I love iced coffee. Especially Starbucks Frappuccinos. If it weren’t for the prohibitive price I’d buy them all the time. For an individual 9.5 ounce bottle I’ve seen the price range from $1.50 to $2.99. That’s a bit much to pay for coffee, even if it happens to be delicious. Sorry, Starbucks, but your coffee is way overpriced.
The other day I happened to be browsing through the Japanese section of a local international grocery store. While looking at the various oddities, I noticed some cans of chilled coffee. This struck me as odd, since I usually don’t associate Japan with coffee. I was admittedly intrigued, but what really drew me in was the oddly shaped can and the amusing name of the coffee. “Hello Boss” isn’t exactly a phrase that makes me think “coffee,” but it was exactly the sort of goofy name one would expect to adorn a Japanese product (although I believe the coffee actually comes from Taiwan). I was curious so I decided to buy a can. Each can was only around 70 cents so if I totally hated it I wouldn’t be out too much money.
After letting it sit in the fridge for a day, I decided to have a drink. The can was surprisingly hard to open. I had to get out a knife and wedge it under the tab. I think the can may be made out of steel instead of aluminum since I couldn’t crush it like I could a soda can ( or maybe I’m just pathetically weak). As for the drink itself, it was quite good. I’d say it was as good as anything Starbucks sells in a bottle or can.
I only regret that I didn’t buy more of this stuff. There were several other flavors of Hello Boss coffee that I’ll have to try next time I stop by the store. I’m not sure if Hello Boss comes in six packs or twelve packs or whatever, but for 70 cents does it really matter? Not only is Hello Boss cheaper than Starbucks Frappuccino, the cans are 11.5 ounces compared to the 9.5 ounce bottles Starbucks sells.
Just FYI, Hello Boss happens to have a competitor called Mr. Brown. Both brands have almost identical pictures of cartoon bearded men on their cans, and from what I’ve read from people who have tried both, they taste virtually the same. I think that Hello Boss may actually be the ripoff brand, but Hello Boss’s cans are bigger and cost the same as Mr. Brown.
