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Review : Boss Coffee Cafe Au Lait
It was a lot of fun to review Starbucks DoubleShot so I thought it would be nifty to review some of the canned Japanese coffee that Starbucks ripped off to make the DoubleShot.
When I was at Uwajimaya over in Seattle I picked up some Boss Coffee Cafe Au Lait by Suntory. This is in a narrow metal can that is roughly the same size as a DoubleShot except the Japanese seem to love the whole mini can concept. Energy drinks and other Japanese beverage oddities ship in these little cans. It is the small cans of beer that make me chuckle.
One of the coolest thing about this is the Boss Logo guy, He looks like Stalin with the mustache, squint and pipe. Not to mention the metal can and deep red color scheme.
But on to the actual coffee. The Boss Coffee Cafe Au Lait is not super sweet, not to acidic and is very smooth with a very strong coffee taste. It provides a good caffeine and sugar boost but I doubt that it will give you a heart attack. you can get it from Uwajimaya for about a $1.25 and it goes for 100 Yen in Japan. It is served cold but I bet you can find it in a warmed vending machine in Japan and it would not be too bad at room temp.
Starbucks actually got it right with the DoubleShot but the Boss Coffee Cafe Au Lait is the original Mack Daddy. Not to mention it is about the third the price of a fresh latte. Next time I am over in Seattle I am going to fill up my back pack with these mini-cans.
Jake at February 11, 2003 
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Make sure you pay for them before you put them in your backpack. Remember what happened last time in Grand Caymen with the diving knives and shark repellent.
Posted by: pete at February 11, 2003 11:52 AM
I was actually just planning on photoshopping myself on an official Russian consulate pass port and then just walking out of the store and claiming diplomatic immunity.
Posted by: Jake at February 11, 2003 11:56 AM
OOOoooh ....like in Munich when you were doing that satellite recovery with the "Midget Brigade"
Man that was really FUNNY!!! but it was a tad dangerous considering the eels.
Posted by: pete at February 11, 2003 2:27 PM
Here is the updated "command center"
Posted by: pete at February 11, 2003 2:36 PM
and just think of the uses for the backpack filled with mini cans of coffee...you can whack the homeless guys who get a little too excited when they see someone to beg from. just knock em in the head with the backpack and they'll shut up. and when you steal stuff from other stores it won't look so funny when your bag is stuff with other stuff, you can hide the goods under the cans. not that i'm an accomplished or even attempted shoplifter..not even grapes from the produce section of safeway.
Posted by: Anna at February 11, 2003 2:48 PM
boss can coffee does rock, and they seem to change can design every 4-6 months here. I wonder if Starbuck will even sell their "Double shot" over here?
Posted by: mark at September 13, 2003 8:49 PM
Nobody beats MR. Brown. that is the shit. If you are at Uwag, you have to look for mr. brown because the is the original shit.
Posted by: vincent at October 24, 2003 12:21 AM
Mr Brown is a Taiwanese coffee product and I think that the Japanese really made Asian canned coffee before the Taiwanese got into it.
Posted by: Jake at October 24, 2003 12:24 AM
My friends and I found BOSS in October... we jokingly started calling it Stalin Coffee, independently from you or your article!
Now we refer to the various flavors by what Stalin is doing in the picture on the can- "Stalin Driving", "Stalin on the Phone", "Stalin with Dog".
Of course I made everyone watch the Ayumi Hamasaki BOSS commercial, where she sings "LOVE" with half the lyrics replaced with "BOSS."
A friend in Tokyo (a white guy) asked his coworkers about BOSS- they said BOSS reminds them of MacArthur, who is not a negative figure. Go figure!
Posted by: brain at January 15, 2004 5:17 PM
Yeah he does sort of remind one of MacArthur but the red background just screams "Commie"
General MacArthur also advanced workers rights, women's rights, civil rights and the current Japanese democratic constitution.
Posted by: Jake at January 15, 2004 5:23 PM
I was in Japan for 4 years, and drank a ton of the warm coffee from the vending machines. I loved it, am trying to find a way to get some of that stuff sent out to me here in the states
Posted by: Nick at April 13, 2006 1:38 PM
