A salute to Boss Coffee

Posted: January 6, 2010 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Ireland, Japan, Seattle, Travel | 14 Comments »

I am very pleased lately that the local Japanese import store, Uwajimaya, is carrying Boss Coffee again. You can see I’ve stocked my fridge:

Boss Coffee is one of many little canned beverages in Japan you can get from vending machines, known as either jihanki (自販機) or hanbaiki (販売機). The story behind Boss Coffee for me began on my first trip there in 2005. I was by that time already a pretty serious Java Junkie (coffee addict), and when I got to Japan, I was really missing going to Starbucks daily for iced mochas and such.¹ So, one day, my wife, her mother and I had to go sit at the local licensing office so my wife could renew her driver’s license. My mother-in-law noticed I was thirsty and kindly got a small, cold coffee drink from a nearby vending machine. Skeptical, I took a sip and loved it. In fact, I started getting my “fix” from Japanese coffee beverages the entire trip. Out of all the ones I tried, I consistently liked Boss Coffee the best.

I was even happier when I realized that the local Japanese import grocery store in Seattle, Uwajimaya, had Boss Coffee. That was when I realized Boss also came out with new flavors and cans pretty frequently, at least several a year. So, I often checked the shelves for the latest imports and added it to my growing collection. Teammates may still recall my huge, 10+ can collection one year. Once I relocated to Ireland, I recycled most of the cans save for a few I really liked. Then, I was saddened when I came back recently and thought they stopped stocking them at Uwajimaya, but just in time for the Holidays, they brought in new brands above. So, I have started to rebuild my collection at work again:

Boss Coffee is easy to recognize by its name, but also by its trademark logo of a man with a pipe. I think he bears an awful strong resemblance to Sean Connery myself, so I often think of him as Sean-Connery-with-a-pipe.

As stated before, the flavors of Boss Coffee vary quite a bit. Since coffee basically tastes the same everywhere, I think instead they’re experimenting with different combinations of sugar, milk or lack thereof. So, of the cans above in the first picture, I thought the one on the far right was way too sweet (see note 1 below), while the red can, the 食後の余韻 (shokugo no yoin, “lingering memories after eating” is one translation) was really darn good. Dark, smooth and just slightly sweet. The can on the far left was pretty good, but too much milk, while the “clear espresso” was my second favorite.

By next month or two, the cans will be replaced by new flavors. These may just be the same flavors repackaged, I am not sure, but it’s still fun to try. Boss Coffee isn’t gourmet espresso, like the excellent stuff you can get in Seattle (of which Cafe Ladro is by far our favorite), but it’s just good, cheap, coffee in a can. Robert from the blog Shiawase.co.uk was kind enough to point out a Youtube commercial starring Tommy Lee Jones for Boss Coffee:

Boss Coffee for me, is my one “vice” for reminding me of my fun in Japan, and when I go there, I never fail to go to the nearby 7-eleven near my wife’s house, and stock up.² The little cans are easy for me to carry home, and fun to enjoy with my wife (I always buy two pairs of cans when able) in the morning as a special treat.

So here’s a salute to Suntory and their excellent little coffee beverages that come out of those ingenious vending machines in Japan. Thank you very much! ありがとうございます！ごちそうさまでした！

P.S. Speaking of food, tomorrow is the little-known Japanese holiday of nanakusa. Sadly, we can’t get the herbs in the US easily, so I will probably miss out this time.

P.P.S. After taking this photo, another flavor came to Uwajimaya in Seattle. Pretty good, but I still like that red can above the best.

P.P.P.S. Seems another fellow wrote a tribute to Boss as well. Good to see I am not alone!

¹ My addiction in those days was pretty serious and wasn’t good for my health. The combination of sugar, calories and caffeine, plus money spent, was bad for my lifestyle. After going to Ireland, where the cost of living is pretty high and iced coffee not very common, I learned to be more humble, and appreciate regular coffee more. Now back in the US, my wife and I make drip coffee at home a lot, and save the trips to Starbucks for weekends only. Also, I drink iced americanos now, not mochas, and save a lot of calories in the process. I can’t even drink a mocha anymore. I really must have developed a suger-tolerance that was unhealthy, but now gone, I can’t tolerate sweet foods like before.

² Nice opportunity to practice a little Japanese without my wife around to help me, since the 7-eleven’s in Japan have fantastic customer service and also have Oden which is yummy. A complete mirror-opposite of 7-eleven’s in the US.

---