Allen's Coffee Brandy is a coffee-flavoured liqueur popular in New England, especially Maine, where it has been the best-selling liquor product every year for over 20 years.[1] Sales in 2008 were 1,100,000 bottles. With a population of 1,300,000, Mainers consumed nearly one bottle for every man, woman, and child in the state.
Allen's Coffee Brandy is prepared and bottled by M.S. Walker, Inc. of Somerville, Massachusetts. The beverage is 60 proof and is available in several bottle sizes. Gary Shaw, vice president of M.S. Walker, has noted that his company ships "a phenomenal amount" of brandy to Maine each month.[2]
Allen's Coffee Brandy is normally consumed in a mixture of one part brandy to two parts milk. This concoction is generally called a "Sombrero," and sometimes pejoratively "Fat Ass in a Glass." The product has been called both "the champagne of Maine" and "an epidemic."[3]