How Mr. Brown Iced Coffee came to be

According to a spokeswoman from King Car Group, the makers of Mr. Brown Coffee, Blue Mountain Blend, Original and Vanilla are among the best-selling flavors on Guam.

Sep 12

In pretty much every store you enter in Guam, you’ll find a refrigerator lined with Mr. Brown Iced Coffees. The stocky canned drink pairs well with an empanada or a Spam sushi bought from your nearest mom-and-pop store. It’s the perfect companion at the weekend flea market. One sip to get your synapses firing as you navigate the tents of plants and tables with DVDs and machetes and random shoes and that one seller that sells Made In the USA t-shirts.

My love affair with Mr. Brown coffee started in my junior year of high school. ¹

I’ve tried every flavor available on Guam, even the instant coffee types that you can mix with hot water or hot milk. My favorite is still canned Cappuccino.

But then I wondered: What was the best, top-selling flavor for other Mr. Brown lovers on Guam? I polled the good people of Instagram. Blue Mountain Blend came out as the clear winner.²

And according to a spokeswoman from King Car Group, the makers of Mr. Brown Coffee, Blue Mountain Blend, Original flavor and Vanilla are among the front-runners on Guam.

“The top-selling item is Blue Mountain Blend coffee,” the King Car Group spokeswoman said.

Guam is just one of the markets that love Mr. Brown. It’s sold in over 30 countries around the world and it’s popular in places like Hong Kong, Cyprus, Czech Republic, and Germany, according to the spokeswoman.

“Each country has different taste preference. For example, Blue Mountain is the most popular flavor in Guam, and vanilla flavor is European countries’ favorite. Generally, our top-selling items are original, Blue Mountain, and vanilla,” she said.

The first flavor, the original Mr. Brown was released in 1982. King Car Group ventured into the canned coffee market in the 1980s because it was popular in Japan. King Car Group was established in Taiwan and has since expanded to Europe and American markets, the website says. They make a variety of products. And yes, it is the same King Car Group that makes the popular King Car Iced Lemon Tea that we all love.

“King Car saw the potential market of coffee and decided to bring the canned coffee culture in Taiwan,” the spokeswoman said.

At the time in the 80s, coffee was associated with exotic cultures. King Car concluded that they needed a face, an inviting one, to front their new canned coffee product.

"King Car decided to make this brand character ‘Mr. Brown’ a bearded, cheerful, passionate, and Pavarotti-like man with a white suit,” the spokeswoman said. Pavarotti is an Italian Opera singer.

They named him Mr. Brown in part because it came from an English textbook. Plus, it was catchy and easy to pronounce, according to the spokeswoman.

“Also, ‘Brown’ can be easily associated with the color of coffee, which made ‘Mr. Brown' a best choice for coffee branding,” she added.

So Mr. Brown was born.

King Car Group has continued to keep its pulse on the coffee industry. The company’s research and development team is always looking at developing different flavors, the spokeswoman said.

“Before launching new products into the market, we process internal tasting and discussions many times in order to give our customer the best products from Mr. Brown,” she said.

Since its launch 40 years ago, King Car Group has added over 10 different flavors, including Macadamia Nut, Chocolate, and Caramel. More recently, King Car Group launched a new premium canned coffee series.

Mr. Brown has been a dominant player on Guam’s beverage scene for decades now. The spokeswoman also said that King Car Group continues to devote time and effort to building the brand in this market.

Did you know that there’s a Mr. Brown castle cafè in Taiwan? A CASTLE. CAFÉ.

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How adorable is that? You can’t tell me you don’t want to meet Mr. Brown at his castle cafè.

Mr. Brown trivia time! ³
Which of the flavors below are NOT of the official Mr. Brown variety?
A) Mr. Brown Cappuccino
B) Mr. Brown Excellent Coffee
C) Mr. Brown Coffee & Milk
D) Mr. Brown Frappe

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You what would be kind of great? Mr. Brown merch. I would love a Mr. Brown bucket hat or a Mr. Brown tote to hold my latest flea market purchases. I can see it now. And I want it.

Anyway. For now, I’m more than happy to sip my Mr. Brown Cappuccino⁴ and plan a post-pandemic trip to the Mr. Brown Castle Cafè.