Hello, Vanilla Heaven! Sleepy Owl French Vanilla Instant Coffee Review

A good cuppa, tailored to your liking sets the tone for the day. Considering that more than 50% of coffee in the world is turned into instant coffee, the appeal is still bright.

Known and loved for their smooth coffees without the use of equipment and fancy pots, Sleepy Owl is the latest brand to enter the instant coffee segment. It is available in three exciting flavors – French Vanilla, Hazelnut and Original.

Their premium instant coffee variants are made using 100% Arabica. Our  Sleepy Owl French Vanilla Instant Coffee Review spanned over a few weeks and is based on parameters like aroma and flavor.

All the relevant details about Sleepy Owl Instant Coffee listed in the table below: 

What are we looking for while reviewing Sleepy Owl Instant Coffee? An instant coffee with a robust flavor and aroma, lingering vanilla notes and fairly good mixability. 

1. Aroma 

During our review process, we wanted to know how strong and robust was the aroma of coffee when we opened the tin? Is the aroma of vanilla bold and intense or a little more is needed?

2. Flavor

This parameter is a mix of different aspects – the intensity, strength, bitterness, and the role of vanilla flavor.

Apart from that, what about the overall body of the coffee? Is the coffee smooth or acidic? 

3. Other Observations 

Mixability 

How well does the coffee powder mix in with milk and water? Does some residue settle at the bottom of the cup?

As this also contains ground coffee, residue at the bottom of the cup isn’t a negative attribute. 

Price / Value For Money 

Considering the quality of the product, is the price justified? Or is a similar quality available at a lower price?

Packaging 

Is the packaging sturdy and reusable? How premium does the packaging look? Does the packaging help keep moisture at bay?

Quick Read: Sleepy Owl’s Coffee Brew Pack | Sleepy Owl Hot Brew Coffees Review

Product Details 

Sleepy Owl French Vanilla Instant Coffee comes in a premium tin packaging. The 50 gm tin is priced at Rs 325/- and has a shelf life of 18 months. The pricing is competitive, keeping quality and quantity in mind.

Main Ingredients 

Instant coffee (95%), Roasted and ground coffee (5%). Contains added nature identical flavor – French Vanilla. 

Appearance 

Unlike other instant coffees, this isn’t just a coffee powder. This is a mix of instant coffee and ground coffee.

What is instant coffee? This isn’t just freshly ground beans, but is mixed with other things like chicory. When ground coffee is dehydrated, the remainder is then either freeze dried (thicker granules) or spray dried (powder) which is called instant coffee.

Sleepy owl is freeze dried instant coffee and it also incorporates the use of ground coffee (microground technology).

Appearance-wise, it is a mix of ground coffee beans (which are ground using the microground technology) and instant coffee (freeze dried). In addition, we also noticed a considerable amount of white specs in the coffee mix. 

How We Tested

We tested this instant coffee both with hot milk and hot water. 

• With hot milk, we mixed in ¼ th tsp of sugar. 
• With hot water, we added no sugar. 

As per the brand, you can have the coffee either hot or cold. For hot, just add 1 tsp of premium instant to a cup. The sugar is optional. Pour 100-150 ml of boiled milk or water and stir. For cold, add 1 tsp of premium instant to 100-150 ml cold milk. Add a little sugar if you like. Blend it for 2 minutes.

Aroma 

Heavenly! These coffee granules give out an enticing aroma of vanilla. Needless to say, people who enjoy vanilla and coffee as a flavoring, would be drawn towards this instantly.  

Flavor 

Rich and delicious. The characteristic flavor of coffee was robust, intense and not at all bitter. There is a subtle flavor of vanilla in the background which certainly does not overpower the flavor of coffee. 

The vanilla flavoring is delicate and has an innate vanilla, floral sweetness, which is why we would suggest adding sugar moderately.

The coffee definitely smells more like vanilla, than it tastes.

Mixability 

This instant coffee from Sleepy Owl does not have a fine powdered texture. It is in the form of small granules. Considering that, the mixability was excellent. It mixes seamlessly in with water and milk. There is a small residue at the bottom of the cup.

How is Sleepy Owl’s Premium Instant Coffee different? The drying process of coffee beans has a major role to play in the final outcome of the texture of any instant coffee. Coffee is dried in two ways – Spray dried and freeze dried.

Spray-dried coffee is a comparatively cost effective and common form of instant coffee. It has a very fine texture, but loses most of its flavor and aroma. Many brands opt for this method keeping in mind the cost constraints.

Freeze-dried coffee on the other hand is slightly expensive and involves a more complex process. In this case the coffee extract is frozen and then broken into smaller granules.

Related Read: Find out Team Mishry’s views on Sleepy Owl Cold Coffee here.

Here are some interesting FAQs on Sleepy Owl Instant Coffee.

Definitely buy!

The enticing aroma of vanilla, intensity and rich flavor of the coffee are a few factors that would make us want to go back for more. We loved the premium-looking tin packaging.

Regular or flavored coffee – What’s your pick?

Our reviews are unbiased and all samples used during the reviews were paid for by us. Read our entire ethics statement here.