Barissimo Ultra Premium Latte Frappe

Last Updated on February 27, 2024

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I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but certain types of coffee or coffee-flavored things have slowly won me over. I like the vanilla iced coffee at a local cat café, of all places. It’s not highbrow, but I like the French vanilla cappuccino pods Aldi sells. I also like the mocha iced coffee at Aldi, and I sometimes like coffee-flavored ice cream. Basically, if the coffee is dressed up enough with sweetener and cream, I enjoy it.

So when I spotted some latte frappe mixes that appear to be new in the coffee aisle at Aldi, I was intrigued. The boxes advertise “world’s smallest café.” A frappe is an iced, blended beverage typically made with coffee. This particular product at Aldi is a powdered mix, and you add water or milk and ice to it, then blend it and serve.

Because this requires blending ice cubes, you’ll need a quality blender at home in order to make this. Not all blenders are created equal. My husband gave me a Ninja blender for Christmas, and I regularly blend frozen fruit in it to make a healthy homemade sherbet of sorts, so I knew it was up to the task of making a latte frappe. I brought one of the mixes home to try.

These latte frappes appear to be made by The Frozen Bean, a company that specializes in coffee and dessert drink mixes. The packaging for the Aldi products looks practically identical to name brand Frozen Bean products. Products from The Frozen Bean can be found at Walmart and on Amazon.

The Barissimo Ultra Premium Latte Frappe costs $4.99 for a 10.5-ounce package at the time of publication. This comes in three varieties: java chip, caramel crunch, or mocha cookie crumble. I bought the java chip. With six servings per box, that comes out to about 83 cents per serving, which is much cheaper than a coffee shop. You’ll need to add a bit to the serving cost if you make this with milk, of course. Similar latte and frappe mixes from The Frozen Bean cost quite a bit more on Walmart’s website and on Amazon.

The Aldi latte frappe mixes are Seasonal Items that are available during the spring and summer months. Aldi does not offer online ordering for these when they are not in season.

This is made with Arabica coffee and is, naturally, intended to be served cold.

Nutrition information, ingredients, and directions. (Click to enlarge.)

If you’re looking out for allergens, the java chip flavor I tried contains milk and soy. It may contain wheat, peanuts, and tree nuts.

This has plenty of saturated fat and added sugars. It also has processed ingredients such as corn syrup solids, carrageenan, natural flavors and artificial flavors, soy lecithin, and xanthan gum.

One box contains three pouches of mix, with each pouch making two smaller servings, for a total of six servings in the box. Or, the box mentions that each pouch can make one single large 16-ounce serving.

The nutrition information may vary if you make this using milk instead of water, but the box for the java chip latte frappe mix says one serving has 210 calories, 8 grams of total fat (10% DV), 7 grams of saturated fat (35% DV), 150 mg of sodium (7% DV), 35 grams of total carbohydrates (13% DV), 29 grams of total sugars, and 27 grams of added sugars (54% DV).

The box doesn’t state how much caffeine this contains, but I assume there is caffeine since the mix contains coffee. An average cup of coffee contains about 95 mg of caffeine, but that number can range from 70-140 mg depending on the coffee. To get an estimate of how much caffeine these latte frappe mixes contain, I looked at similar drinks from Starbucks and McDonald’s:

• Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino: 75 mg of caffeine for a tall and 105 mg of caffeine for a grande.
• McDonald’s Mocha Frappe: 100 mg of caffeine for a small and 125 mg of caffeine for a medium
• Starbucks Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino: 65 mg of caffeine for a tall and 95 mg of caffeine for a grande

In other words, an Aldi latte frappe probably contains a similar amount of caffeine to an average cup of coffee.

One of the mix pouches out of the box.

To make a blended drink, the box says to pour 5 fluid ounces of water or milk into a blender. Add one entire bag of the Barissimo mix. Add 1 1/2 cups of ice. Blend thoroughly until smooth and enjoy.

Ready to drink. This is only half of what one packet made. I added a dollop of whipped cream before serving.

I made this with whole milk in my Ninja blender. I pulsed the blender a few times and then ran it continuously for 30 seconds to a minute to get it to a smooth consistency. The first few times I made this, I used the entire packet and either split it with someone else, or one time I drank the whole thing myself (which I don’t recommend doing on a regular basis, as it’s more than 400 calories).

Then I began experimenting with making only half the packet at a time for a single serving. I simply halved the amount of milk or water and ice cubes, and I used half the packet of mix (I went by feel, estimating when I had poured out half of the packet, but you could also measure the packet contents into a measuring cup or bowl to be more exact).

This is easy to whip up when you have a good blender, and it’s delicious. It’s like a smoothie, with small bits of chocolate java chips that add some nice texture and a bit of crunch. It has coffee flavor but also has a strong chocolaty flavor with notes of cream, and even my coffee-wary teenager thought this was okay. I personally love it and thought this was as good as a pricier frappe I might get at McDonald’s or even someplace like Starbucks or my local doughnut shop.

You can drink it as is, but I topped ours with some whipped cream before serving. For an extra fancy drink, you could also top this with chocolate syrup and/or chocolate shavings. Drink it with a wider straw (so the java chips don’t block the straw) for more of a coffee shop experience.

This is not something to indulge in often, but I’m definitely open to buying this again. I like this java chip version with the little chocolate chips in it, but I might try the mocha cookie crumble and caramel crunch versions next time to see how they compare.

The Verdict:

Barissimo Ultra Premium Latte Frappe comes in three varieties: java chip, caramel crunch, or mocha cookie crumble. I tried the java chip version and it’s excellent. It has coffee flavor that is nicely balanced with chocolate, and the small java chips add some texture. It’s a treat to enjoy sometimes and not often, but at 83 cents per serving, this is a great deal if you’re in the mood for a frappe and don’t want to shell out money at an expensive coffee shop. Do keep in mind that to make this, you’ll need a blender that can crush ice.