Jot vs Stok
Why They Make The Cut?
Review Summary
Flavor Profile
Whenever I try a new coffee, the first thing that I want to know is the flavor. So what I did was I ordered both of the flavors that Jot offers (the Original and dark)...
And then I took two days to test both of them out. On the first morning, I tried the Original flavor, and on the second morning I tried the Dark flavor. Now, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with Jot, but when I drank my first cup of the Original coffee, I was pleasantly surprised.
Jot tasted almost exactly like normal coffee, and that’s impressive considering it only takes a few minutes to make hot or cold drinks. It had a smooth flavor that wasn’t too acidic, so I’ll give it a 7.5/10!
The next morning, I tried the dark roast. And honestly, I’m not quite as crazy about the dark roast. It might be because I’m not usually a huge fan of dark roasts, but something just tasted off about it. I’m not sure if I got a bad bottle, but it tasted like ould sour coffee.
Okay, so here’s the most redeeming part about Stok. It’s the fact that they have a wide variety of delicious flavors for you to choose from.
Un-Sweet.
Extra Bold.
Un-Sweet Bright Mellow.
Not Too Sweet.
Protein.
Pumpkin.
Mocha.
Vanilla.
Now, I haven’t tried all of their flavors yet, but the Mocha, Un-Sweet, and the Extra Bold flavors are delicious! It’s nice that they have different flavors for different types of coffee drinkers. However, just keep in mind, Stok does have a few reviews of people claiming that their coffee tasted expired, so maybe try a single bottle before buying a bigger package.
Flavor Notes
Caffeine Content
So, to make your coffee with Jot, you use a full tablespoon of the concentrate. And that tablespoon has 150mg of caffeine. Which compared to the other cold brews, that’s about average, most of them have between 140mg-180mg of caffeine.
However, I still stand by my opinion. The average cup of coffee has about 90 mg of caffeine inside of it, and I don’t like how these concentrates and cold brews up their caffeine dosage. I don’t know if it’s because they want to give you a bigger energy boost so that you keep drinking it. (Just like how energy drinks do)...
But I’m a bigger fan of concentrates like Javy because they don’t overload you with quite as much caffeine.
Okay, I’ll be honest here, Stok comes LOADED with caffeine. Each bottle comes with 145 mg of pure energy-kicking caffeine...
And that can be a good thing, or a bad thing. If you’re used to drinking normal black coffee, it’s going to feel like a bit much for you. So the first time you drink it, you might get an EXTRA BIG kick, and that might be what you want.
However, the problem is, if you go back to drinking normal coffee, it’s not going to feel exactly the same. And that’s because you’re going to get used to having 145 mg of caffeine in each serving, so the next time you drink regular coffee, you might not feel quite as energized.
Now, what I do is if I’m ever feeling extra tired, or if I'm in a pinch. I’ll grab one of the cold brews, because I know that it will give me an extra big boost. However, I try not to drink them on a regular basis, so that I can still drink regular coffee while getting the energy boost I need.
Convenience Factor
Ooooookay! Here’s my problem with Jot, I’m not a big fan of how each bottle only gives you 14 cups of coffee. Considering how I drink about 2 cups per day, that means I’m going to need a new bottle every week. And since each bottle normally runs $24.99… that means I’ll be spending $100 per month on coffee!
And for that price, I might as well be going to Starbucks for my coffee! I don’t think it would be quite as bad if they gave you 30 servings per bottle, at least that would make it affordable, manageable, and also less wasteful. But the good news is, the Jot bottles don’t take up a lot of space, they’re easy to store, and you also don’t need a machine to use them with.
Ughhhhhh…
This is where I have a problem with Stok, and other cold brew coffees who make similar products. You see, each serving of coffee that you want comes packaged in it’s own bottle. So every time that you want to drink a new serving of Stok…
You have to open up a new bottle, which means you either have to drive to WalMart to pick one up, or you have to order a bulk package on Amazon. And I don’t know about you, but that’s SUPER annoying to me! Plus, can you imagine how much plastic you would waste in a single year if you drank Stok consistently?
And while this isn’t an environmentally-themed review, I just want to point that out. So let’s move onto something more positive for Stok, and talk about how easy it is to use.
Ease of Use
Now, here’s where Jot really shines, because like the other coffee concentrates, it’s really easy to use. All you have to do is grab a cup of cold or hot water, pour 1 tablespoon of Jot, and mix it together. And BOOM- in only a few minutes, you have delicious coffee ready to drink.
Plus, they finally give you a way to quickly make coffee… without you having to suffer through metallic-tasting instant coffee. (Seriously, that stuff is HORRIBLE! Whenever I drink instant coffee, like I said I’ve tried A LOT of coffees… I want to spit it out instantly)
This is probably the biggest selling point for Stok as well as other products like it. Because when you want to drink coffee, you don’t have to worry about mixing, heating up water, or doing any work at all…
All you have to do is tear the plastic seal at the top of the bottle, twist the lid off, and your coffee is ready to drink! It really doesn’t get easier than that, and you can see why so many people like drinking cold brew from a bottle.
However, for me, it doesn’t make sense for me to stock up on 20-30 bottles of Stock in my pantry. I just don’t have the room. So unless you’ve got room to spare, I recommend that you find a more space efficient way to drink coffee.
Scoring Breakdown
Coffee
Jot
Stok Cold Brew
Attribute Ratings
Origin
Jot
Stok Cold Brew
Quick Facts
Recommended Preparations
Simple mix of 1 tablespoon concentrate with hot or cold water, can be prepared in minutes.
Ready to drink straight from the bottle, best served cold. No preparation needed.
Ideal For
Pros and Cons
Jot Ultra Coffee
- Easy to use and pour
- Great packaging
- Quality customer service
- Bitter tasting coffee
- Overpriced $24 for 12 servings
- No flavor selection
Stok Cold Brew
- Smooth flavor
- Available in grocery stores
- Convenient for cold brew coffee
- Only a few servings per bottle
- Limited flavors