Carib BLUE: Ultra-Premium ‘Strong Lager’ Disappointment
Sometimes along our Caribbean journeys, we come across things that make us scratch our heads. Not in the usual wild sense of wonder kind of way that fascinates us. Oh no. The kind of head scratchers I’m referring to this time make us ask why. As in, “Why does this exist?” Such were my thoughts upon encountering Carib BLUE.
What Is Carib BLUE?
Launched in 2021, Carib BLUE is one of the newest products on offer from Trinidad-based Carib Brewery, Ltd. True to its name, each 275 milliliter bottle of the new lager is overwhelmingly blue. Glass, label, and beer cap are all blue with gold accents and white or gold lettering. True to its ultra-premium brand positioning, Carib BLUE packaging is bold and distinctively elegant. The beer is marketed as a strong lager, carrying an ABV of 6%. Each bottle also packs 135 calories, 3.5 grams of carbs and o grams of fat.
It all looked and sounded pretty interesting to me when I came across a bottle of BLUE during an October 2023 stopover in Port-of-Spain. I mean, the bottle is a head-turner. At the same time, I am also, admittedly, a sucker for buzz terms like “ultra premium” and “strong lager” when it comes to beer.
Certainly those terms fly in the face of the original Carib Beer, which has never really been a favorite of mine.
(Read my Carib Beer review here.)
So yeah, Carib’s new BLUE had me very intrigued at first. But then…
Feeling BLUE Over This Brew
My first sip of BLUE was underwhelming. That’s not, however, to say that it was bad. It just lacked the boldness and bite that I felt like its label/packaging promised.
Subsequent sips proved no more interesting, I’m afraid. To me, Carib BLUE was fine/ok. The big/robust upgrade from regular Carib Beer, though, just wasn’t there for me.
BLUE comes across like a slightly souped-up Carib. One gussied-up in fancy blue packaging to tempt social climbers, posers, and suckers (like me) for shiny fancy-looking things. If anything, it makes me appreciate regular Carib more, which at 5% ABV isn’t much weaker than its “strong lager” sibling brew.
All in all, though, I think I’d drink Carib BLUE again. Someone else would have to be buying, though, or it’d have to be the only option.
Cheers..?
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