What's Up With Gorilla’s Pre-Packaged Cold Brew?

Photo credit: James O'Meara

It's been a while since we've heard some good juice from Gorilla Coffee (lest you forget the great Coffee War of 2010, please see HERE HERE HERE and HERE). It seemed as if Gorilla had cooled it with the lawsuits and slipped back under the radar to focus on their latte art. 

Or so we thought.

Turns out Gorilla is ruffling feathers yet again and this time it’s personal.  Iced Coffee Personal. 

Patrons recently looking for their precious morning summertime crack iced coffee fix were in for a surprise as they received not the usual freshly-prepared buck of chilled coffee, but a box of Gorilla Cold Brew. Coffee I can take home and alternate with a Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino tucked in the back of my fridge?  Don’t mind if I do.  But at $4 for a single serving it's hardly a steal (that is unless you’re itching for a souvenir cardboard gorilla).

Beyond the price hike, the new boxed cold brew is served in only one size, which happens to hold a little more than the cup that accompanies it.  This provides a troubling predicament for those who fancy themselves a lot of ice or an extra splash of dairy (sorry, Brooklyn -- soy). Your choices? Pour the box into the cup and awkwardly chug the last bit from the box at the counter, or double fist with both the carton and the cup and sip away until there's enough room to pour the rest of the carton into the cup. In addition, a source alleges that the Tetre Paks that the coffee is housed in aren't even recyclable. 

We tried to get word straight from the Gorilla's mouth about this new iced coffee sitch, but our calls went unreturned (insert The Price is Right losing horn sound byte). We'll let you know if we hear anything.

Twitter is having a love-hate relationship with the new brew. What say you?