Cigar City Cafe Con Leche Stout

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: Sweet Stout
Tampa, Florida USA

Very dark brown colour with a thick, light brown espuma. Rich aroma is full of roast, with some sweet malt. Very rich. Roasty, with tons of sweetness. This does replicate the Cuban coffee experience. Wonderful balance and assertiveness. A top flight coffee stout.

Draft... Pours black with a small, creamy, light brown head. Good retention. The aroma is an acrid marriage of rich, dark chocolate and espresso, along with dabs of vanilla, molasses and soy sauce. Medium to full-bodied with tingly carbonation. Espresso bitterness is perfectly balanced by chocolate sweetness and a lightly acidic note. Lengthy, bitter, coffee finish. My after breath smells like coffee, not booze. Perfect nightcap!

12oz bottle @Tampa Wkly Gathering–pours a brown ring for a head and midnight black color. Aroma is coffee/chickory-dark malt. Taste is coffee/chickory-dark malt, ashy, some earthy hops. Not my style, but awesome for style.

Thanks so much for the handbottle tpd975!, thanks Greg. Shared with dalekliz, this one goes out to Sayid on lost for its badassness. Porus black with a light brown ring. Nose is sweet, and has a ridiculously strong coffe, and for that wow what a nose. Taste is out of this world coffee, with big sweet bitterness and a wallop of coffee. This is excellent and I’m glad I saved this to share with Liz. According to Liz "this is like Sayid because its sexy, smooth and really dangerous!". Excellent. and I don’t even drink coffee.

Two words describe this beer best, YUM. Well, maybe one word. But its yum squared. It pours very dark with light brown head. Good gravy, the aroma is amazing. It is full of robust rich dark roasted coffee beans that nearly bring me to my knees. Wow. Behind that are notes of dark chocolate and a touch of heavy cream. The flavor does not disappoint. I love the full rich decadent yummy very dark roasted coffee. Too many coffee flavored beers just smell and taste like Folgers crystal, meh. This beer has the goods with mouth watering espresso like coffee beans that I need to find and start making coffee with as soon as possible. Like the aroma there are supporting notes in the background like velvety dark chocolate mixing with a mildly drying lactose sensation that play together in harmony with the bold coffee notes. Wow.

Rich black with tan head. Anyone familiar with Cuban coffee will instantly recognize the cafecito looks. Aroma is bang-on cortadito, but better than coffee. Creamy luscious mouthfeel is perfectly carbonated and smoother than a nitro pour. Finishes with a cream flavor, a sly nod to the leche. The flavors are long, lingering with a deep roasted bean flavor permeating each sip and perpetuating throughout the drink. Actually--this is a perfect rendition of a coffee brew. Impressive.

Draft at the brewery, courtesy Joey & Wayne. Pours just about pitch black, perhaps showing a hint of mahogany at the outer reaches. A thick, spongy, light brown head displays excellent retention, leaving gobs of sticky lace on the glass. The aroma is knock your socks off espresso, roasty as all hell. Being married to a Cuban woman, I am used to this aroma on Sunday mornings, as the little *cafetera* is always brewing up some Cuban Coffee. After the initial blast of espresso, the nose opens up to reveal malted chocolate, scorched caramel, and heaps of earthy hop bitterness. Flavors follow suit, again incredibly roasty and very accurate in interpretation of a Cuban Coffee beer, complete with a lightly acrid finish. I will note, however, that the name implies that there is lactose in the brew, which I was unable to detect. Nearly full on the palate, with a silky mouthfeel and light carbonation, even the body resembles that of a perfectly roasted cup of espresso. This is a really nice brew, especially for those with a penchant for hearty coffee, but I think the addition of some lactose would improve things overall and bring things more in line with both the name of the beer and the sweet stout category.

Bottle courtesy of Retorp. Pours a dark black color with no head. Aroma is pure freshly cracked roasted coffee beans (that I could smell the minute the bottle was opened). Flavor is almost exactly the same with some hints of vanilla and cream with fainter notes of raisins, roasted malts and spice. Full body with lingering coffee finish. If you like coffee beers, this is the granddaddy of them all.