Barissimo Caramel Crunch Ultra Premium Latte & Frappe Mix

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My family always seems to have a few Starbucks gift cards floating around the house. Most of them are gifted to us by friends and relatives for our birthdays. When some friends gave my husband a Starbucks gift card in the $25 range for his birthday this year, they joked that it *might* buy him two drinks. As much as we like certain drinks at the coffee chain, it’s true that our bill adds up quickly there.

But you know where we can buy coffee and specialty drinks that are affordable? Aldi.

Our writers have found several good ones at Aldi in recent years, including mocha iced coffee and caramel macchiato iced coffee, blueberry crumble ground coffee, a Donut Store Blend, and French vanilla cappuccino single-serve cups. All of these are legitimately tasty alternatives to spendy coffee shops, and you can make and enjoy them in the comfort of your own home.

Among my hands-down favorite coffee products at Aldi are their summer-season-only latte and frappe mixes. A frappe is an iced, blended beverage typically made with coffee. If you’ve had a Frappuccino from Starbucks, that’s basically what these Aldi drinks are. These Aldi mixes are dupes of name-brand The Frozen Bean mixes. They are honestly good enough that you might want to stock up when they’re in stores during the summer so you can make these slushy blended coffee drinks all year.

(Disclosure: to make these, you need a blender that can handle ice.)

Aldi sells these mixes in three different flavors: Java Chip, Mocha Cookie Crumble, and Caramel Crunch. I’ve previously tried the Java Chip, and it is a personal favorite.

Self control is not my strong point when it comes to treats in my house, so I’m deliberate about what I buy and bring into the house. For that reason, I haven’t yet tried all of the flavors in this product line. It had been a while since I’d had the Java Chip frappes, though, so I decided it was time to sample another flavor.

This time, I bought the Caramel Crunch version.

Barissimo Caramel Crunch Ultra Premium Latte & Frappe Mix is a Seasonal Item. Aldi stocks this during the summer months only. Unlike Aldi Finds, Aldi will restock this mix several times during the summer, but eventually the mixes will get phased out of stores as the fall approaches. Aldi does not offer online ordering for this if it’s not currently in stock at your local store.

This cost $4.99 for an 8.46-ounce package at my local store at the time of writing. That’s about 59 cents per ounce.

The price per serving depends on whether you consider a single serving to be 16 ounces or 8 ounces, as you can make these both ways. This mix makes three large 16-ounce servings, which comes out to about $1.66 per serving. If you’re going with smaller 8-ounce servings, the mix makes six of those, which comes out to about 83 cents per serving. The nutrition information panel on the box is for the smaller-sized drink.

Either way, the Aldi latte and frappe mix is cheaper than name-brand Frozen Bean products I found at Walmart and on Amazon.

And it’s way cheaper than buying a Frappuccino from Starbucks. A Grande-sized Frappuccino from my local Starbucks cost $5.75 pre-tax at the time of writing, which is more than the entire box of Aldi frappe and latte mix costs.

If you’re looking out for allergens, this contains milk, soy, and tree nuts (almonds). It may contain wheat and peanuts. This is kosher certified.

This contains plenty of processed ingredients such as corn syrup solids, carrageenan, natural and artificial flavors, dextrose, various gums, and more.

This drink mix also has a lot of calories, fat, carbs, and added sugars, especially if you opt to make your drink larger.

One half-envelope prepared 8-ounce serving (40 grams) has 170 calories, 5 grams of total fat (6% DV), 4.5 grams of saturated fat (23% DV), 260 mg of sodium (11% DV), 28 grams of total carbohydrates (10% DV), no dietary fiber, 24 grams of total sugars, 15 grams of added sugars (30% DV), and 3 grams of protein.

If you make a large 16-ounce serving, just double all the calories, fat, sodium, carbs, and sugar above.

How to Make a Barissimo Frappe:

To make this, pour 5 ounces of water or milk into a blender. Add one entire bag of Barissimo mix. Add 1 1/2 cups of ice. Blend thoroughly until smooth, pour into cups, and enjoy.

When I’m making one of these just for myself and I want to make it smaller, I pour only half of one envelope of mix into the blender (I eyeball it). I always make this with milk, which I reduce to 2.5 ounces if I’m making a smaller portion, and I use just 3/4 cup of ice.

These drinks are good. The Java Chip version is probably still my favorite, but this Caramel Crunch one is good on its own merits. It’s sweet and smooth, with buttery caramel notes.

We also like the small toffee bits that come up through our straws when drinking this. The toffee bits aren’t as big as the java chips in the Java Chip Aldi frappe mix, so this particular flavor is easier to sip through standard-sized straws.

We didn’t doctor ours up, but you can always add whipped cream and caramel syrup on top for the ultimate coffee-shop-at-home experience.

The Verdict:

Barissimo Caramel Crunch Ultra Premium Latte & Frappe Mix offers an inexpensive way to make a favorite coffee shop drink at home. This mix is a lot like a Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino. It has a rich caramel flavor with small toffee pieces. This frappe mix product line also includes Java Chip and Mocha Cookie Crumble flavors. We haven’t been disappointed yet. Keep in mind that you do need a blender that can blend ice in order to make these.