BOSS

I know very little about Japan, and less about the nation's beverage culture. But I know that many of the finest methods of drip coffee preparation were, if not created, refined in Japan. Hario is the name that comes to mind, for its pour over technology, but there are other companies too.

I had my first brush with Japanese coffee however, in the form of Boss canned coffee. I had the Black, pictured above. It's a 6.5 oz can of iced coffee, and it is, frankly, too good for being a cheap canned beverage. Though I can't find detail about how the coffee is prepared, it tastes rich and smooth, suggesting cold brew. If it is just hot coffee, cooled off, count me fooled.

Sadly, I know of no place to get this sort of thing other than Asian grocery stores. Although, said grocery stores do have an immense amount of interesting things not stocked at your friendly neighborhood mega-mart, so it might be worth the trip. You'll find an immense amount of canned coffee, though most appear to be sweetened or doctored somehow. You will also find rice cake, which you absolutely must buy.

Boss coffee apparently, has lots of other flavors, or at least, lots of other cans. I had the "Black", which was very good. There is Silky Black also, which sounds nice, and a can with a rainbow on it. I can't figure out what that might be, but I feel oddly compelled to try it. The others might merit a taste as well. We shall see. In any case, I'll have chances to buy them, as I'll need to buy more rice cake in -- I don't know -- a day or so?