Coffee fit for the Workers of the World

It's May Day... and we're reviewing coffee that comes to us from the Worker's Paradise of Vietnam! Workers of the World, Unite! And go on coffee break!

  

Willkins and Wontkins know coffee, be it Commie or Capitalist sourced.

 

CHESTBREW COFFEE COMPANY: GRIZZLY BEAR

ChestBrew Coffee Company was founded in the mid 2010s when friends of its owners began demanding that coffee brought back for personal use from trips to Vietnam be shared with them. At the time, no one was marketing authentic Vietnamese coffee in the United States, so ChestBrew stepped in to fill the void. A secondary motivation was to provide an affordable and simple alternative to the complicated and expensive pour-over offerings that were on the market at the time. (You can read more about ChestBrew and their coffees on their website.) 

ChestBrew positions themselves as a coffee-drinker's coffee maker; they say there's lots of caffeine AND flavor in their Vietnam-grown, carefully roasted Arabica beans. As I've confessed repeatedly in these coffee reviews, I am heavily in the fru-fru camp when it comes to coffee preferences. So, when choosing one of their offerings to review, I went with the medium roast Grizzly Bear blend, which is available as whole beans that are "dark chocolate dusted".

The moment I opened the bag, I figured I was in for a treat. The coffee smell was strong, and it remained strong as I ground and then brewed the first pot. It's not often that I pick up on the smell of brewing coffee when I'm in my office, but ChestBrew's Grizzly Bear was a great exception to the normal.

The aroma remained strong as I poured my first cup-full. The advertised chocolate dust could not be detected in the air, but it was present as a strong undertone as I took my first sip. The coffee flavor was strong and smooth and delicious and truly a full-flavored coffee. In fact, it was so smooth that I drank that first cup without adding any of my usual unsweetend almond milk or sugar-free cream, but instead just added about half a package of Stevia. That's a break with my usual protocols for this article series, but since I have an entire 20-oz. bag of Grizzly Bear (as opposed to the 4-oz. sample packs most of my Bones Coffee reviews are based on), so I have plenty of opportunities to try this coffee in however many ways that might strike me.

When I tried Grizzly Bear with Unsweetened Almond Milk, the coffee flavor remained intense and what few rough edges that still existed disappeared. The hint of chocolate got washed out, but I didn't miss it all that much. As the coffee cooled to room temperature, the flavor held steady.

Drinking Grizzly Bear with the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer was okay, but I didn't like it as much as I did with the unsweetened almond milk. Curiously, the drink seemed a little too sweet; the coffee flavor remained strong, but the Italian Sweet Cream creamer mixed with it in an almost sickly-sweet fashion that I'd not experienced before. It didn't exactly ruin my cup of Grizzly Bear, but the two certainly did not mix well. That overwhelming sweetness only got worse as the coffee cooled--to the point where I just dumped the last bit into the sink.

Given that odd interaction, I tried mixing the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer with some of Unsweetened Almond milk with a cup of Grizzly Bear. It worked a little better, but the creamer flavor still came across stronger than I ever remember experienced before. Why? I have no idea, but it certainly doesn't belong in Grizzly Bear.

When consumed over ice, Grizzly Bear is fabulous whether you drink it straight--although it gets even better with a touch of Stevia added--or if you add Unsweetened Almond Milk. The coffee flavor is very mellow, with the lovely hints of chocolate adding greatly to the experience. I, once again, broke with the standard protocol and tried iced Grizzly Bear with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, and it was also quite excellent. My favorite iced variety was the one where I just added the unsweetened almond milk. (For the sake of consistency with other reviews, I tried Grizzly Bear with the creamer as well. It worked a little better over ice, but it still did not mix well with the flavor of the coffee.)

I highly recommend Grizzly Bear to anyone who is interested in a strong-flavored, yet smooth, coffee that features a touch of chocolate. Although it only seems to be available as whole beans, grinding it is worth the extra step. I got this coffee with no expectations--just so I could make a May Day joke--but it turned out to be a great product! When my current bag is empty, I'll probably order another one!

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WILLKINS & WONTKINS: THE CAFFEINATED MUPPETS
The characters of Willkins and Wontkins (seen at the top of the post) were an early creation of Jim Henson. Originally conceived for a television ad campaign for U.S.-based coffee company Wilkins Coffee, these muppets became so popular that toys were made of them in the early 1960s. You can learn more and watch a whole slew of the ads by clicking here. Also, below is the Wilkins Coffee ad from which the image that opens this post was captured. If you find it funny, you'll get a big kick out of the ad compilation in that other post.