REVIEW – Coffee mornings in this apartment are a coin flip. Either I make a full pot and drink exactly one cup before running out the door, or I skip it entirely and regret it by the time I’m halfway to wherever I’m going. Dry Brew’s coffee bites are a chewable, water-free coffee built to solve that problem. No kettle, no filter, no mug left in the sink, just a small dense bite you chew like a piece of candy that happens to be carrying a shot of espresso. It sounded like a gimmick right up until I popped one in my mouth.
Note: The Dry Brew coffee bites were sent to me by Dry Brew at no cost. They had no editorial input and did not see this review before it published.
Photos and video by Gregory Morley.
The Basics
Dry Brew’s whole pitch is in the name. Real brewed coffee, dehydrated down and pressed into a chewable bite instead of a cup you drink. The company calls it a patented formula, and however they’re doing it, what shows up is a firm, taffy-like square about the size of a large sugar cube, individually wrapped, meant to be chewed and swallowed like a snack. No hot water, no equipment, no cleanup. Dry Brew sent me three flavors, Original, Salted Caramel and Double Shot. The Original and Salted Caramel bites carry 65mg of caffeine each, which Dry Brew calls the equivalent of a six ounce cup. The Double Shot bumps that to 100mg, packed into something that fits in a jacket pocket instead of a mug.
What You Get
- Dry Brew Double Shot coffee bites, 100mg of caffeine each
- Dry Brew Original coffee bites, 65mg of caffeine each
- Dry Brew Salted Caramel coffee bites, 65mg of caffeine each
- Every bite individually wrapped
- Sold in packs of 3, 9, 15 and 21, with no single-bite option direct from Dry Brew
By the Numbers
- Price: $9.00 for a 3-Pack, about $3 a bite at every pack size
- Pack sizes: 3, 9, 15 and 21, plus two 9-Pack variety boxes at $26.97
- Caffeine: 100mg per Double Shot bite, 65mg per Original or Salted Caramel bite
- Calories: 35 per bite
- Format: Individually wrapped chewable bite, no water or equipment needed
- Ingredients (Double Shot): Coffee, corn syrup solids, dextrose, maltodextrin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, water, hydrogenated vegetable oil, sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), dipotassium phosphate, mono and diglycerides, sodium aluminosilicate, artificial flavor, annatto
- Formula: U.S. patented
What It’s Actually Like
A Dry Brew bite tastes as strange as it sounds for the first one and stops being strange by the third. It’s dense and a little chewy, closer to a firm taffy than anything you’d call candy, and the Double Shot tastes like coffee first, bitter and roasted, not a vague mocha sweetness standing in for it. It dissolves slowly enough that there’s no good way to rush it, which is either a feature or an annoyance depending on how used to gulping a to-go cup you are. The caffeine hit tracks with a cup of coffee too, noticeable inside twenty minutes and not the jittery instant spike I half expected from something this small.
Three Flavors, One Favorite
The Double Shot is my favorite of the three. I do feel a bit more of a boost from it than from the other two, though the extra 35mg isn’t a dramatic difference. The Original is more subtle and smoother on the palate, a good pick for anyone who wants the coffee without quite so much roast. Salted Caramel is the most delicious of the bunch. It’s the one I’d happily eat as a treat even if it had no caffeine in it, and considering how much I crave the caffeine, that says a lot. Dry Brew also sells a 9-Pack variety box that mixes all three, which I assume is meant for sharing around an office. Mine did not get shared, not because I am particularly selfish, simply due to my forever aloneness.
I usually reach for whichever flavor is handy around 3pm, when the after-lunch lull hits and there’s still a good chunk of the workday left. One bite gets me through the rest of the afternoon like a pro.
What Could Be Better
This isn’t a coffee replacement so much as a coffee substitute for when a cup isn’t an option, and it’s priced like it knows that. Three bites for nine dollars works out to three dollars a hit, real money for something the size of a sugar cube. The chew is also slow enough that it’s not quite the grab-and-go move that swallowing a pill or knocking back a shot would be. You still need a minute or two of actually working through it before the caffeine’s fully on board.
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Quick Questions
Q: Does Dry Brew actually contain real coffee?
A: Yes. Per Dry Brew, each bite is made from brewed coffee that’s been dehydrated and pressed into the bite, rather than a coffee-flavored candy standing in for it.
Q: How much caffeine is in one bite?
A: The Double Shot is rated at 100mg per bite, which is Dry Brew’s own figure. The Original and Salted Caramel are 65mg per bite, which the company calls the equivalent of a six ounce cup of coffee.
Q: Do you need water to eat it?
A: No. That’s the entire premise. Chew and swallow like any other snack, no water, kettle, or equipment required.
Q: What other flavors does Dry Brew make?
A: Alongside Double Shot, Dry Brew sells Original, Salted Caramel and Decaf. There are two 9-Pack variety boxes, one mixing Original, Double Shot and Salted Caramel, and one built around the Decaf.
Final Thoughts
A month of keeping a couple of these in my glovebox and jacket pocket has turned Dry Brew from a novelty into a legitimate backup plan, the thing I reach for on a morning when making an actual pot of coffee just isn’t going to happen before I have to leave. It’s not replacing my coffee maker, and at three dollars a bite it’s not trying to. But for hikes, long drives, or any other stretch where brewing a cup isn’t realistic, it does the job. My dog remains the only member of the household unimpressed by a piece of candy that turned out to be coffee.
Price: $9.00 for a 3-Pack, about $3 a bite
Where to buy: Direct from Dry Brew or Amazon
What I like: Tastes like coffee instead of a vague stand-in, a Salted Caramel good enough to eat as a treat, zero equipment or cleanup, a caffeine hit that tracks with a cup, small enough to carry anywhere
What I don’t: Three dollars a bite adds up fast, and the slow chew means it’s not quite as instant as popping a pill
