Iced Dirty Mocha by Greybox Coffee

I finally got to try this visually stunning drink - the (iced) dirty mocha by Greybox Coffee. I covered dirty coffees and "dirty" tea before, but this is different in meaning. The dirty refers to the presentation and is not about mixing coffee and tea or pouring hot coffee over cold milk. The ingredients on the info card read "cream, cocoa powder and sauce, mocha". (Click photo to enlarge.)

Iced Dirty Mocha by Greybox Coffee

I drank it using a straw, so it cut through the creamy foamy layer on top and straight to the main drink. And I quite liked it. 

There was a very thick, deep and cocoa-buttery dark chocolate taste, like the super concentrated dark chocolate drinks one might get from a brand like Max Brenner's. I liked this component on its own, and think it's the star of the drink. 

But the coffee component was also great - I believe they used a dark roast. It also had a dark smoky aftertaste and wasn't sour at all but quite nutty. Perhaps they used their Tokyo blend. So it blended very well with the dark chocolate and brought out the fullness of the taste.

The cream probably also helped to bring out the cocoa-buttery feel, and probably helped to brighten the very dark combination of thick dark choc with dark roast. There was also a very slight tinge of sourness like the sour tinge in good evaporated milk. I suppose it came from the cream, and I thought it was a good balance to an otherwise heavy mix.

But because these thick ingredients were combined, the drink was overall quite thick and viscous in texture, not like a normal watery iced mocha. As mentioned, closer to eggnog or those thick chocolate drinks such as Max Brenner's. So approach it as a heavy connoisseur type of drink, to be enjoyed one dainty sip at a time, not as a refreshing drink to be gulped down quickly.

In terms of sweetness, it was clearly sweet. I suspect they used a lot of sugar. But the perception of the sweetness wasn't cloying, because it was balanced by all the rich cream and dark nutty bitterness. Like how dark choc actually has a lot more sugar than milk chocolate but doesn't come across as sweet as milk chocolate.

Finally, the cream on top seemed to be like a slightly sweet buttercream, which I didn't like on its own. It was a bit artificial, like a toffee-butter flavoured cream, and was somewhat greasy to my mouth. I didn't touch it after finishing what was below it beyond a little dab. I'm not sure if this was the cream they used in the drink itself or if it's just for the "dirty" foam presentation.

Overall, it's quite a nice drink if I'm looking for something really dark, thick and cold. Most such drinks tend to come warm. Just ignore the foam on top. One minor warning though: besides the presentation, it was also literally dirty as I got some sticky sweet foam on my arm when I brushed against it while trying to move things around on the table to take a photo. So be careful!

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