I’m no stranger to Mugs. Over the past few winters, I can recall several times where it served as a solace from the icy weather after work or after an outing with friends. It was the perfect place for warming up briefly with a sugary drink before going back out and waiting for the bus.
However, this time, I visited during the day, and with a different order in mind–their plainest black coffee possible.
As it turns out, Mugs have all their black coffee options already brewed and sitting in airpots behind the line for you to fill up yourself. There were four or five different choices, but I figured their house blend (a medium roast) would be the best representation of the shop.
The first thing I noticed about this coffee was how strong of an up-front flavor it had. I feel like most of the time it takes a moment for the full flavor of a coffee to develop, but this time a strong sourness was immediately detectable. It wasn’t necessarily a bad sourness and it didn’t hit too hard, but I found the more I tried to drink at once the more uncomfortable it became–it forced me to pace myself. The body had that classic bitter quality with a faint caramel-like sweetness, which quickly dissipated and left only the waning bitterness for an aftertaste.
Sourness and bitter lingers aren’t things that I usually enjoy in coffee, but this brew felt well-rounded enough for me to give it a pass, especially at its price. I’ve had more expensive coffee that had much less character than this blend, and will likely be back the next chance I get.
Black Coffee in Collins 