What We Looked At
870 product reviews scraped from Judge.me, spanning frothed oat lattes, flash brew coffee, espresso martini mixers, oat milk, specialty coffee beans, and merchandise. 686 are 5-star reviews (79%), 52 are 4-star (6%), and 132 are 3-star or below (15%). The negative reviews contain the most actionable intelligence: they reveal expectations the brand is setting but not consistently meeting, particularly around frothing performance and shipping reliability.
What We Found
Two Bears is three brands in one body. A ready-to-drink latte company. A specialty coffee roaster. And increasingly, a cocktail culture brand. The Espresso Martini Mixer has only 57 reviews but generates the most passionate, detailed, and shareable language in the entire dataset. Customers describe buying it as gifts, serving it at parties, subscribing monthly, and recommending it to friends. No other product in the lineup creates that kind of evangelism.
The core latte business is strong: 332 reviews mention "coffee," 164 mention "latte," and 131 reference "oat milk." Words like "delicious" (158), "love" (235), and "amazing" (81) dominate the positive reviews. But the data reveals a critical vulnerability: the "Barista Oat" product repeatedly disappoints on frothing performance, with multiple 1-star reviews calling out false claims. And shipping issues account for a disproportionate share of negative reviews, with customers describing damaged products and unresponsive support.
The most overlooked opportunity: 35 reviews mention "morning" as a use case, and 24 describe "convenience" as the primary purchase driver. Two Bears is not just selling beverages. It is selling a simplified morning ritual for busy Canadians who want café-quality drinks without leaving the house. That positioning is worth more than any single product.
Analyzed
Identified
Saying "Love"
Mixer Reviews
What the Brand Says vs. What the Product Actually Is
The key insight: customers are not just describing a coffee brand. They are describing three different products for three different occasions. The latte buyers want a convenient morning ritual. The espresso martini mixer buyers are building a cocktail culture identity. The oat milk buyers are making a dietary lifestyle choice. The product lineup is the same. The reasons people buy are not. Each of those reasons points to a different market with different competitors, different language, and different purchase triggers.
Five Markets. One Brand.
This is Two Bears' home turf. The frothed oat lattes (vanilla, salted caramel, black, chai, matcha) account for the bulk of reviews and the most consistent positive sentiment. Customers describe the taste as "delicious," "creamy," and "not too sweet." The frothed format is the differentiator—it creates a café experience at home. The convenience factor is enormous: busy parents, office workers, and campers describe grabbing a can instead of making a latte from scratch.
Works Alongside (Not Against)
Buyer Types in This Market
Angles That Work Here
What They Say
"Recently been shopping more at my local organic market & I really wanted a coffee base beverage, but something healthy, refreshing & new that would taste good. I'm a Canadian, nature lover girl so instantly the packaging caught my eye."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"I've tried many oat milk brands from organic supermarkets, and I find that Two Bears accompanies my morning coffee best. I prefer vanilla over the original or coffee latte flavors."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"The best and only milk we use. I have recommended to all I know. The best tasting and free of additives and fillers. Full of creamy flavour."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)The Espresso Martini Mixer is the most interesting product in the Two Bears lineup—not because of volume, but because of behavior. These customers do something no other product's reviewers do: they share recipes, buy for gifts, host with the product, subscribe monthly, and actively recruit friends. The review language is more emotional, more detailed, and more shareable than any other product category. One customer described the foam as "oooohhhhh that foam!!!" Another wrote a mini cocktail guide with vodka and Kahlúa ratios. This is cocktail culture content writing itself.
Works Alongside (Not Against)
Two Bears is sitting on a cocktail culture brand that lives inside a coffee company. The espresso martini is the cocktail of the moment—trending on TikTok, Instagram, and menus worldwide. Two Bears already has the product. They just need to give it its own identity, its own content strategy, and its own audience.
Buyer Types in This Market
Angles That Work Here
What They Say
"By far the best mixer to make an espresso martini with. I use 1.5 oz vodka and .50 oz Kahlúa. Delicious and convenient. I highly recommended. Although they are a bit pricey but I always wait for a sale before I order them."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"I love the mixer!! So much easier to make my martinis. Never a bitter taste and oooohhhhh that foam!!! I tried it and then subscribed to monthly deliveries 😍"
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"Always bought these in store one at a time but I splurged for the espresso pack as holiday gifts! They were a huge hit!! Makes delicious espresso martinis and easy to make. I'm a repeat offender already!!"
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)A significant segment of Two Bears customers are not buying a beverage brand. They are buying a simplified morning. The flash brew cans and frothed lattes replace the entire coffee-making ritual: grinding, brewing, frothing, cleaning. For busy parents, commuters, and remote workers, the value proposition is time. One customer described being "new to Toronto" and finding Two Bears as the solution to not having coffee equipment. Another described using them for "camping, having on hand at work, park trips with the kids."
Works Alongside (Not Against)
Two Bears already sells convenience. But the messaging leads with ingredients and taste. For the morning-ritual segment, the hero is time saved and quality preserved. A café-quality latte in 10 seconds, not 10 minutes. No equipment, no cleanup, no compromise.
Buyer Types in This Market
Angles That Work Here
What They Say
"I am new to Toronto and my new home is out of fresh coffee. I randomly found Two Bears on Google. The fast delivery and value of the Sampler made me have the first order. Turn out I made a good choice. I have a great morning with a balanced coffee while the coffee in can is perfect for on-the-go."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"The convenience of these being premixed for camping, having on hand at work, park trips with the kids etc. is worth something."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"This is a lovely drink and I love it in the mornings. Look forward to guzzling more!"
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)Hidden in the data is a small but deeply loyal segment: customers who buy Two Bears whole bean coffee. These are not casual buyers. One reviewer described following Two Bears "from their café to their warehouse to online ordering." Another has been buying "for many many many years." The language is different from the latte buyers—it is more intimate, more knowledgeable, and more emotionally attached. These customers see Two Bears as a craft roaster, not a canned beverage company. They represent the highest lifetime value per customer in the dataset.
Works Alongside (Not Against)
Buyer Types in This Market
Angles That Work Here
What They Say
"I've been using these beans for many many many years now. I love the full body taste for my espresso based drinks without feeling like I'm getting smacked in the face with the bite of caffeine... it's like a warm hug in the morning. I love this blend so much that I followed them to their warehouse when their café closed and now I'm ordering them online."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"Love this coffee. TWO Bears is amazing."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"First cup was great!"
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)A meaningful segment of buyers choose Two Bears specifically because of what is not in the product. They are avoiding dairy, reading ingredient labels, and choosing oat milk as a lifestyle decision. The Barista Oat product serves this market directly, and the frothed lattes serve it indirectly. The language includes "free of additives and fillers," "clean," "organic," and "healthy." This is the wellness-adjacent buyer who shops at organic markets and makes purchasing decisions based on ingredient lists.
Works Alongside (Not Against)
Most plant milks hide behind "natural flavors" and long ingredient lists. Two Bears leads with simplicity: oats, water, and ingredients you recognize. For the label-reading, dairy-free buyer, that difference is everything.
Buyer Types in This Market
Angles That Work Here
What They Say
"The best and only milk we use. I have recommended to all I know. The best tasting and free of additives and fillers. Full of creamy flavour."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"Best oat milk on the market right now. I order a case every month ❤️"
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)"Recently been shopping more at my local organic market & I really wanted a coffee base beverage, but something healthy, refreshing & new that would taste good."
Two Bears Customer (Judge.me)Side by Side
| Market | Current Presence | Review Evidence | Market Size | Top Angle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTD Oat Lattes | Full brand identity | 400+ reviews | Very Large | "Café Quality, Can Convenience" |
| Cocktail Culture / Espresso Martini | One product, no identity | 57 reviews | Large (trending) | "Bar-Quality Foam at Home" |
| Morning Ritual / Convenience | Implicit, not positioned | 35+ reviews | Very Large | "Your Morning in 10 Seconds" |
| Specialty Coffee Beans | Available, not featured | 48 reviews | Niche | "From Our Café to Your Kitchen" |
| Clean / Dairy-Free | Partial positioning | 131+ reviews | Large (growing) | "Free of Additives and Fillers" |
The takeaway: The highest-priority opportunity is the Espresso Martini / Cocktail Culture market. It has the highest passion density, the strongest word-of-mouth behavior, and cultural tailwind from the espresso martini trend. The Morning Ritual market has the largest addressable audience but requires only a messaging shift, not a new product. The Clean/Dairy-Free market is growing and Two Bears is well-positioned but not explicitly targeting it.
Three Ways to Expand Without Losing the Core
Build an Espresso Martini Sub-Brand
The mixer generates the highest passion density, gift-giving, and evangelism of any product. Give it its own landing page, its own content strategy (recipe videos, cocktail culture content), and its own seasonal push (holiday gift sets, Valentine's, summer entertaining). The espresso martini trend is massive on social media—Two Bears already has the product. Run Meta and TikTok ads with recipe-style video content targeting cocktail culture and home entertaining audiences.
Position the Lattes as a Morning Ritual, Not Just a Beverage
Create a content angle around "your café, in a can." Target busy parents, commuters, and remote workers with messaging about time saved. At $3-4/can vs $6-7 at a café, the math favors Two Bears. Run a Meta ad set with convenience-first messaging and compare conversion rate against current taste-forward creative. If it converts better for certain audiences, it opens a new acquisition channel without cannibalization.
Fix the Barista Oat Frothing Problem Before It Scales
This is the most urgent product issue in the data. Multiple 1-star reviews describe the Barista Oat as not frothing despite "barista-friendly" claims. Options: reformulate for better frothing, change packaging language to set accurate expectations, or add frothing instructions. Every false-claim review costs more than a lost customer—it is negative word-of-mouth that undermines the clean-ingredient trust Two Bears has built.
How to Validate These Discoveries
The espresso martini opportunity is the clearest first test. The product exists, the customer passion is documented, and the cultural moment (espresso martini trend) provides organic tailwind. A dedicated landing page with cocktail-forward messaging, 3-5 recipe-style video ads, and targeted reach to cocktail culture and home entertaining audiences on Meta and TikTok could validate this market within 3-4 weeks of spend. The gift-set angle should be tested separately for Q4 seasonal performance.
The morning ritual positioning is the lowest-effort test. No new products needed. Run a Meta ad set with "your café in a can" messaging targeting busy parents and commuters. Compare conversion rate and CPA against current taste-forward messaging. If convenience-first messaging converts better for certain audiences, it opens a new acquisition channel that does not cannibalize existing messaging.
The frothing issue is the clearest first fix. Review the Barista Oat formulation against competitor frothing performance. If the product cannot match the "barista" claim, change the claim before it generates more 1-star reviews. The cost of fixing packaging language is trivial compared to the cost of ongoing negative reviews on a product with "barista" in the name.
What we did not include: This analysis is based on publicly available review data from Judge.me. With first-party data (subscription retention rates by product, repeat purchase frequency, acquisition channel performance, and customer lifetime value by segment) we could confirm which markets generate the highest LTV and which products should anchor each market's funnel.