Saturday, January 4, 2014

Pokka Sapporo Black (coffee) - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Pokka Sapporo BLACK (coffee) - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Every time I go to the Asian Food Market, I buy a different canned (or bottled) coffee for my caffeine-addicted boyfriend. He went on a trip to Japan a few years ago and, while there, he was addicted to vending machine coffee. There was one brand he really liked, Boss Café au Lait, but I haven't been unable to find it in NJ. Until I do, he seems to enjoy trying all the different canned/bottled coffees I scrounge up for him.

This time I was able to find some Pokka Sapporo BLACK. I really liked the small, but bold, packaging, so I grabbed one for myself. (Even though I am not a big coffee drinker.)

As far as I can tell, Pokka and Sapporo were two different beverage companies. Pokka was well known for it's canned coffees and teas, while Sapporo was a very popular beer producer. The two companies merged as of 2013 and are looking forward to adding new flavors and food items to their lineup.

On to the packaging!


The bottle is small, so it fits easily in hand, and it feels lightweight, like it's made with aluminum. As far as the design, it is simple, but very bold. The strongest combination of colors in graphic design are black, white, and red. (I know, technically black and white are values and shades, not colors, but you understand what I mean.) Basically, this is about as bold and masculine as a product can get. I don't think that this team could have come up with a more suitable design for this product. I mean, this is black coffee and I'm fairly certain this item is marketed towards men. Overall, great design and it does reach their intended market. (As well as 20-something white women who write food blogs.)


I opened the bottle and poured the coffee into a glass to get a better look at it.
When they say black, they mean black. Look at how dark this is! This stuff isn't just intensely colored, the aroma was really strong as well. This has a very bold, bitter, and dark roasted aroma. For a non-coffee drinker like myself, the aroma was a bit intimidating, but still appealing.


I typically drink my coffee with tons of milk and sugar, but I am prepared to try this as-is without any add-ins. (Typing that makes me feel like I am performing a stunt or something.)

I took a small sip, and it wasn't as bitter as I was expecting. Actually, this stuff went down really smoothly. There is a tangy, acidic, dark coffee flavor, but this was no where near as intense as I thought it'd be. In fact, I think I can handle this stuff without the cream and sugar!


Maybe coffee isn't as intense in Japan, or I might (finally) be building up a tolerance, but this was a pretty delicious coffee beverage. Although I still prefer my coffee with milk and sugar, this would be a great base for iced coffee beverages this spring. My only concern is the acidity, I could see this causing some people heartburn, but there are tons of medicines available to prevent that from being an issue.
© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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