The Buzz About 'Meth Coffee' Gets Your Trimethyldioxypurist Off His Ass
Hey, folks. It's been a while. Accordingly, we should probably reprint our mission statement:
Let's talk caffeine. Trimethyldioxypurine. What better window into San Francisco than its coffee? Or something like that.
Your Trimethyldioxypurist has been very happy with his coffee-related life; we're utilizing our good brewer, good water, freshly roasted beans, and somewhat decent burr grinder to consistently enjoy our coffee at home. And when we feel like going out for an espresso drink, we tend to hit the favorites we've talked about in the past.
In other words, not much has changed. We've settled into a comfortable, happy caffeine routine. Great for us, not so great in terms of prolific writing. We've become a creature of habit, if you will.
Speaking of "habit" -- we were a little intrigued when we heard about San Francisco-based roaster "Meth Coffee," who had enough media coverage on launch day that we actually heard somebody on news radio talking about it.
The brand's provocative name is underscored by its marketing scheme: an anonymous roaster ("The Roaster") who transmits his missives from some underground bunker or safehouse, describing the strange and wonderful effects from his lastest concoctions.
Yeah, it's a gimmick. It struck us at first as silly and poser-ish; specialty coffee is a sector that as whole is attempting to be taken seriously; this kind of silliness sort of undermines those efforts. The schtick also enforces a message that the "buzz" is what's most important in a brew--a sentiment that many specialty coffee aficionados and purveyors try to counter daily.
On the positive side, if you dig a little deeper into the company's Web site, you'll find some pretty amusing stuff (we were tickled by the recipe for "sock coffee," for instance). Also, the notion of a special "buzz" is backed up by ingredients -- Meth Coffee contains some Yerba Mate as well, which is known to give a caffeine-like boost. Therefore, a combination conceptually could be very successful in helping one "get up and go."
In any case, we hoped that our actual tasting of the coffee would mitigate our initial negative sentiments about the branding. A company rep was kind enough to send us a 10 oz. sample, which usually retails for $12.
We brewed several batches; two in our vacuum brewer and one in our moka pot. And you know what? It's pretty good!
How does it compare to the other coffee out there? Meth Coffee is bold without being bitter and it takes milk very well. There isn't much in terms of exciting flavor going on there, as we found in, say, the products from specialty roaster Taylor Maid Farms. We did detect a bit of a cardboard--a kind of flat flavor element---that was not overpowering or defining, but present if you have discerning taste. Even so, it's certainly on par with what you'd get at a Tully's, Peet's, or similar. The "yerba mate" aspect really stood out to us in terms of a nice buzz; we're so chronically overcaffeinated that we don't often get such a pleasant feeling from our morning brew.
There's actually a very similar product from Jeremiah's Pick (a dark roast with mate), which we used to get when readily available at a local store, and we recall liking a bit better in terms of flavor profile. However, we think Meth's roaster really nailed the yerba mate component better (again, a very nice buzz). Another coffee that's marketed similarly as as a "get up and go" coffee, Hair Raiser", also a superdark, bold product, is better in our opinion in terms of flavor profile (though we'll admit the Meth takes milk better than Hair Raiser, which is best black.)
Is it worth the $12? Well, if morning buzz is your coffee priority, we'd say it's worth it to try once at least; Meth Coffee is only available via the Web right now. If you're more of a flavor enthusiast, perhaps it'd be best to put that $12 toward the 2.5 espresso drinks it'll buy at your local cafe. Really, it comes down to personal choice.
So, in summary, while the branding is a little silly, the coffee is good in terms of flavor enjoyment and, as marketed, is a pretty darned good pick-me-up. And, despite that silliness, it's sort of nice to see coffee get attention in different kinds of media, as we heard on the radio. Since news about decent coffee is so often not what makes the headlines ("BK introduces better coffee" is the norm), we're still at the stage in the industry where any micro-roaster getting attention is a good thing, even if for silly reasons.
We'd love your opinions. If anyone else has tried or tries this, hit the comments section below.