Sticking to your standard coffee brewing routine is nice, but a backup way to brew is always good, too. Maybe you woke up late and have no time to go through the usual brewing process, or you’re traveling without access to your favorite coffee tools.
That’s why avenues for fast brewing, like instant coffee granules or liquid coffee concentrates, exist: to make java quickly and easily accessible no matter where you are.
In this review, we’re highlighting Jot Ultra Coffee liquid concentrate. The product, geared toward “those who take their coffee easy,” has endorsements from pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, bestselling author Kevin Kwan, and award-winning actress Halle Berry. But is it good enough for you to put into your cup, too? Read on to find out.
What Makes Jot Coffee Unique?
Before we share what makes this company unique, it’s probably a good idea to formally introduce you to it.
Meet Jot Ultra Coffee, the brainchild of Andrew Gordon and Palo Hawken. Jot* launched at the end of April 2020 in San Francisco. Later, though, the company would move its headquarters and manufacturing facilities to Boulder, Colorado, a food and beverage hub to which the two co-founders felt connected.
Now, what sets Jot Ultra Coffee apart? A few things, including:
- A team of dedicated employees. Hawken told 303 Magazine that the Jot team is “made of magic.” Jot’s leadership has a lot of pride in its employees.
- Versatility and high-quality. Many companies intend their concentrated coffees to be used solely for cold brew. However, you can use Jot in virtually any coffee recipe, hot or cold; it’s supposed to taste just as good as something freshly brewed.
- A one-of-a-kind production process. Jot doesn’t disclose many details about how it makes its products, but the company prioritizes intentionality as it strives to produce maximum flavor, high quality, and minimal waste.
*Fun fact: Jot is an acronym for “just one tablespoon.” You can’t forget how much to use — the label is a reminder!
About the Coffee
Jot Coffee
A novel method for preparing delicious coffee in the comfort of your home is now available. Jot, a highly concentrated coffee, is 20 times stronger than regular coffee, so you only require one tablespoon to make any type of coffee you desire.
We’d guess you’re passionate about the beans that go into your morning cup — if you weren’t, you probably wouldn’t be on Roasty’s website! That’s why we thought it necessary to give you the lowdown on the coffee beans the good folks at Jot use to make this ultra-concentrated brew.
Jot sells a blend of beans from different organic and Fair Trade farms in South and Central America. Those lend nutty, chocolate, and vanilla notes to this smooth brew.
Oh, and because we think it’s cool, we’re sharing this: most of the farms and co-ops Jot works with are women-owned! Women do a significant chunk of the world’s farmwork but are traditionally and systemically undervalued and underpaid.
Jot fights against this trend, making gender equity a top priority. The company is even a founding member of the Partnership for Gender Equity’s Gender Equity Index, further solidifying its stance on the issue.
Roasty’s Jot Ultra Coffee Concentrate Review
Now, for the moment you’ve waited for. Let’s share our impressions of Jot Ultra Coffee concentrate!
A Quick Product Overview
- Brewing Jot Ultra Coffee is simple; add it to cold or hot water or milk, stir, and you’re all done!
- Each 200-milliliter Jot Ultra bottle makes about 14 cups of joe.
- Jot Ultra Coffee concentrate is available in two blends*, Original and Dark, and you can choose between making a one-time purchase or buying a monthly subscription.
- This brew is 20 times more concentrated than regular java. So, a little goes a long way; you only need one tablespoon.
Pros and Cons
Things We Liked
- Convenience. We’re big fans of anything that gets us caffeinated quickly. That’s why we love that Jot’s coffee concentrate lets you brew a cup of joe in seconds. Add hot or cold water and stir — no extra equipment is needed.
- Product design. We were impressed that this concentrated liquid arrived in a glass bottle with a wine cork-style lid. We commend the company for this packaging choice; it’s more environmentally friendly than a standard plastic bottle. It looks better, too.
- Great taste. This stuff makes some downright delicious coffee beverages. We used it to make a latte, or in this case, a jotte, and we weren’t disappointed. The first word out of our mouths after taking a sip was “legit.” Interpret that as you will.
Room for Improvement
- Limited options. Jot offers only three coffee blends — Original, Dark, and a rotating members-only blend. If you’re a coffee drinker who likes to experiment with different beans regularly or wants something decaffeinated, you may not be satisfied with such a small selection of Jot concentrates.
- A bit pricey. This negative depends on your coffee-drinking habits. If you purchased a bottle of Jot to replace your daily trips to the coffee shop, you’re saving money — Jot’s cost per cup is lower than that of the average café. However, depending on the kind you buy, the price per cup of joe made with regular coffee beans is lower than that brewed with Jot. So, if you do most of your brewing at home, you spend more in the long run.
Buying Options
Ultra Coffee is available in two forms, Original and Dark. Original is the tamer of the two, a smooth and balanced blend designed to appeal to a wide range of java drinkers. Dark is on the other end of the spectrum. Jot gears this blend of concentrated joe toward the coffee lover who declares, “The bolder, the better!”
You can buy one or both of these blends once or choose to have them delivered to your door regularly with a subscription.
One-Time Purchase
The one-time purchase option is ideal for anyone who is A) curious about concentrated coffee but unsure if they want to commit to a subscription, or B) someone who doesn’t plan on using this product very often and doesn’t want to end up overstocked with it.
A single bottle of Jot Ultra Coffee costs about 20 dollars, excluding taxes and shipping, but one-time purchasers can select however many bottles they want.
Jot Coffee Subscription
Anyone going the subscription route should expect a Jot shipment every four weeks. Unlike other subscription services, you’re in control of how much and what kind of Jot Ultra you receive here. You can keep things exciting by switching up your deliveries occasionally — go Original one month, Dark the next, and the exclusive members-only blend the next.
That leads us to another worth-mentioning detail: a subscription gives you access to an exclusive third blend that rotates. We won’t lie; seeing such a small range of products was a little disheartening, so we were glad to see that more variety (albeit not much more) was a perk of subscribing.
Jot Coffee
A novel method for preparing delicious coffee in the comfort of your home is now available. Jot, a highly concentrated coffee, is 20 times stronger than regular coffee, so you only require one tablespoon to make any type of coffee you desire.
How To Cancel Jot Coffee Subscriptions
Some subscription services, whether for coffee beans or something else, make canceling near impossible. Jot Coffee isn’t one of them.
Canceling your subscription takes but a few clicks of a button. Log into your account on the Jot website, click “Edit Subscription,” then “Manage Account,” and follow the prompts on the screen.
From our perspective, canceling isn’t the best idea unless you’re sure you don’t want their product anymore. If you’re still on the fence about Jot, need to cut back for financial reasons, or have found yourself with more joe than you can drink and want to slim your inventory down, pause your subscription instead.
Pausing your subscription means you won’t be getting coffee deliveries anymore. However, you’ll still have access to perks like 25 percent off subscription orders, access to limited batches, and more. You decide how long your subscription stays on pause; it won’t continue until you log into your account and click the “Resume Subscription” button.
How Is Jot Ultra Made?
Each batch of Jot Ultra Coffee concentrate starts with Central and South American beans. Once they arrive at Jot’s facilities, the progressive enrichment process used to make this brew begins.
We couldn’t find much information about what said process entails, but according to the company’s website, nothing is added or removed here. Instead, the company extracts every bit of flavor from every bean — without over-extracting, of course — resulting in smooth, balanced-tasting joe.
Jot’s coffee manufacturing process creates very little waste. Compared to cold brew, there is a 60 percent higher yield per coffee bean, and the company composts 100 percent of the used coffee grounds.
The Brewing Process: How Does Jot Coffee Work?
You and every other seasoned java enthusiast probably have a go-to coffee brewing ritual. You’ve got it all figured out to the T, from which beans to brewer. We wouldn’t be surprised if you also had a collection of accessories, like a coffee grinder or milk frother.
But sometimes, there isn’t time to go through every step of the routine, and you need some way to get a caffeine boost quickly. That’s where Jot comes in, and honestly, that’s one big reason we were excited to try it: it’s fast!
This joe lives up to the hype in the speed and convenience department. We wanted to try it hot, so we fired up the old Breville Creatista and used its built-in steam wand to heat some milk. But that was the longest part of the brewing process. After that, we just used the metal measuring spoon we received from the company to scoop some Ultra Coffee into a cup. Then, we poured the hot milk over it and stirred. That was it.
Taste Test
We’ll be honest. We didn’t know what to expect when we tried Jot Coffee. Concentrated brews are often hit or miss; while one product might taste flavorful and fresh, another may boast the same bitterness as low-quality instant coffees.
Thankfully, we didn’t run into that issue here. We went the hot coffee route for our taste test, choosing steamed milk (courtesy of the Breville Creatista’s built-in steaming wand) to add to Jot’s Ultra Coffee, and we certainly weren’t disappointed. The coffee’s flavor was smooth, nutty, and bold, perfectly complementing the taste of the creamy, frothy milk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Jot Coffee Have To Be Refrigerated?
The good folks at Jot recommend keeping your bottle of coffee concentrate in the refrigerator before and after opening it for maximum freshness.
You can keep it in the fridge for about 90 days from delivery. But don’t worry about losing track of the days. On the back of each glass bottle is a “drink by” date for you to reference.
Can You Drink Jot Coffee Hot?
While some people exclusively drink hot joe, others want ice in their brews. Fortunately, Jot Coffee concentrate is for both groups and makes a satisfying cup of hot or iced coffee.
Does Jot Coffee Have Caffeine?
Not everyone is a coffee snob who cares deeply about how their beans taste — we know that’s hard to believe; who wouldn’t be obsessed with coffee’s flavor? Many people only consider their morning coffee rituals sacred because of the beans’ caffeine content; the brewed beverage gives them the energy they need to make it through their nine-to-five unscathed.
Since each tablespoon of Jot Ultra Coffee contains between 140 and 150 milligrams of caffeine (for context, a traditional cup of coffee has around 95 milligrams), the product is a good fit for any coffee drinker who relies on the beverage mostly for energy.
Can You Drink Jot Coffee Straight?
Since Jot’s product is a coffee concentrate, the expectation is to mix about a tablespoon of it with a few ounces of water or milk. However, you can drink it without a dilutant.
But remember that a single tablespoon of Jot’s Ultra Coffee concentrate has more caffeine than traditional coffee. So, if you decide to drink it straight, stick to small doses, especially if you’re monitoring your daily caffeine intake.
Jot Coffee
A novel method for preparing delicious coffee in the comfort of your home is now available. Jot, a highly concentrated coffee, is 20 times stronger than regular coffee, so you only require one tablespoon to make any type of coffee you desire.
The Verdict: To Jot or Not to Jot — That Is the Question
Overall, we were impressed with Jot Ultra Coffee. Don’t get us wrong — we won’t be tossing out our coffee makers and using Jot exclusively. But you’ll definitely catch us pulling out a bottle of this stuff and the convenient measuring spoon it comes with when we want to make a cup of coffee in a hurry.
Happy Caffeinating!
Jot Coffee Review: Is this Concentrate Worth the Buzz?
If you're looking for a eco-conscious and fair-minded company that produces convenience coffee, then you'll need to read our Jot Coffee review!
4.7
