Baba Tonka
Põhjala Brewery & Tap Room

Bottle: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a dark brown foamy head with some retention and some light lacing notes. Aroma of black chocolate notes with some vanilla and spices.. Taste is also a mix of black chocolate notes with some vanilla and herbal/spices notes with a dry bitter finish. Body is about average with good carbonation with some alcohol notes discernible. Enjoyable imperial stout with strong tonka bean flavors.

 

 

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a tiny, fizzy head. Smells is really dominated by the additives here, with intense tonka and salted caramel notes and not much of the malt showing through here except perhaps hints of roasted and chocolately accents. Taste is a good balance of very slightly roasted, caramel malt, strong notes of tonka and salted caramel, as well as hints of chocolate, licorice and tobacco. Finishes with a medium sweetness and some tonka and salted caramel lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and low carbonation.

While this makes for an enjoyable enough Imperial Stout, it's a bit too dominated by the additives here, not leaving the malts quite enough room to breathe, while also feeling a bit boozy. I do enjoy both tonka and salted caramel well enough and while this never becomes quite too sweet, I would have wished for some more roasted and bitter notes here to balance this out a little better. Overall, it still makes for an enjoyable brew that is just not quite to my taste, while I do mourn roasted and bitter Stouts which seem to become harder and and harder to find these days, to the point where I'm considering to stop drinking them at all.

Poured at fridge temp. Pours black with a very thin layer of tan head. The nose is amazing. Tonka beans right out of the gate. Christmas cake, chocolate, black licorice, roasted malts, vanilla, a touch of cinnamon, and caramel. The taste is insanely good on this. Wow. Thick and creamy chocolate, salted caramel, bread, cinnamon, black licorice, vanilla, bitter roasted malts, coffee, tonka beans, and more chocolate. So incredibly smooth. Mouthfeel is thick and creamy. The alcohol is not detectable, which makes this a scary one! Would definitely seek this one out!