Fluère Spiced Cane Dark Roast

The maker’s description suggests this contains notes of chocolate and coffee, and I absolutely agree.  Dark chocolate, mind – a dark cocoa taste with an underlying slight bitterness and vanilla notes. The coffee notes add to the bitterness but also the sweetness – I’m reminded of those chocolate coated coffee beans. The dark cane sugar is in there in the mix too, adding a spiciness. The mouthfeel is thin, reminding us perhaps too strongly that this is a drink that lacks ethanol, which would give a more rounded feel.  Some makers of non-alcoholic drinks attempt to reproduce this with glycerin or sugar but here it feels thin and diluted.  There isn’t quite enough punch packed in, and once coke is added as a mixer, the taste is way down, nearly overpowered by the soft drink.  But this is an interesting drink, modelled on rum but bringing something of its own.  I like it best neat, with ice.