White Bay are in bed with their neighbours, The Little Marionette coffee roasters, again but this time it’s less about the complexity and more about the intensity.
This is the second time the two businesses at 26 Mansfield Street have blended their expertise. Their previous collab - a Baltic porter with Ethiopian coffee beans - was like the fruity filter coffee you order and discuss with your barista as you explore the intriguing nuances of flavour. Blend 26 is more like the extra strong cappuccino you order on your way to work to give you the jolt you need to get on with the day.
Don’t misunderstand. It’s by no means a bludgeon. Upon the pour, the bubbles rise lazily and luxuriously to form a head like cappuccino froth, and a rich aroma of roasty coffee blends with sticky vanilla and milk chocolate. But on that first sip the sweetness from the Madagascan vanilla beans and chocolate malts becomes subtle and secondary, like the dusting of chocolate on your morning cap. Here the oomph and earthiness of the dark roasted coffee beans - Little Marionette’s Sanchez blend - comes to play, smooth and unrelenting.
By the time you’re done, you’ll notice three things. The first is that there’s a lovely oily slickness still clinging to the inside of your glass. The second is that, while this beer contains a hefty amount of alcohol, you didn’t really notice the taste of it. The third is that, while you feel like you just had a strong coffee, you’re also ready for a nap.
Perhaps don’t drink this before work after all.
Mick Wust
Published October 1, 2020 2020-10-01 00:00:00
