Beer, Motorcycles and Cigars — Beer, Bikes and Butts

I seem to recall on the Drew Carey Show, the characters experimented with a coffee/beer combination, thinking it would be a natural – the coffee would keep you awake to drink more beer. The concoction turned out horrible, but that didn’t stop them from drinking it anyway.

To give me fodder for my blog, friends sometimes bring over unusual beers (hey, you bring me beer, I’ll be your friend too), but they often lean toward novelty beers.  (The three quart Double Bastard Ale in the photo is another example, but that’s a novelty I can live with. “But Officer, I only had ONE BEER!”*)  I’d been putting off this Fuel Café Coffee Flavored Stout for awhile, thinking it was the punch line to that Drew Carey episode.  As it turned out, this is an eminently drinkable beer.

The beer pours almost completely black with a tall brown head. The nose was very nice, with the expected coffee scent along with molasses. These smells matched the taste, along with a hint of sorghum.  I think I’ve only had sorghum once in my life, and it’s probably the same thing as molasses, but my tastebuds said sorghum so that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  The mouthfeel was thick and creamy.  The beer is heavy and I suspect the sweetness and strong coffee flavors would become cloying, so I can’t rank this high for drinkability, but if you’re in the mood for a stout, don’t keep reaching around this one.  As a standalone, I rank this an 8.4 on the Morris Scale.

Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ (white label), Belicoso (5.7″ x 52)

This all Nicaraguan cigar is manufactured in Miami. The wrapper is a medium dark tan with minimal veins. Construction looked good, but the initial burn on this cigar was one of the worst I’ve experienced; burning about as even as a rolled up newspaper. But once I was into the cigar about three-quarters of an inch, it all evened out just fine.

The taste was initially unremarkable, and a little harsh, but some character soon developed. The taste became mildly spicy with some notes of wood. The taste continued to improve, but at the rate of improvement the stick was about two inches too short to ever grow into something truly impressive. No regrets, but not a cigar I would buy. I’ll give it a 8.0.

* Drink responsibly.

Posted on March 25th, 2009 by Aaron Morris
Filed under: Beer, Cigars, Reviews