Chamberlain Coffee Review: Night Owl Blend

Emma Chamberlain, you know her, you love her, and you might know that she has a coffee company called Chamberlain coffee. As someone who has followed and loved Emma's content for a long time, I decided to see what each of those cute little animals on the coffee bags has to offer. 

Deciding which flavor to buy

Before my purchase, I researched some coffee terms to figure out which flavor I wanted to try. I want to say that whoever decided that light roast is called light roast even though it has the most caffeine needs to go to coffee jail. YEAH. I thought dark roast meant more caffeine but it actually has THE LEAST. The whole light/medium/dark roast key terms just mean how long they are cooking it. Light roasts have the most caffeine and are the most acidic, while dark roasts are less acidic and have a lower amount of caffeine but are more rich and smooth. I pass this knowledge onto all of you, dear readers. 

For my coffee on a daily basis, I drink a medium roast blend from HEB called the Houston Blend (...htown rep) and labeled to have "Pecan praline and coconut flavors". It smells delicious while it is brewing and tastes great, love love love. I will say the caffeine levels can be lacking sometimes, I don't want to drink multiple cups just to stop yawning. Another reason for my search on which flavor to try from Chamberlain coffee. 

Alright, with that background, let's look at my thought process with settling on the Night Owl Blend. 

• I was initially interested in the Witty Fox Hazelnut blend (I love Hazelnut in my coffee) yet when I read Apple Pie flavoring in the description, I was kinda turned away. I know that some coffee has some fruity flavorings yet I do not know if I am a fan of said flavorings. I'd rather not risk buying a flavor that I despise because it has hints of citrus or candied fruits (both are a part of some of the flavor palettes with some of Chamberlain coffee's blends). 
• I took the website's "Flavor Quiz" to try and see what they recommended and I ended up getting the Night Owl blend. I was looking for something that was not acidic, smooth, not super high in caffeine but had a good amount, and I feel like the Night Owl Blend best fits my requirements. 
• As stated on the website, the Night Owl blend is, "All-nighters encouraged. Woke and wise, this is the essential midnight oil rose. Rich and velvety, toasty and creamy with notes of dark chocolate, honey sweetness, and toasted walnuts. With this blend, the night is always young.". It is ironic in the sense that I do not consider myself to be a night owl, but alas, coffee is coffee. 
• I ended up paying $20.40 for the $16 coffee plus shipping and tax. Quite pricey, I know. But I have been wanting to try it and I considered it a treat, changing things up in summer, ya know! # let people enjoy their silly little drinks

Brand Review: Packaging 

Shipping did not take that long, which was great, yet the packaging was a tad disappointing. It was a plastic bag with only the coffee bag inside. No thank you card or description on coffee recommendations, I can't even remember if I got a receipt or not. I was opening it in the kitchen and I was like :| is this it? I will say, once I started investigating the bag I was more impressed. It's a big bag of coffee, 12 oz (around 355 mL), and the bag was more significant than I expected. I will say that the shape of the bag causes a sort of optical allusion in the sense that it is not built like normal coffee bags. When you buy ground coffee from Starbucks, it is folded at the top to allow the bag to be filled to the max, it looks like it is tightly packed in some areas. Chamberlain coffee, on the contrary, has a little top to allow the illusion of height and more coffee, yet it works like a Lays potato chip bag where there is air taking up some space. 

I am not saying that it is majority air, there is still a good amount of coffee in there, but the bag makes you double-check reality. 

The Coffee Review: Taste

I am a hot coffee drinker, sue me. I am Polish and drink hot tea and hot soup year-round, and that includes hot coffee. BUT! Emma prefers iced coffee, specifically cold brew. This is why I decided to try it both hot and in the cold brew to provide my thoughts. 

Hot Coffee Review: I didn't get much of an aroma when it was brewing. No underlying tones in the coffee that made me want to sit next to the coffee maker with heart-shaped eyes, waiting for it to finish. I made my cup of coffee with some almond milk and some agave sweetener, how I normally make my coffee. Dear reader, how do I describe the taste to you? I don't know if you had a similar experience when you were a kid, but do you remember trying your parent's coffee and then being disgusted because of the "coffee taste"? This coffee tastes like what you expect normal "coffee" taste to taste like. I took a video of me trying it and I had to take another sip because I had to figure out what I was looking for. With this blend being a Dark Roast coffee, it has a smooth texture, but it is a taste that has bitter coffee taste. I had to add more milk because it was a tad too bitter for me when I originally made it. 

Cold Brew Review: I made the cold brew by scooping a couple of spoons of the ground coffee in a french press with water and letting it sit in the fridge overnight. The cold brew is pretty rich in flavor yet it is not exactly unique. I will say that there isn't really the bitter coffee aftertaste that you get with the hot coffee, so it is enjoyable in that sense. Yet when I made the cold brew, I wasn't getting anything in flavor, I felt like I was drinking cold water with a hint of coffee in the aftertaste, and that is a comment more on the flavor, not the caffeine. To some extent, I feel like I enjoyed the cold brew more than the coffee because it made a pretty good iced coffee and didn't have the aftertaste that the hot coffee had. 

Overall:

3 out of 5 stars🌟, It is not bad, it is good, but it is not great. I personally will not be buying this blend again, and upon watching several Youtube reviews, this blend is not that much of a favorite amongst others who have tried it. This is a shame because the owl on the bag is so dang cute! If you are a coffee connoisseur and know that you like dark roasts or this flavor profile, sure give it a try. If not, maybe try another flavor from Chamberlain coffee. 

Remaining thoughts: Maybe I just don't really like dark roasts? I found that this did not have a lot of caffeine in it, I had to drink more to stop yawning in the morning. If I were to try another Chamberlain coffee flavor, I would want to try the Social Dog flavor. Alrighty! Thank you for reading, I appreciate it. If you have tried any of the Chamberlain coffee flavors, let me know what is your favorite/what you think!

love, 

yo girl emilia

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