Blak

Max Beckmann, as befits his Teutonic heritage, is partial to black. He is, at least in my humble opinion, the king of black. He is to black the way Picasso is to noses and eyes. The king.

But that's black with a "c." I had a moment to taste Coke Blak--no "C"--earlier today and have determined that the Coke people are the new kings of blak.

Joe Stirt, eponymous auteur of Bookofjoe.com, writes tellingly:

Why Coca-Cola BlaK is doomed to fail: It's simply too good

It's not only bad products that wither away and disappear: good ones do as well — perhaps even more often.

The most common reason, in my humble opinion (note to self: coin acronym), is that something is simply too good for its time and place.

Full disclosure: I love Coca-Cola BlaK, introduced in April of this year with much fanfare.

Though it's meant to show off its "carbonated-coffee essence" the thing that most appeals to me about it is the wonderfully chocolaty flavor — not too sweet but, rather, in the words of Goldilocks, "just right."

Alas, it's far too quirky and exotic to succeed.

I predict the chance of being able to find this product at this time next year to be ≤ 1%.

Enjoy it while you can.

BlaK: R.I.P.

I am awfully fond of Bookofjoe.com for reasons like the above.