I purchased my single serving of Wolfgang Puck's Gourmet Rich Espresso Latte for $2.99 plux tax. I was intrigued by this product because it comes in its very one self heating can. I thought it would be a wonderful product if it really worked and tasted great. It would perfect for those mornings on the run.
I browsed the different flavors of rich espresso, rich caramel, rich mocha and french vanilla. I finally settled on the rich espresso.
I carefully read the directions on the can to be sure I was doing this correctly. After all, I'm new to self heating cans and I really wanted to try this. The first direction tells you to turn the can upside and follow the directions. As soon as I turned it upside down I saw that there is another set of directions with three steps. I read through them and they seemed simple enough.
You pull the metal tamper proof bottom off. (It's one of those little metal tops with the pull tab.) Then you see a plastic bottom with a little button looking center. You're supposed to push the button down until a foil seal opens and colored water drains into this activation chamber.
I pushed on that button until my thumb hurt and it didn't move. I got out a spoon and used the bowl of the spoon to push it down. There still wasn't enough movement to break open the seal. I finally had to give in and ask my husband for help. It was difficult for him but the seal finally gave way and we could see what looked like a milky white water.
The directions say to turn it right side up and wait for the little pink dot on the side to turn white once you've opened the seal. We turned it back over and waited. Then we waited and waited. The can never got any warmer and the dot never turned white.
In addition to it not changing colors it was leaking all over the counter! I let it sit, even though it was leaking, for almost an hour. Once I turned it back over there was a brown foamy substance on the bottom.
I considered going ahead and opening the can to pour the espresso in a cup and heat it in the microwave. The can says not to do that. I was pretty disappointed! Not only I was out my $2.99 but I had a smelly mess to clean up.
The can says that it self heats by a natural reaction of some type of mineral with water. It also says that materials used to heat the can do not come in contact with the beverage. Unfortunately it didn't work the way it's supposed to with my can.
I have no idea why this product didn't work. The can didn't appear to have any dents or dings in it. We were careful to follow the directions, but it still didn't work.
I'm very disappointed that I cannot recommend this product.
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