Café Granita

Rating: 7/23 I must have overlooked this on the shelf last time I was at Total Wine grabbing a bottle of Kahlúa Especial and any other coffee liqueur I could find to compare with my parents' recently discovered late 80s/early 90s Kahlúa. Nose: It smells more like coffee than Vita Divine Coffee does. It smells less like it than Kahlúa does, though. I primarily detect some chemicals, then a faint richness of something that might be coffee. There's something rather vegetal and earthy. It's somewhat sweet, also somewhat light. I can already tell this won't be very good. Palate: Actually, I get a faint amount of rich, bitter, astringency at the start, as well as a hint of tropical fruit...and then sweet, young, impure spirit enters. And the chemicals. Also, all the chalky confectioner's sugar of regular Kahlúa. This is absolutely just regular Kahlúa but worse. It's sort of like someone was trying to make something that might have been coffee liqueur from rum and then they spilled some kind of soap or industrial cleaner into it. I mean, it isn't harsh and it could probably be masked by ice cream or something, but it's pretty bad. It's fairly syrupy, but not incredibly rich. Finish: That confectioner's sugar lingers, along with some bitter chemicals and maybe some sort of coffee syrup. Maybe some maple. It's bad. It might be a bit cheaper than Kahlúa, but it's worse. The alcohol chemicals are less noticeable than in Vita Divine and there's also more richness. Still, it's bad. We're talking an 8 at best here, but more likely a 6 or 7. I think a 7 is most appropriate. Do avoid.

The scent is of cold, sweet coffee, with some roastiness and alcohol notes. The flavor is excessively sweet, like a child added sugar to coffee, to the point of being cloying. It's very thick and syrupy, potentially useful as a mixer but difficult to drink straight unless you prefer a chewy consistency. The finish offers some redemption with a pleasant acidic tang that complements the alcohol. I'll try adding ice to make it more palatable.

A potent, somewhat sweet, rum-based coffee liqueur from Mexico; the coffee beans are roasted and fermented with sugar. It starts aromatically with notes of fresh black coffee, leading to a bold journey that ends long and semi-sweet. October 2021 / 2024

Compared side-by-side with Kahlua, this holds its own, especially considering its lower price. It tastes more like a dark espresso than Kahlua. I would certainly buy it again.

Cafe Granite Coffee Liqueur smells like sweet percolated coffee. The initial taste is sweet, with a percolator coffee flavor on the palate and finish. The sugary sweetness is excessive. Not advised.

Smells of coffee and cocoa. The taste is sweet with coffee, chocolate, and vanilla notes.