The September Aldi Find You Should Probably Skip

Bgwalker/Getty Images

It's no secret that Aldi shoppers are obsessed with the store's oat milk. However, a recent addition to Aldi's shelves, Pop & Bottle's Flavored Oat Milk Latte, has left customers less than enthused. This caffeinated beverage is served in an 8-ounce can labeled as "your daily latte with a collagen boost." While collagen in a latte might be good for your skin, apparently not so much for your taste buds. According to one Reddit user, this drink tastes like "salty pool spit."

Pop & Bottle's website claims indulging in coffee should be "an act of self-care," but Aldi fans find their cold brews anything but. Some of this vitriol stems from an odd aftertaste, like the Redditor who also bemoaned the "earthy mushroom" flavor. Some attribute these less-than-appetizing undertones to collagen, and quite a few reviews on the Pop & Bottle website claim you can taste the collagen, and not in a good way. Another Redditor noted the ingredients list included "marine collagen peptides," and quipped that, "'Hydrolyzed fish skin and scales' just doesn't have the same ring to it.'

There is also a texture issue. Even after shaking the cans vigorously, many customers find the drink remains somewhat congealed. Reviewers on the Pop & Bottle website complain of "chunky residue," with one user even claiming a quarter of their drink was filled with this sediment, no matter how hard they shook the can.

With food prices continuing to rise, Americans are increasingly concerned with the cost of groceries. These days, shoppers are increasingly drawn to Aldi's budget-friendly products. Pop & Bottle's Flavored Oat Milk Latte won't exactly break the bank, but the drinks are a little pricey at $3.25 for an eight-ounce bottle. In all fairness, this price is par for the course for canned oat milk products, which usually cost somewhere between $3 and $4. However, considering that 64 ounces of Aldi oat milk costs only $4.29, it's tempting to simply save a few bucks and learn to make oat milk lattes at home.

Online, shoppers are balking at the cost of Pop & Bottle's products. One Reddit user deemed the beverages "not worth the price," and it's not just Aldi shoppers either. In a Reddit for Meijer shoppers, a customer stated, "Gonna sound like a boomer but for $3 it better change my life." Given its subpar reviews, this beverage is unlikely to be a life-changing experience. Between the taste and the price tag, this product falls into the "worst" category of the best and worst foods to buy at Aldi.