Please note: these Black Insomnia cold brew coffees were received free of charge, but this in no way impacted on our opinion. We were not obliged to write a positive review, and the brand did not see this review before it was put up on the site.
Any parent of a toddler will know that life with a small person around is a bit of a whirlwind. Well, it is in our house. The pace of the day is generally dictated by the three-year-old, energy levels need to be high, and sleep is a precious commodity.
Like many parents, I’m fuelled almost entirely by caffeine, whether it’s a leisurely cup brewed from home-ground beans while he’s at nursery or a hastily-downed, luke-warm mug of instant that I’d forgotten I’d made an hour earlier.
So, of course, I was intrigued to learn about the Black Insomnia Coffee Company’s new Black Insomnia Cold Brew. The company – launched in South Africa in 2016 and now headquartered in the UK – is known for its traditional barrel-roasted blend of Arabica and Robusta beans, creating ground coffee, beans, coffee bags and Nespresso pods with 1105mg of caffeine per 12oz mug – four times the strength of Starbucks and other high street brands.
Now, they’ve used their Dark Roast as the basis of their new canned cold brew coffee. It’s all-natural and free from additives, based on 90g of coffee per litre, extracted in cold spring water over a 14-hour period. There are two varieties available: the sugar-free Pure, and the sweetened version, which includes the addition of 3g of sugar per 100ml.
The branding is simple but effective: the high level of caffeine clearly evident from the can, the colour palette matching the other products in their range. Both varieties can be served either cold or ambient – and I went for the latter, out of personal preference.
The smell of the Pure (unsweetened) cold brew on opening the can was incredible: deep, intense, rich and chocolatey. It poured dark and almost opaque and the flavour actually surprised me. With that level of caffeine, I was expecting it to be overpoweringly strong – but while dark, rich and intense, it was actually super smooth. I loved the slight bitter tang and the fruity flavour, with those chocolatey notes that I’d smelt coming through in the aftertaste.
The Sweet Cold Brew pours in much the same way, although the addition of sugar takes away some of the richness of the smell. If you want a huge caffeine hit but with a less intense flavour, the sweetened version is probably the way to go. The sugar mellows the flavour somewhat, making it much softer and easier to drink, removing some of the depth that the Pure version has.
And the caffeine? Well, they’re certainly strong – so much so that one can was all I needed to keep me functioning/parenting throughout the day, rather than the 3-4 regular coffees I normally drink.
Black Insomnia say that they are aiming this product at the fitness market (it’ll soon be available in crossfit studios across the UK), as well as expecting it to appeal to long-distance drivers and late-night gamers. If I were them, I’d add exhausted parents to their target audience too…
Black Insomnia Cold Brew is on sale at £2.49 per 220ml can, and you can buy it via their website. There are also plans to have it stocked in stores nationwide in the near future…