Product Review: Pronto! Personal Brew Coffee

What Is It: Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen Pronto!, portable concentrated liquid coffee that makes hot or iced coffee anywhere.

Price and Where to Buy: $5.99 for a box of six Brewsticks, available at Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen’s website.

Pros: It’s instant coffee without the gross instant powder—pronto! concentrate is made from 100 percent arabica beans and actually tastes pretty good. The concentrate is cold-brewed—which makes a less-acidic and smoother coffee. Plus, it’s portable—you can make a cup anywhere you have water.

Cons: Some of the flavored varieties were a little too sweet for our taste—stick to the original versions if you don’t have a sweet tooth.

How It Rates:

• Usefulness: 10/10. If you don’t want to be without a cup of Joe at all times, and have access to water, pronto! will fill all your coffee needs.
• Portability: 10/10. Small and light, you could carry a bunch of these on a long camping trek without worrying about weight or space.
• Value: 8/10. At about $1 a cup, the pronto! is definitely cheaper than buying a cup from Starbucks while on the road, but is more expensive than most instant coffees.
• Durability: 8/10. Seems durable, but we probably wouldn’t pack these in a suitcase full of white clothes without a zip-lock bag.
• Cool Factor: 10/10. Camping with coffee snobs? Everyone will be impressed when you pull these out to make a delicious morning brew.

Final Verdict: The perfect product for camping lets you have iced or hot coffee anywhere, any time.

(Photo: Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen Pronto!)

Editor’s Note: Reviews are based on usefulness, portability, durability, value, and “cool factor.” Some review products are sent to us free of charge and with no incentive to offer a favorable review. We offer our unbiased opinions, positive and negative, and will never accept compensation to review a product. If you have any questions or comments concerning our reviews, or would like to suggest a product for review, please email us at editor@smartertravel.com.