Whenever I shop at the Royal Subic store at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, I always stock up on coffee. I only shop there once a month, so you can imagine how much of any particular item I might buy at one time.

The problem I have is that when I enter the store's coffee and tea aisle, I tend to get stuck there, ogling all the different brands and kinds of coffee (and sometimes tea). I'm talking about everything from automatic drip coffee to canned coffee, locally produced and imported. Apparently, I'm not the only coffee lover to get stuck there at times because at least two other people were in the aisle, looking at coffee, for as long as I was. One of them was still there when I exited.

Café Time Coffee

Since I have a monthly food (and drink) budget that isn't very flexible, the only thing I can really do is taste test anything other than the coffee I normally stock up on. This time was the first time I saw this particular brand of canned coffee on the shelf.

Café Time Coffee is produced by the Apex Food Company out of Taipei, Taiwan. I bought two flavors, the french roast and the espresso. I checked out the ingredients before buying: Water, coffee, sugar and powdered milk. There's nothing unusual to be wary of.

I have since finished off both cans. The french roast tasted exactly like french roast should, but the espresso wasn't nearly as strong as I thought it would be. The cost was 80 cents (USD) for the french roast and 90 cents for the espresso, and at 11.5 fluid ounces each. This was far cheaper than anything Starbucks has to offer in the store and more liquid to add insult to injury. Do the Starbucks "frappuccino" flavors taste the same, worse or better? In my opinion, the Café Time Coffee tastes almost the same.

More Taste Testing

Next month, I plan to buy a couple of other brands of canned coffee. At this time, I have no idea which brands I'll select but I'll be steering clear of the brands I've already mentioned.

There are some really nasty-tasting coffee brands on the shelves at the Royal Subic and I hope I don't accidentally buy one or more of them since I can't remember which ones are which.

I guess I'll have to consider the luck of the draw when the time comes.

• The Top Coffee Brands according to Consumer Reports
• The New Starbucks Coffee Shop at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone
• When Trying to Save Money by Buying Cheap Coffee, Never Settle for Second Best
• It All Starts with Espresso in US Coffee Shops
• Nescafé Protect – Green Coffee Beans Combined with Regular Coffee Beans