MEANTIME COFFEE PORTER - SMOOTH & NONDESCRIPT

There was this funny 'lil bottle of MEANTIME COFFEE PORTER sitting on a shelf recently, all the way from England it said, and having read some good word about these guys I thought it might merit a try. The one that's apparantly worth busting a nut for from these guys is their IPA, but I've yet to see that around, so this tiny 11.2-oz. bottle was it for me. I'd say it was an enjoyable brew, one that was far less "exciting" than I expected in the sense that the coffee flavors, which were most certainly present, were still so muted & pushed to the background that this was closer to your standard-issue English porter than I'd reckoned. Certainly not a bad thing, as it was a smooth ride with a deceptive alcohol kick (6%, about 1-1.5% higher than most beers of its ilk). I drank it late, close to the sleeping hour, and had no problem drifting off. Remember that RED HOOK/STARBUCKS disaster from over a decade ago, a 22-oz. bomber that was half coffee, half Red Hook? I promise you'll like this one better. 7/10.