Malamig Brew Episode 6: UCC Roast Master Café Arabica Cold Brew Review
How a mainstream Japanese blend outperforms Starbucks Pike Place in refinement
UCC Roast Master Café Arabica (Cold Brew)
The nose is immediately familiar. Roasted grain. Calm. Grounded.
On the first sip, milk chocolate shows up right away. That’s the anchor. There’s a faint bitterness that persists, but it’s rounded and inoffensive. Easy to drink. Quite neutral.
What’s interesting is how it blooms in the finish. The cocoa comes back stronger there, more pronounced than at the start. I also catch light caramel notes as it fades. There’s no fruitiness I can identify at all. Acidity is present, but very rounded. Soft. Inoffensive.
Chocolate is clearly doing most of the work here.
Compared to Pike Place, this feels more refined. Less punchy, less aggressive, more controlled. Compared to Brazil Capricórnio, this isn’t as inoffensive. There’s more structure and intention in the cup. It ends up sitting somewhere between the two.
I can see how this would have broader mass appeal than the Brazil Capricórnio. And I also get why it can feel more refined than Starbucks Pike Place.
Against the Philippine Arabicas, the contrast is clear. This is less fruity, bolder, heavier on cocoa. That’s likely a factor of roasting as well. But it works within the intent.
This feels very Japanese in style. Nothing cloying. Chocolate-forward, but not thick or heavy. Even with the stronger cocoa finish, it still drinks almost like tea.
And that, I think, is the point.
