During this latest energy fad food craze, many companies have thought up ways to try to drum up sales by adding extra energy ingredients into their already oversweetened and caffeinated products. 7-11 brews fusion coffee, a cheap blend of coffee with some yerba mate powder in it. Circle K stores sell “energy boosters”, where you can pay for an extra shot of a guarana, ginseng and b-vitamin squirt into your favorite beverage. The cheap additive stuff is like the Mickeys, Evil Eye or Magnum 45 ( realllly cheap malt liquors – usually sold in 40oz bottles) of the coffee world, where the product’s taste and flavor are not what is important as much as they are the delivery mechanism in which this particular drug is passed.
This is what makes brewed Shock Coffee so different from everyone else. Firstly, it does give you a super powerful kick-you-in-the-ass jolt of energy surpassing all but the most serious energy drinks. But it also does this while providing a fantastic cup of coffee – holding its own against most non-organic regular coffees. (for a review of their organic coffee, click here)
Buzz/Nutrition:10
Even thought e taste might be great, the reason I am excited by this is that this roast contains 50 percent more caffeine than other gourmet coffees. They don’t do this by adding caffeine to them, sprinkling them with guarana or any other way, other than choosing only highly caffeinated beans. What my burning question is, is how do you possibly grow high quality beans that have more caffeine than other beans? The only answer I can think of is that this coffee is robusto, which is a higher caffeine content than arabica coffee beans, which are usually more high grade. That is the reason why a cup of store brand cheapo coffee can wire you while a gourmet cup of french roast won’t even affect you. But robusto beans are usually very dirty and harsh, while this is a very appetizing and bright flavor.
Either way, this coffee packs a serious wallop!
Taste:8
This stuff tastes like really great coffee. If it is a robusto blend, they sure have found a great way to make them taste delicious. Shock is a mix of coffee varieties,having a unique blend of light, medium, and dark roast beans. Both the aroma and the taste are very clean and vivid, coming through quickly without tasting murky. The flavor seemed complex, although it left a stronger bitterness in my mouth than I expected. Still, the aftertaste is decent, leaving a light sweeness on the tongue. While I still won’t give up my organic breakfast blend anytime soon, this brew of hyper-caffeinated goodness will have a place on my shelf.
Packaging:10
Yes, this is just bulk coffee – but the way they get it to you is pretty unique. They sell this to you in one of two ways. You can either get the smaller packs, or the big one pounder. I thought the little ones were different, as they are filled with oxygen free air , keeping them fresh on opening. They make exactly two pots of coffee in them, so you don’t have the chance to get stale coffee. On the bi bags, they have this cool valve that keeps all the coffee fresh longer. Of course, a pound of coffee does not stay in our house for more than a week or two at the very most – and I am conscious of the waste that all those little non-recyclable bags make too. The best thing for me is if I were able to buy this in bulk somewhere – if they could sell their unroasted beans to a supplier and I could just buy it by the pound like I do normal coffees.
The package itself is very cool – not only for the cleverness of keeping it fresh, but also because of the colors and slogans over it. Unlike many gourmet coffees which go for either rich and complex hues ( usually ones suited to older affluent types – think the colors on a Lexus or Aston Martin), their color scheme is all about the fun, going for primary colors and trying to go after a younger crowd. This not only helps sell the coffee to the right demographic, the logos and slogans on the bag emphasize that this stuff is meant to be drunk not as a light afternoon blend, but as something unusual and fun to be enjoyed. There is just not much more you could ever want from this – performing all the things it needs to do in exemplary fashion.