Review: Iced Coffee

Black Medicine Iced Coffee is made with coffee that is hot-brewed under nitrogen pressure to create a smoother and more intense brew. According to the manufacturer, the resulting product not only has 50 percent more caffeine than standard coffee, but it is indeed very smooth. There are no sweeteners, dairy, or other flavorings in this product. Just pure, unadulterated black coffee -- and it’s insanely good at being just that. On that front, the company has definitely succeeded. On the packaging and branding front, we have some slightly mixed feelings. For starters, there’s the name and the packaging. An 11 oz. aluminum bottle with a non-resealable pull top feels like something more appropriate for an energy drink or a beer than a coffee. It definitely does not say “small batch,” but rather “industrial.” Plus, the name Black Medicine makes us expect that something was added to the product. And, for whatever it’s worth, we couldn’t actually remove the tab as it was intended to be -- it's way too small. However, it definitely is an eye-popping design that the company has created. The concept of pressure-brewed coffee is one that certainly sounds high end and meaningful. In our opinion, using glass, which would allow the consumer to see the liquid and would help whet the appetite, would make this product more appealing. Overall, superb flavor and unique branding, but we’re not convinced that a metal bottle is the way to go if the product wants to be perceived as high-end.

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