La Colombe's Canned Oat Milk Lattes Are Another Plant-Based Milk Win

In 2017, La Colombe — the beloved third-wave coffee company based out of Philadelphia — made headlines for launching the world's first canned, frothy draft latte, using nitrous oxide to create the texture. The brand started out with a standard latte, before branching out to more trendy and seasonal flavors, including pumpkin spice and honeysuckle. In 2019, the lineup expanded with yet another buzzy ingredient that was steadily trickling its way into coffee shops: oat milk.

In August, 2019, La Colombe announced that it would be launching a canned version of its oat milk draft lattes, which they introduced to their on-tap menu in June 2018. The lattes debuted that September and come in original, vanilla, and caramel flavors, all packed into a 9-ounce can. With an office full of oat milk fans, we were immediately curious about the taste.

Thanks to La Colombe, we sampled all three of the canned draft lattes right when they launched. The original was a staff favorite, lightly sweet and creamy with hints of earthiness from the coffee — we'd gladly add it to our morning caffeine routine. Next up was the caramel, which had a sweet profile with a smooth finish and a pleasant, almost brûléed taste; the vanilla, on the other hand, was still sweet but more mild, and the oat flavors definitely came through. All flavors are vegan and gluten-free, packing in 120 milligrams of natural caffeine per can — aka 1.5 cups of coffee. It's a convenient way to bring your caffeine fix to work without worrying about spills on the subway or succumbing to sub-par office brews. Plus, oat milk has some environmental perks. Oats require "significantly less water to produce" compared to other plant-based options, according to La Colombe; they're also a great rotational crop, and provide fats, carbs, and proteins.

If you want to try the lattes yourself, they launched on September 5, 2019 at all 30 of the brand's cafés, as well as on the website, Amazon, and select retailers, including Wegmans and Harris Teeter. Each can started at $3.49. In addition to oat milk, La Colombe also offers several other plant-based drink options, including the coconut draft latte, coconut mocha draft latte, Colombian cold brew, Brazilian cold brew, nitro cold brew lemonade, and nitro cold brew grapefruit.