Two weeks ago, I mentioned I waited in line to get Westbrook's Mexican Cake. From that, I am certain you have already figured out that I love that beer. What you may not know is I absolutely love Evil Twin's Imperial Biscotti Break. Like many other beer enthusiasts, I think it is a fantastic beer. To make things even better, recently it has become less expensive, easier to get and produced in cans. All three of those things are fantastic and they happened because Evil Twin Brewing contract-brews out of Westbrook Brewing Co. So a collaboration brew between the two breweries is definitely a no-brainer. What I did not expect however is the combination of both Mexican Cake & Imperial Biscotti Break. On paper, Westbrook & Evil Twin's Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break sounds like a fantastic idea.
The first time I saw a picture of a bottle I stopped in my tracks and hoped it would make it to Western NY. It took a few months but it finally hit my hometown. I rushed out and purchased it as soon as I could. Like Mexican Cake, I expected it to sell out as soon as it hit the shelves. For that reason, I did not expect to do a blog on it. Shockingly after two weeks, it is still sitting in beer aisles and shelves everywhere waiting to be purchased. The 16-18 dollar a bottle price point might have something to do with it but even with that, it is still fairly surprising. At that price point though, I hoped the beer would be as good, if not better, than the sum of its parts.
Westbrook & Evil Twin's Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break works. However it does not work as well as the beers it's supposed to be combining. The aroma is a reminder of both beers. It is roasty and nutty, with dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla, pepper spice and a hint of cinnamon. That seemed to hit every note I expected it to. The first sip, however, did not. It starts off slightly sweet, roasty, with coffee, dark chocolate cake batter and vanilla, and finishes bitter, spicy and boozy. Occasionally, I would find the cinnamon and each time I did, I wanted more of it. The pepper finish was what I was looking forward to the most. A criticism of last year's batch of Mexican Cake was that the habanero peppers were very understated. I hoped this beer would showcase them more and it did. Honestly, I wanted it to have a little more heat on the palate but no complaints, it was nicely spiced. I actually found my chest warming up quite a bit the more I drank.
As I made my way through the glass, I continued to get a wide range of flavors but they never seemed to go well together. Everything seemed a bit muddled, even when it warmed. Vanilla and dark chocolate cake batter rose more to the forefront which helped but did not make the beer any better. At 16 to 18 dollars a bottle this beer is dramatically overpriced for the results you get. You are better off buying a 4 pack of Imperial Biscotti Break at a cheaper price and enjoying that. If you are insistent on looking for a special occasion beer with similar flavor notes, just buy two bottles of Prairie Bomb! Trust me, you will feel significantly less cheated out of your money.
Overall I would rate Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break a 3/5. It's not horrible, it's just nowhere near as good as it should be.
Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!
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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!
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