Nerd Fuel: Black Rifle Coffee – Spirit of ’76

Any time I see a new coffee sitting on the shelves of my local store, it is almost impossible for me to resist picking it up and giving it a try. I’ve been doing better lately (which is why there have been fewer reviews). But when I saw a new offering from Black Rifle Coffee Company, I had to give in and snatch up a box. To date, I’ve only tried one other coffee from this company, and I absolutely loved it. With this in mind, I’m hoping the trend continues. If it does, I plan of taking a deeper dive in the various offerings from Black Rifle.

Today, I’m sampling Spirt of ’76. The box mentions that this is a medium roast coffee, but other than that, not much else is said about this brew. Putting into my machine and brewing a cup I had some immediate thoughts. First of all, I heavily suspect that this is a blend and not a single origin coffee. The aroma that emitted during the brew process was both woody and spicy. To my nose, it seemed just a bit darker than I’d expect from a medium roast. But it is still very pleasant.

The flavor is similar to what you’d find from any number of “house blend” coffee. There’s a hint of nuttiness and some caramel notes. But the flavor is not really that complex. In fact, I found it to be a bit basic. Compared to the Loyalty Roast, it pales in comparison. I’m not quite sure what they were shooting for with this release. It’s not a bad coffee by any stretch. But it doesn’t really bring anything interesting to the table either. Most coffee companies have a menu of releases that try to fill different niches; a coffee shop blend, a house blend, breakfast blend, a handful of single-origins, etc. So far, I’ve tried two coffees from Black Rifle, both of which seem to be aiming for that “house blend” category. With that in mind, one of them (the Loyalty Roast) is much better than the other.

I’ll state again, this coffee isn’t bad. But I don’t really see a reason to choose it over some of the other offerings, especially when you consider the price. I paid almost $16.00 for this box. In my mind, that’s too much for something that doesn’t really feel like a premium coffee.

Score: 2 out of 4

Would buy again?: No. Not bad, but nothing special. If you’re sticking with releases from Black Rifle, the Loyalty Roast is superior to this blend. Outside of that, there’s a ton of other “everyday coffee” blends that are good as this one for a considerably cheaper price.