Pabst Blue Ribbon Hard Coffee

I wanted to kick off the first blog of 2020 writing about something fun & different. I am not talking about writing about something entirely different, I just wanted to kick off the year with something other than a barrel aged stout. Yes I know, there are a lot of other styles of beer out there I could pick from, I just felt I wanted to start out 2020 with something unexpected. That is why the first blog of the year is about Pabst Blue Ribbon Hard Coffee.

From the moment I read Pabst was releasing a hard coffee, I admit I felt confused, curious and disgusted all at the same time. It seemed almost silly to me that the brewers of a beer I used to chase insanely cheap liquor with at a local bar was making a hard coffee that would cost over 10 dollars for a 4-pack. The last time I felt this way was with Naturdays. However, with Naturdays I could at least see what Anheuser-Busch was doing. They were looking to create a cheap, easy-drinking summer beer with a brand people don’t typically associate with drinkable beer. With Pabst Blue Ribbon Hard Coffee, I kept thinking, “Do we really need this?” That question remained in my head until I opened a can and took a sip.

Normally at this point I break down the aroma and tasting notes but this is clearly not beer, so I will skip that for this blog. I’ll just cut to the chase and tell you it’s surprisingly good. It reminded me of drinking a bottle of Starbucks Vanilla Frappuccino with a touch of Kahlua. The Kahlua note comes through in the finish reminding you that this is a 5% ABV beverage that should be consumed responsibly.

While Pabst Blue Ribbon Hard Coffee is surprisingly good, it is also unbearably sweet. As a black coffee drinker, I absolutely could not consume more than one can at a time. That is the reason I honestly doubt I will buy another 4-pack.

Overall, I am glad I tried Pabst Blue Ribbon Hard Coffee. It is a fun gimmick beverage that I am sure will be successful for their brand in the short-term, but I doubt this will be around for long. That last sentence certainly has the potential not to age well but I am standing by it. I just think it makes more sense if you are looking for coffee with booze in it to just add your preferred liquor to your own coffee or just buy a coffee flavored beer instead. To answer the "do we really need this?" question I pondered earlier, I would say the answer is no. However, I think if you are curious about it, PBR Hard Coffee is worth a try.

Happy 2020! Cheers!