Super Coffee is a functional coffee drink sold by a company called Kitu Life. The brand sells a variety of sweet flavored coffees like Mocha Latte and Pumpkin Pie Latte, but the drinks are sugar-free and the brand positions itself as healthier than sugar-sweetened coffee drinks.
But is Super Coffee actually a healthier option than most coffee drinks? What's actually in it? Does it contain any unhealthy ingredients? And what was our honest experience purchasing and testing it?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Super Coffee to give our take on whether it’s really healthy or not. We’ll compare it to a Starbucks latte and to regular black coffee.
We’ll also provide a cost breakdown featuring the cheapest website to buy Super Coffee, and share Super Coffee customer reviews.
Key takeaways:
- Contains some additives we consider unhealthy
- We tried it and found it to taste too artificial
- We do not currently recommend Super Coffee
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in the Mocha Latte flavor of Super Coffee are shown below:
Milk protein isolate provides 10 grams (g) of protein, which makes this potentially a good post-workout choice. Milk protein has been shown in a medical review published in the Nutrition & Metabolism journal to improve metabolic health.
MCT oil is another functional food ingredient that can benefit metabolism.
As we documented in our Golo side effects and reviews article on a popular weight loss program, MCT oil is clinically shown to reduce body weight in overweight and obese individuals.
Monk fruit juice concentrate is a naturally-derived and healthy sweetener which was shown in an animal study to improve cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
Hexametaphosphate and dipotassium phosphate are food additives we recommend avoiding.
A clinical review published in a German medical journal described phosphate additives in food as a "health risk" due to potential harm to kidneys.
Natural flavors is the only ingredient that we consider questionable from a health perspective.
A medical review found that some natural flavoring compounds may pose toxicity concerns.
We do not currently recommend Super Coffee due to the inactive ingredients highlighted above.
Is Super Coffee healthier than Starbucks?
The ingredients in Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Frappucino are shown below:
This drink contains 63 g of sugar, and added sugar consumption in excess is shown in medical research to be associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
Citric acid is a preservative shown to cause whole-body inflammatory reactions in a small subset of the population, according to a review published in the Toxicology Reports journal.
We consider Super Coffee to be significantly healthier than a Starbucks Frappucino, and to be healthier than the majority of coffee drinks.
However, we don’t consider it to be healthier than black coffee which is free of any questionable additives.
We Tested Super Coffee
As the author of this article, I wanted to purchase and try Super Coffee myself to share my thoughts on its taste and effects:
I bought the Mocha Latte flavor and drank it during my morning work session on a day where I didn't get enough sleep.
I don't love the taste, which is somewhat artificial and the aftertaste has this distinct "metallic" and unnatural flavor.
The thing I dislike about these coffee products sweetened with flavoring additives is that they simply don't taste as good as coffee sweetened with milk and sugar.
I drink my coffee black, but I'd take a coffee with milk and sugar over Super Coffee from a taste perspective.
I do appreciate the effects of this drink.
I feel more focused than I would after two plain coffees, likely due to the nootropic effects of the MCT oil.
I feel like my information processing speed and concentration has significantly improved, and this is more noticeable after poor sleep.
Overall, I wouldn't purchase this product again because of the taste and additives.
I would rate Super Coffee 4/10.
Which Super Coffee is Healthiest?
The ingredients we reviewed in the first section were from the Mocha Latte flavor, but Super Coffee currently sells 14 different flavors.
We reviewed the ingredients in every flavor, and Super Cold Brew is our pick for the healthiest Super Coffee product. Its ingredients are shown below:
Clearly this is a simpler ingredient label than the flavored version. While it still does contain natural flavor, it has none of the other additive ingredients and it also contains l-theanine, which is an effective choice for a functional coffee.
L-theanine is an amino acid which increases alpha brain wave activity, which relaxes the body and has a calming effect. This is the same type of brain wave activity that’s dominant during meditation. A clinical trial published in the Nutritional Neuroscience journal found that the combination of l-theanine and caffeine improved mood and cognitive performance.
This product does contain a slightly higher amount of caffeine (250 milligrams vs 200) than the regular Super Coffee, so it may be a worse option for those who are anxious or caffeine-sensitive.
Super Coffee vs. Popular Packaged Coffee Brands
Here's how Super Coffee compares to other popular ready-to-drink coffee brands in terms of healthiness, in our opinion:
Nguyen
This brand sells canned lattes.
Our main health complaint here is the added sugar, which is clinically shown to be unhealthy when consumed in excess.
The Nguyen drink we analyzed was free of citric acid and added phosphates, and packaged in aluminum (rather than plastic), so we give the brand a slight advantage from a health perspective.
Winner: Nguyen
Javy Coffee
This coffee concentrate brand can be added to water or milk for ready-to-drink flavored coffee.
It contains natural flavors, as we documented in our Javy Coffee review article.
Super Coffee contains more ingredients we consider unhealthy, so Javy Coffee wins from a health perspective.
Winner: Javy Coffee
Jot Coffee
Like Javy Coffee, this coffee concentrate brand contains natural flavors.
However, it's packaged in glass, and contains fewer inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy than exist in Super Coffee, so we give this brand the advantage from a health perspective.
Winner: Jot Coffee
Our Clean Coffee Pick
MBG Clean Coffee+ is our top coffee product, because it’s ground for convenience, organic certified, and third-party lab tested for purity (which is highly uncommon for coffee).
This coffee has no additives that we consider to be unhealthy.
Super Coffee Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Contains an additional nootropic ingredient
- Contains a nootropic caffeine dose
- We tested it and enjoyed the functional effects
Cons:
- Contains added phosphates
- Contains natural flavor
- Packaged in plastic
- We tested it and disliked the taste
- Less healthy than competitors
