I had my first taste of BOSS coffee when I studied abroad in Tōkyō in 2018. I never heard of it before then but I already loved Coffee so I was naturally drawn to the street-corner vending machines all over Tōkyō, some of which still served hot coffee even in late March when I arrived. A few weeks later they had all switched over to chilled canned coffee.

The cans from these vending machines, this BOSS coffee included, are made of steel; they can be heated without deforming as an alumium can would so these vending machines are able to offer hot (あったか～い) and chilled (つめた～い) drinks.

My diary says that the BOSS I had when I first got to Japan was a special 25th anniversary "Pride of Boss" coffee when I walked from my hotel to Akihabara through a number of cherry blossom festivals, and that I had the Rainbow Blend BOSS when I walked back the same way. I could have taken the metro but I the walk that day was absolutely worth.

Anyhow that was my first time having BOSS. The one I have in my hands right now is BOSS Black from Japan (there is a US domestic version now), it is basically just black coffee brewed with Suntory's flash brewing process. I bought this from an import store here and I drank it chilled instead of hot.

The taste is rich and wet. It is as daunting to approach describing Black as it is to approach describing a very dark chocolate; BOSS Black has the same profile you find in chocolate with a cocoa content of > 80%; bitter, fruity, somewhat salty. It is a beautiful, industrial drink. The small size of it means you can put it in your pocket and easily walk around with it before you open it. Especially useful if it is hot because the can can be scalding straight from the vending machine.