First “Coffee Stout” released in Japan

MITO — Beer drinkers with a taste for coffee have been given the chance to sample both drinks at once at a Mito cafe, with the recent introduction of “Coffee Stout.”

The dark beer, which is made by mixing sweet wort (a derivative of barley) with coffee beans, has gained popularity at the Trois Chambres cafe in Mito.

The beer looks like a regular stout, but a sip of the drink releases the aroma of coffee.

The cafe’s 46-year-old manager, Koji Kawasaki, developed the beverage together with a local brewery, saying he wanted to produce an alcoholic drink using coffee beans.

Each 330 milliliter bottle of the beer costs 650 yen, which may seem pricey for some, but the cafe has managed to sell 100 bottles since the drink went on sale in October. Kawasaki appears keen to develop other coffee-based drinks.

“Next it’ll be make coffee-flavored sake,” he said.

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By Sun Tzu on 17-12-2006