Travel Coffee 4: Kirin Fire Quality Brew

Well, it's only been an hour or so since my last coffee but I felt the need to try and up the number of coffee reviews on this trip. So the next review is Kirin's Fire 'Quality Roast'. This time, I managed to remember to get the hot coffee rather than the cold. This time it came in a flashy blue can with a fun pattern on the side. It's another ring pull (which I still find odd for a coffee).

Opening up I got an unusual aroma - it was rather sweeter than expected. Then it hit me - I think I'd picked a sugared coffee (not being able to read Japanese, this can happen...). Well, the flavour of the coffee is completely masked by the sweetness of the sugar, which is a real shame. There is some nuttiness, and next to no bitter flavour - it's really not like coffee at all. Shame!

I checked the can for signs of anything about the coffee, but there wasn't anything I could decipher (except that it has 35kcal - another clue that it contains sugar).

So another coffee disappointment - of my own making.

Travel Coffee 1: DyDo Black blended vending machine coffee

Posted a month after the actual trip.

So,  I'm in Japan, and one of the things you can do in Japan is get drinks from vending machines. And not only that, but you can get drinks which are hot!

Today I had a traditional Japanese breakfast, which in this case didn't include coffee. I was feeling a bit tired and wanted my coffee, so I decided to get this coffee from the vending machine at the coach stop in Norikura's visitors centre. 

The can came out hot (it was 140 yen, which is £1). It opened just like a soft drink can, which is weird.

The nose was a bit floral and light, even though it was from a can. I had imagined it would be a lot stronger than usual, but then again, this is Japan, where strong flavours aren't very common.

I wasn't sure what it would be like to taste, but actually it was quite reasonable. It wasn't the punchy oily flavour of an espresso-based drink (not sure how well that would work in a can) but it had a good, average coffee taste, with a decent balance to it. The flavour was not that weak either, which it easily could have been.

Most impressive was that it was heated - the temperature of the drink was really good (though I'd say that the design of the can isn't great - you can't really hold it very comfortably). The only thing is that it felt like it just wasn't that fresh - I'm not sure what it was, but I could just tell that it wasn't freshly brewed. That's not at all surprising, and it still wouldn't put me off getting another one, but it does make me thing that there is probably an aroma or some sort of flavour that comes from a coffee being freshly brewed.

It was definitely a satisfying drink, and for about a pound, which represents very good value.