The COVID-19 lockdown gave me a chance to rewatch old ECW episodes from 1999. While researching the article I found out that Steve Corino was selling coffee beans. You can find them at Steve Corino’s Squared Circle Café along with merchandise and stories about his career in wrestling.
I drink coffee. I enjoyed watching Corino in ECW. He was also the color commentator when I started following New Japan Pro Wrestling. His partnership with Kevin Kelley was great and helped me become a massive fan of NJPW.
Random sidebar, I remember Steve Corino mentioning he had a baseball blog during an NJPW broadcast. I also visited it and read a few of the articles. However, I never saw it again and now I think the experience might have been dream.
Back to the topic at hand. I ordered a bag of Steve Corino coffee beans from Squared Circle Café as well as a mug. The box arrived looking like it just wrestled a main event with the King of Old School, but this didn’t bother me. That’s because it was shipped to me in Thailand and almost all boxes get destroyed coming from the states.
However, I saw the price of shipping and immediately felt remorse. It was $23 more than was charged on the Squared Circle Café. Don’t be like me and order from an exotic, global destination.
The Steve Corino coffee beans
I opened the box which smelled like delicious coffee and was immediately excited by the fact there was a Steve Corino autograph on the bag. I seriously debated not opening it because I thought it was so cool. Of course, you can’t do a review if you don’t actually taste the coffee, so I had to take a pair of scissors to the bag.
Steve Corino has two types of coffee beans to choose from: a dark roast (Silver Blend) and a medium roast (Gold Blend). I purchased the dark roast, which is a blend of Colombian, Brazilian and Costa Rican coffee.
The aroma
The silver blend has a wonderful aroma that is amazing if you enjoy the smell coffee. It’s rich and a great way to wake up in the morning. Any concerns I had about a professional wrestler roasting coffee was put to rest once I got a whiff of the aroma.
The taste
So, I brewed the coffee and tasted it with and without milk. I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not a coffee snob, but I know the difference between a good and bad tasting cup of joe.
Without milk, Squared Circle Café silver blend was flavorful, but a little too busy for my liking. The best way to describe it would be smooth yet intense. It is not bitter and the aftertaste was pleasant. I prefer my black coffee with a little more focus in terms of taste which brings us to the second test.
With milk is where Corino’s coffee really shines. All the tastes sort of mellow out a little bit and there is less of an edge. You still get the smooth yet intense feeling, it’s just toned down. Drinking it black is like having your tongue superkicked while with milk it is more of a dropkick. I really enjoyed the coffee with milk, although I know that’s sacrilegious for some people.
Delicious brew or Old School Expulsion
Steve Corino is selling coffee beans, but should you buy them? Even if this blend had nothing to do with Corino or wrestling, I’d still drink it. With milk that is. The beans are good value for money and better than anything you would get at Starbucks. I’m kind of sad I only ordered one bag.
The fact it comes from the King of Old School does make it cool and he could probably charge more. That may also be the guilt of having him foot the bill for the exorbitant shipping costs. Anyway, this is a must try if you like coffee or Steve Corino, but preferably both.
Click here for Steve Corino’s Squared Circle Cafe
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