An Honest Review of Rook Coffee’s New Vanilla Orange Cold Brew [VIDEO]

You probably know by now that I'm a superfan of Monmouth County-based Rook Coffee.

Last night they announced another limited-edition flavor of their popular cold brew: orange-vanilla style. Naturally I had to give it a try...

So, when they first teased the announcement, featuring an orange popsicle-looking thing in front of a Rook store, I was really hoping they'd be unveiling Rook Coffee ice cream.

Looks like that dream will have to wait...for now.

When I found out the actual news, I was a little disappointed. I'm not the world's biggest Creamsicle fan...in fact, I generally think the flavor combo is kinda...unpleasant. (Why ruin perfectly good vanilla with oranges? Or perfectly good oranges with vanilla? Creamy + citrus just generally doesn't do it for me.)

All that said, I know it's a very popular combination, and people who like it tend to REALLY like it, so I'm open-minded.

My barista at Rook Red Bank recommended I try it with milk and sugar, so that's what I went with. I think it was the right call, as the sugar seemed to bring out the vanilla flavor a little more.

I was honestly expecting to hate this coffee, but to my total surprise, I actually really like it. I think the reason for that though, is that Rook has mastered the art of subtlety when it comes to flavored coffee.

If I were to blind-taste this, I'm not sure I would be able to identify the orange or vanilla flavors, since they are pretty faint. At least in the cold brew I had, it was a light hint of each. In fact, Duzzy tried it and didn't think it tasted much different from regular coffee. ("It tastes like...I don't know...sweet? and coffee?" Thanks babe.)

On a hot day, it's a subtle reminder of the ice cream treat so many people know and love.

It's available in all Rook locations while supplies last.

I'm gonna keep my hopes up for a coconut cold brew next...followed by a pint of Rook NOLA-style cold brew ice cream. Please?