Named in honor of one of the standout hooks from Howling Giant’s 2023 LP, Glass Future (review here), the ‘Sunken City Espresso Roast’ was a surprise from the moment I opened the bag. It is the second collaboration between the Nashville-based band and Frothy Monkey Roasting Co. behind 2021’s ‘Doomsday Express’ medium roast (review here), and had a lot to live up to in terms of the standard that first joint effort set. Sipping it from my Spock mug over the course of the last few mornings as I ground my way through the 12 oz. bag (that’s .34 kg for you metric types) one pot at a time, I was not disappointed.

As noted though, I was surprised. In my apparent ignorance of roaster norms, I tend to think of ‘espresso roast’ as darker, often greasier beans, but when I dumped the bag into the hopper of my grinder — I use an electric burr grinder that gives pretty even output, and grind coarse for an electric Chemex pourover machine; I use bottled water because my tap water has too much limestone and could measure temperature if I was so inclined, but frankly, there are only so many hours in the day — the ‘Sunken City’ beans were markedly light. A quick googling of potentialities informed me that it’s definitely a thing actual coffee reviewers/experts on the internet have opinions about, but that a lighter espresso roast is basically fair game, particularly in a ‘craft’ context.

And as I’m shoehorning disclaimers to cover for the fact that I don’t really know what I’m talking about — that should be familiar enough by now — I’ll say that while it surely would’ve been nice to put the espresso roast in an espresso maker, I have no such apparatus at my disposal. One presses on regardless.

Having come down from my initial surprise and thereby broadened by horizons ever so slightly, I put the grounds in the filter and let the Chemex perform its drippy magic. My principle concern at that point was the acid content, which is just about always on my mind with lighter, drier beans. Where ‘Doomsday Express’ offered +1 dexterity, ‘Sunken City’ is billed as a +1 strength potion, so I expected a hit of flavor that I was glad to find realized on my first cup. Without being overbearingly fruity or nutty and offering a richer mouthfeel than I might have anticipated, I caught hints of what might’ve been in the compact setting of an actual espresso drink while still enjoying it as regular coffee, and like ‘Doomsday Express’ before it, ‘Sunken City’ found a balanced flavor that wasn’t too fancy or in-your-face, but classy and with a character of its own.

You could easily relate that to Howling Giant’s music — “Sunken City,” the song, and the record from whence it comes also find a balance between class and impact — and I’ll say that even as my own taste has veered toward low-acid darkness in roasts, I didn’t hesitate when it came to downing this one, and the creamier mouthfeel (I drink coffee black, exclusively) added dimensionality to the experience that I don’t always get from unburnt grounds. As the band get underway this week touring with Mars Red Sky, they seem to have pulled merch off their Bandcamp page that I assume they’ll be selling at shows, and that includes the coffee. The dates follow:

Howling Giant live:
w/ Mars Red Sky:
9/03 Chicago, IL – Reggie’s
9/04 Milwaukee, WI – X-Ray Arcade
9/05 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
9/06 Sioux Falls, SD – Club David
9/07 Rapid City, SD – Fairground
9/08 Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
9/10 Portland, OR – The High Water Mark
9/11 Seattle, WA – Substation
9/12 Boise, ID – The Shredder
9/13 Salt Lake City, UT – Crucial Fest
9/14 Las Vegas, NV – Sinwave
9/15 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
9/16 Sacramento, CA – Cafe Colonial
9/17 Los Angeles, CA – El Cid Sunset
9/18 Tempe, AZ – Yucca Tap Room
9/19 Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
9/20 El Paso, TX – The Rosewood
9/21 Austin, TX – Ripplefest Texas
w/ GOZU:
9/24 Houston, TX – Black Magick Social Club
9/25 New Orleans, LA – Siberia
9/26 Atlanta, GA – Bogg’s Social & Supply
9/28 Nashville, TN – The East Room

I don’t imagine anyone’s going to get to a gig just to pick up a bag o’ beans — though if you do, that’s rad; I hope you stay for the music — but it’ll be worth keeping an eye on the merch page in case any is left when the tour is done. I’ll note as well that the ‘titan jellyfish’ design on the front of the bag is also on a t-shirt (I bought one since I didn’t feel like waiting until they come through in December for it), and if you prefer your logos on top of the design as I do — nobody needs to be reading words off my middle-aged belly — it’s got that going for it.

Whether or not ‘Sunken City’ will be the last time Frothy Monkey Roasting Co. and Howling Giant collaborate, I don’t know, but each of the two coffees these parties have done together offers something distinct from the other. For overcoming a not-what-I-expected first glance, ‘Sunken City Espresso Roast’ impressed all the more, and when/if the opportunity presented itself to do so — like, at a merch table — I would gladly indulge again.

Howling Giant, Glass Future (2023)

Howling Giant on Facebook

Howling Giant on Bandcamp

Howling Giant on Instagram

Frothy Monkey Roasting Co. website

Frothy Monkey Roasting Co. on Instagram

I don’t know who between the band and the roasters decided that the ‘Howling Giant’s Doomsday Express’ coffee should be a medium roast, but they weren’t wrong. An all-the-way enjoyable medium roast is tricky, nuanced and clever, and frankly, so is Howling Giant’s music, and if you haven’t heard the Nashville trio’s 19-minute “Masamune” from their 2020 split with Sergeant Thunderhoof on Ripple, well, after you do you’ll probably agree. It’s not aggressive or overbearing. It’s accessible in listening but still complex, and it’s energetic without being cloying. A perfect medium roast band.

Worth mentioning what I think is a particularly American aversion to ‘medium’ as a concept in all things except perhaps t-shirt sizes, where body-shaming (also wonderfully American) comes into play. As though if it’s the biggest or the most expensive, etc., it’s without value. Instead, think of a medium roast coffee like over-medium eggs. It has the strength of presence and depth that borders on a dark roast with none of the burn taste — though don’t get me wrong, I love my greasy beans too — while still leaving room for the fruitiness so often cast in light roasts without letting that dominate. It the Blade of coffees — all the strengths, none of the weaknesses. One does not happen on one every day.

Light roasts are “in” as I understand trends in coffee secondhand, but that’s consistent with a boom in craft roasting. See also beer. Lots of caffeine in light roasts, lots of hops in craft ale. I could go on (and on and on) about this in American creative culture in everything from hip-hop and rock to early US portraiture, but I’ll spare you the massive digression. You’re welcome.

Cleverness kudos to whoever (I’d assume the band, but you never know) sub-tagged the bag o’ beans as a ‘+1 Dexterity Potion.’ In addition to regular live streams playing songs, the band has been hosting regular Dungeons & Dragons sessions on Twitch, so yeah, fair enough there. In taking on the ‘Doomsday Express,’ I emptied the grinder hopper of its former occupant beans as best I could (a couple were stuck down in there) to make room for the clean-looking, dry and uniformly brown Frothy Monkey fare. I’ll admit to being impatient to try it, so the ritual began.

The grind stayed dry and sat well in the filter, a rougher look for the pour-over machine. Certainly smelled like coffee, but not bitingly so. It brewed pleasantly black in the carafe but wasn’t nearly so opaque when held to light, which, yeah, fair enough. Again, not too strong on the nose. All signs boded well for actual tasting, and when I finally got there, letting it cool in my Baltimore mug for a bit — the band was kind enough to send a Howling Giant mug with the beans I bought — but I’m ultimately too compulsive about using the mixing-bowl-sized delivery system I employ.

Proportion aside, the relevant difference is the inside of the Howling Giant mug is white and would probably give a better sense of how the finished product looks brewed, but then, I could also pour it in a glass if inclined. Gotta draw that too-pretentious line somewhere, folks.

At last, the taste. Inviting, full in the mouth without being inherently creamy. Easy going down but not flighty. There’s a sweet undertone but it’s not specifically fruit or beating you over the head with nuttiness. Second cup sat longer on the burner but doesn’t come across overcooked. Bottom line is I dig it — I’m drinking as I write — which is fortunate, because I’ve got two of the 12 oz. bags to make my way through. That should do plenty for my otherwise lagging dexterity over the next week-plus.

Frothy Monkey Roasting Co. have five locations in Nashville and one in Franklin, Tennessee, and do wholesale, baked goods, the whole nine. They’ve been roasting their own coffee since 2014, so it’s not unreasonable to expect they’d have worked out the kinks by now, and ‘Howling Giant’s Doomsday Express’ shows they clearly have. Like the band, they offer a product that has its own niche without coming across as too bizarre or entirely unfamiliar, and earns its repeat visits.

A 12 oz. bag isn’t cheap at $18 on the band’s Bandcamp page (mugs are sold out), but you support the band and an independent roaster by buying, you get good coffee, and the Mega-Man-esque art on the bag rules. You’ve spent far more on far less.

Howling Giant & Sergeant Thunderhoof, Turned to Stone Chapter 2: Masamune & Muramasa (2020)

Howling Giant on Facebook

Howling Giant on Bandcamp

Howling Giant on Instagram

Frothy Monkey Roasting Co. website

Frothy Monkey Roasting Co. on Instagram