Bastardized iced decaf mocha

Posted by E-George on August 6, 2008

Even the most stalwart among us has cravings once in a while.  Those who deny it are probably lying somehow.  Today, I was craving an iced vanilla latte, but let’s face it.  The stats for one of those is pretty horrible. I’ll grant you, they’re not as horrible as, say, a caramel frapuccino or something like that, but still, the numbers are a little stark if one thinks that some people drink these every day.

A Starbucks grande iced latte has
130 calories (40 fat calories)
13 g carbohydrates
11 g sugar

Add in a flavored syrup and:
+20 calories = 150 calories
+5 g carbohydrates = 18 g carbohydrates
+5 g sugar = 16g sugar

Today at work, in a fit of curiosity and driven by desperation, I made my own “iced mocha” of sorts. I understand that a mocha is officially thus because it is made with milk an espresso. Technically, I made an “iced coffee drink”, but, it holds closely to the flavors that I enjoy without being nearly as detrimental. Or expensive. Or trendy.

In an average 12-oz coffee cup combine:
2 rounded teaspoons of Foldgers instant coffee (I used decaf)
2 packets of Splenda Mocha Flavor packets
1 packet of regular Splenda (only if you prefer it sweeter)
1 TBSP Coffeemate Lite powdered creamer

Add 12 oz hot water and stir together. Pour over ice cubes in a regular 12-16oz drinking glass and enjoy.

The damage works out to:
38 calories (0 Fat calories)
6g carbohydrates
0g sugars

Even adding an extra TBSP of creamer only adds another 10 calories and 2 grams of carbohydrates. I estimate the cost of the beverage to be somewhere around $1 per serving. Maybe $1.50 if you get liberal with the creamer and flavorings.

This also tells me that it may be possible to still have certain indulgences which I periodically enjoy, only in modified formats.  Except for pasta.  There’s no way to re-engineer that into a permissible condition.

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