Butter, Free range eggs and organic vanilla extract. They really appear to have gone above and beyond in ingredient sourcing. The coffee is also fair trade, although not organic.
The company mentions that the farms in Chiapas Mexico where they source the coffee are too small to spend the money on organic certification, but imply that they might otherwise qualify, and that there are no pesticides used on growing of the coffee. They give an overview of their ingredient choices on this page.
It’s really ghee coconut oil coffee as the New Zealand grass fed butter is really made into ghee. This is said to be in order to make it fully lactose free and help those with certain milk allergies, which could probably benefit everyone.
The packaging
Our coffee blocks came in an 8 pack box, that had a fancy transformer-esque cardboard box that let fold different panels to create a display worthy shape. We displayed it proudly on our counter. It looks to be designed for a cafe or other retail locatiton.
Coffee Blocks are Convenient, essentially offering Bulletproof Coffee Packets
There are a number of reasons why these packets would be super convenient for those on the Paleo diet or who have a regular butter coffee/bulletproof coffee habit. There are a lot of places that bringing coconut oil and butter and natural flavor ingredients like organic vanilla would not be all that convenient.
For example you can bring the packets to stash at work, so that you don’t have to just have black coffee everyday if wanting to stay on a grain free, whole food diet. They would also be super convenient to pack on a vacation, or when going camping, visiting friends or family or anywhere else that you don’t want to bother with a big setup to make your coffee. Also airplane coffee tends to be horrible so this is a good alternative.
Coffee without Sweeteners
I would personally say that this coffee is palatable without any sweetener. Something about vanilla (or maybe it’s the butter) really takes away the need for sugar. Sure, I tried it with a little honey in my second cup and I liked it better, but I don’t think I would need a sweetener, whereas black coffee is a little tough for me on it’s own. I’d say this is one of the coffee with coconut oil benefits, along with Vanilla and grass fed butter, it’s a way to enjoy a cup of coffee that is both unsweetened and includes ingredients allowed on Paleo or other grain free, sugar free diets.
Our Experience
I have always avoided instant coffee all of my life, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted like a cup of coffee I might make these days (with butter, coconut oil, etc).
Asking the coffee connoisseur in our household, the response was that it tastes good for instant coffee given the high quality ingredients. So maybe not a replacement for gourmet fresh brewed coffee any time soon, but decidedly more convenient and a better option than traditional instant.
I hope this article has been useful in your search for Paleo friendly to-go coffee options.
I wanted to thank the Coffee Blocks staff for giving us a chance to sample their product!
Where to buy Coffee Blocks
You can find coffee blocks on amazon as well as through their own website.
