Think chocolate orange, you think the chocolate orange. The one that you have to smash on the table to get into. Luckily, this one tastes just as good and you don't need to risk breaking anything to have it.
This stout is the 4th manifestation of Cloudwater Brew Co's 'My Continuous Improvement' range, which uses a base of double cacao and double vanilla stout to create beers that are different, decadent and naturally, delicious.
Combining the base with a dark chocolate and orange zest flavour to make it into a chocolate orange in a can is an excellent move and, although it's not for us to tell them what to do, I reckon they should stop trying to improve it. They've nailed it with this one.
The immediate smell is dark chocolate, with a sharp tang coming from the orange zest which gives it a lot of promise for a full flavour. The pour is thick and creamy, coating the side of the glass and oozing chocolatey aromas.
The first taste is zesty, it's very briefly like a tropical lighter beer but that's quickly joined by the deep, rich dark chocolate flavours and the heavy body which is almost edible rather than drinkable.
The flavour stays strong right into the aftertaste, where it falters a little and the strength of the beer kicks in with a strong alcohol flavour. Even this isn't enough to stop the flavour train though and males it more like a chocolate liquer. It's a delight to drink, and it was gone very quickly.
The can design is lots of small, shiny orange balls that make up the can which is very effective and creates an attractive visual effect.
The name of the beer is quite small on the front of the can underneath the brewery logo, with the beer style taking prominence on the front of the can which is a little unusual, but definitely encourages you to pick the can up and take a closer look.
If you want to find out for yourself how similar this decadent stout is to the everyday chocolate orange, then you can buy it yourself from Honest Brew for £12.11 per can.
Whilst this is pricey, and you can get a bagful of chocolate oranges in WH Smiths for that, it's worth every penny.