Short Dark & Handsome (Mexican Hot Chocolate with Marshmallow)
Other Half Brewing - Center Street

 

16 oz. can. Pours black. Smells of chocolate, vanilla, a little cinnamon and a little pepper. Tastes sweet. Sweet milk chocolate, marshmallow, cinnamon, and hints of peppers. Medium heavy, but pretty sweet. Too gimmicky and sweet to drink much of, but I could tell that at the first sip. A few sips and I don't want any more.

 

Picked this up at Other Half a few months back and had high hopes for it, given how wonderful the other iterations of Short, Dark, and Handsome were. No, this wasn't a bad beer but it was just average and not particularly memorable in any way. It was a Stout but came across as quite easy and accessible, all the way down to the last sip.

The pour to this was dark, with a massive mocha head that overflowed out of my pint glass as the silky softness of it took quite a while to settle down. Shockingly, there was almost no lacing left behind as I worked my way through this as this had to be one of the odder beers that I've had lately. It looked like soda and the initial impression I got was that it was a root beer of sorts because of the stickiness and sweet, spicy nature that this had. The taste was just as rustic, with cinnamon spice, marshmallow paste, and a hint of chili spice in the aftertaste. Powder from the cacao nibs gave this a gritty undertone as this needed a bit more chocolate sweetness and dark fruit to really bring it out!

There wasn't anything stamped on the bottom of the can as this held up well over the last two and a half months, with no residue being present in the liquid or at the bottom of my pint glass. Plenty of sweetness and body to this but in the end, this was a relatively easy to grasp beer that was fun and sweet without being potent. It's not o the level of the Kane Mexican Brunch or Stone Xocoveza but this would be a nice way to wrap up a night of enjoying brews...

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into a pint glass via can

color is similar to coca cola

smell is fudgy with hints of cinnamon and vanilla

taste follows the nose with a dash of chili pepper heat on the back end

carbonation is low, mouthfeel is thin