Cafe Kola
Tree House Brewing Company

 

 

L- Black.....minimal head.....lacing is sparse

S-Mocha......dark chocolate......dark cherries....figs.....mild barrel notes

T-some boozy barrel......vanilla, bourbon, shoe leather, dark fruits, bitter chocolate

F- Medium plus.....creamy and slick.....low carb

O- Good brew......not among the very best BBA's......but very solid

 

 

Picked-up a single bottle at Tree House in Sandwich for ten dollars. My two hundred and forty first brew reviewed from these guys. Just ok for me.

 

L - pours thick and sludgy out of the bottle. Incredibly viscous. Pitch brown with zero light filtration. Hard to get an aggressive pour due to the thiqqness, so I didn't get any head on this one. Maybe the tiniest of rings of lacing with one bubble. Feels like I'm swirling motor oil. Leaves some hefty legs behind.

S - smells just like the liqueur. Sweet, rich, coffee flavor that is heavy on the nuts. Almonds, vanilla, and a heaping helping of dark berries to round out the decadent aromatics.

T - marzipan and butter cream. Heavy coffee flavor, but far from a dark or bold roast. Vanilla shines through to add additional sweetness. Blackberry jam and a touch of woodsy barrel character to keep this one tasting exotic. Finish is a bit sticky sweet, but balanced by fresh herbal bitterness to keep you coming back for more.

F - it's just as thick as it looks. Almost no carbonation up front which is kind of an eerie feeling. Feels like the way magma looks when flowing down the sides of a volcano. Or is that lava? Except ice cold. Quite a bit of cold brew influence in that respect. Carb comes in toward the end to cut into the viscosity.

O - like it says on the tin, this is certainly a great complement to Tree House's coffee liqueur. What strikes me about both of these is how they don't taste like traditional black coffee... there is a twist that is undeniably Tree House in the form of fruity flavors and nuttiness. It's not always what you're looking for in a coffee beer, but it's different enough to keep me coming back for more.

 

 

 

 

 

12oz bottle poured into a spiegelau stout glass

Pitch black motor oil / tar capped by a one finger brown finger of foam , reduces to a thin layer

Aroma is coffee, kola, berries,

Taste is coffee, roast malts

Mouthfeel is thick, syrupy

Good beer

Modest head production, but poor retention, as it quickly fades to a thin dark brown ring and a touch of foamy residue.

Strong coffee notes, noticeable even from feet away. Up close, notes of earthy and berry-tinged coffee, chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, bourbon, nuts. The coffee notes are strong and delectable.

Nuttier on the palate than expected. There's a nice coffee note that grows throughout the sip, but it's less sharp and bitter than expected. The bourbon and vanilla notes combine with the coffee to give a fair impression of a coffee liqueur, while the oak adds a slight sharpness. The malt base lacks the sweetness to support the bitterness; the focus is definitely on representing the coffee above all else.

Mouthfeel is thinner and a bit fizzier than I expect for a Tree House stout.

This is a good beer, and it's truth in advertising. It's not exactly what I want out of a 10% ABV BBA imperial coffee stout, as I'd prefer a thicker mouthfeel and more depth of rich, chocolatey flavor to complement the intense coffee flavor. The bourbon barrels don't impart much added sweetness, either.