Can sample at a tasting at Yoav's place. Brown, tan foam. Coffee, slightly vegetal, roast, cocoa, a bit of vanilla, tonka, sweet.

Probably inspired by the huge success of fellow Scandinavian Lervig’s 3 Bean Stout, this ‘answer’ from still popular pioneer Amundsen uses cocoa nibs, vanilla beans and coffee beans – so it too is a kind of ‘bean-themed’ stout, so to speak. Comes from a can, bought at Bier Bazaar in Ypres. Moussy, mocha-beige, small-bubbled, opening but edge-retaining head on a pitch black beer. Aroma of old coffee powder, hazelnut grounds, old dusty bitter chocolate or indeed cocoa nibs, Brésilienne, Italian coffee, iron or indeed blood, granola, leather, old liquorice. Dense onset, candied sweetness but not overly cloying, minerally side notes here and there, dried figs and sweet raisins sprinkled with soy sauce yet no exaggerated umami flavour; full, oily body, a tad syrupy perhaps, pecan-nutty and ‘fondant’-chocolatey malt core, toffee, flavoured with considerable coffee (adding both bitterness and coffee aroma) but far less vanilla; instead, a more liquorice-like aspect appears, along with impressions of mocha ice and gravy, eventually becoming a little bit ‘dusty’ which only adds more complexity. Warming, rum-like alcohol penetrates the remains of a clearly chocolate- and coffee-forward flavour, adding to the pastry effect – an effect that also remains firmly rooted in more traditionally profiled imperial stout, because contrary to many of its contemporaries (and contrary to many of their own beers, weirdly) this Cool Beans does not become one-sidedly sweet and sticky anywhere. This feature alone is worth an extra point for me.

440ml can Sophie's Beer Store. Dark appearance, tan head. Aroma is cakey, desert-like, sweet with almond, vanilla, chocolate and dark malt. Taste continues along these lines, full bodied and calorific in feel, thick chocolate and malt with an almond / vanilla / marzipan undercurrent. Integrated coffee roast, not too prominent. Comes together well, but definitely a slow sipper.