Tiramisu
Donzoko Brewing & Taproom

my first ever beer from these guys, thanks to a friend who brought this back from his time overseas, unbelievable attractive packing on this little can, really sharp, eye catching but also understated, great aesthetic. the beer in the can is cool too, although somewhat of a small doses thing, delicious but not totally hitting like the dessert it promises to, still, dig it fully, unique in a number of ways, not least of which is the inclusion of the famed and banned in the states tonka beans, which is a rare beer ingredient, at least in these parts because of that, so cool! it also has coffee and cacao and vanilla in it, and its pretty flavored overall, but still grainy and the base stout is of quality, very interesting. this can was best by january 2025, so some coffee fade is to be expected. dark brown, near black, close to still after a second, not grotesquely viscous as dessert stouts go, some shine to it. the nose is vanilla forward with some bitter coffee thats not heavily roasty, the dark grain does that just fine, and even with the fade on it, the coffee has nuance in the raisin to cocoa range, giving this a cool depth, lots of caramel grain richness apparent too, the highly aromatic tonka element, notes of cola and maple there, the chocolate element is all through the aroma as well, warming without being hotly alcoholic, sweet without being fully diabetic, and nice contributions from all of the elements. the flavor is a touch less cohesive to me with some astringency coming in from the coffee, some pretty deep bitterness that lingers, and still a lot of sugar through it, vanilla is strong but all the extra ingredients have their moment, the tonka is so interesting and seems to marry beautifully with the vanilla in particular but also the coffee and the sweeter middle malts, somewhat floral and spicy to me, its impact on this is obvious. long coffee linger, full body and palate coating, brown sugar there, less alcohol than expected, some late acidity and prickle that maybe is just a product of its age, and overall a tasty and very distinctive beer in a somewhat samey style space these days, love the inclusion of the tonka, and am curious to try more from this brewery after this. well done.

Canned in tall stubbie crafty craft can and purchased from Manchester city centre craft beer stalwarts Beermoth on Tibb street
Pours a jet black body with splatterings of tan head
Aroma is big coffee stack
Flavour is mocha and booze