Shot in the Dark (Medium)

Purchased: Crazy Mocha, One Gateway Center, Pittsburgh

Bean Origin: Coffee is "Black and Gold" Blend, Espresso is Italian Roast

Additives: Half and Half

Taste: The Shot in the Dark has several other names depending on where you make your purchase. Starbucks calls it a Red Eye, some other local cafes call it a Black Eye. The basic construction is the same: take some dark roast coffee and add a shot (or shots) of espresso. The oddity around the Crazy Mocha Shot in the Dark is that the espresso is a key component to the taste of the coffee; without the shots it would taste like Sanka. This is not common to Red Eyes: at Starbucks (and I apologize for making them the benchmark) the coffee blend is always the dominant flavor, regardless of what you add to it. This is not a knock on Crazy Mocha, their blends have a decent caffeine content (lower than Starbucks, however), but I cannot find a major difference between their dark roasts and their "normal" blends.

The taste is bitter, to the point that it makes my throat itch as it goes down. The flavor isn't as developed or well-rounded as I would prefer, when caffeine is the dominant taste you know that the roast is missing something. I blame the coffee blend on this one. I don't know what "Black and Gold" blend would signify (other than that it was roasted locally, but so is most of their coffee), but I think they may have used American grown beans, which are typically lighter in flavor, and tried to dark roast them.

This Coffee is Equivalent to: getting a B12 shot and later finding out that it was actually steroids.

Buzz: No immediate effects, but this particular drink is more of a long-term deal. You won't feel a jolt of energy but you definitely won't be sleeping until your post-lunch food coma.