“A decadent imperial stout fermented with organic dates then dosed with medium roast La Primavera coffee, sourced from Guatemalan cafetalero Raul Ricci, grandfather of Garage’s very own Maria. A complex malt bill including roast and caramel malts, oats, wheat and rye contributes to a rich, velvety smooth dark chocolate base.”
Glassware: Snifter.
Appearance: Pitch black…as expected. It forms a thumb of finely beaded brown foam which holds together and leaves beautifully cascading lace down the glass.
Aroma: We’ve said it a hundred times before and we’ll say it again: coffee and stout are one of the best blends ever created! The huge coffee overtones marry up to the somewhat sweet milk chocolate malts perfectly. Getting tonnes of marzipan, licorice and vanilla with more delicate touches of brown sugar, maple and toffee fudge. This has got the olfactory’s absolutely singing!
Flavour: Although still quite sweet there is much more of a pronounced roast and espresso bitterness. Caramelised brown sugar and vanilla soften the strong espresso, charred malts, cooking chocolate and warming booze. The warmth and bitterness kicks up another notch but flavour isn’t sacrificed…it still holds on to heady notes of raw espresso, chocolate and charred malt as it finishes with an assertive roasty bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Dense and chewy. Just a slightly lifted Co2 hands it a bit of liveliness. Booze (11.5% ABV) maybe a touch too enthusiastic.
Overall: Certainly a respectable coffee stout but yeah, just a couple of small things get in the way of it being a world class drop. Pretty damn good but.