TrueStart Coffee Concentrate Review: Café-Style Iced Coffee at Home
We’ve been big TrueStart fans for a while now. When we first reviewed the Bristol-based coffee brand, we fell in love with its smooth coffee, easy-to-use formats and genuinely great flavour – and since then, we’ve spotted TrueStart popping up in lots of coworking spaces and offices across the South West too.
So, when we heard they’d launched a new Espresso Coffee Concentrate, we obviously had to give it a try.
What is TrueStart Coffee Concentrate?
TrueStart Espresso Coffee Concentrate is essentially barista-style coffee without the coffee machine, pods or brewing time.
Made using freshly brewed Colombian Arabica coffee with nothing added, each 1-litre carton makes up to 20 iced coffees. Simply fill a glass with ice and your favourite milk, add the concentrate and stir. You can also adjust the amount depending on how strong you like your coffee.
We tried ours as part of the TrueStart Iced Coffee Starter Pack, which comes with a 1-litre carton of Espresso Coffee Concentrate, a stainless-steel measuring jigger and a 500ml TrueStart glass iced coffee cup with a glass straw. It’s a really good introduction to the concentrate – and the jigger makes getting your coffee-to-milk ratio right particularly easy.
We Tried It in Iced Coffee – and Espresso Martinis
Naturally, we had to test its versatility properly.
First up: iced coffee. Ice, oat milk and a measure of the concentrate is genuinely all you need. There’s no waiting for coffee to brew and cool down and no need for a coffee machine cluttering up the kitchen.
Most importantly, it tastes good.
The coffee itself is really smooth, without the harsh or overly bitter flavour you can sometimes get from ready-made coffee products. We also loved being able to play around with how much concentrate we added depending on whether we wanted something lighter or a stronger coffee hit.
And then, because of course we had to, we tried it in an espresso martini.
This might actually be one of our favourite uses for it. Making espresso martinis at home normally involves brewing espresso alongside everything else, whereas having a carton of concentrate ready to go makes the whole process much easier. It’s the kind of shortcut we can very much get behind.
We loved the summer frappe recipe from @life_of_pops_!
Perfect for Busy Mornings
What we really like about TrueStart’s concentrate is how well it fits into everyday life.
In our original TrueStart Coffee review, one of the things we loved most was how convenient its coffee was for busy days, travelling and times when you simply don’t want lots of faff.
The concentrate takes that convenience even further.
You can make an iced coffee in seconds before heading out of the door, keep it in the fridge for working-from-home coffee breaks or use the Starter Pack’s glass cup to take one with you.
And with up to 20 drinks from a single carton, it’s also an easy way to recreate the coffee-shop iced coffee experience at home without buying one every day.
Our Verdict
We already knew we were TrueStart fans, and the Espresso Coffee Concentrate has only added another favourite to the range.
It’s smooth, genuinely convenient and versatile enough to work for everything from a quick morning iced coffee to a Friday-night espresso martini.
We particularly liked trying it through the Iced Coffee Starter Pack. Having the glass cup, straw and measuring jigger alongside the concentrate makes it feel like a complete little iced coffee set-up rather than simply another carton in the fridge.
If iced coffee is one of your regular treats, this is a very easy one to keep stocked at home.
Best for: iced coffee lovers, busy mornings, home and coworking days, and anyone who appreciates an effortlessly easy espresso martini.
Read our original TrueStart Coffee review to find out why we became fans of the brand in the first place.