ELLSWORTH, Maine — For the first time in five years, sales of Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy in Maine have slipped below $12 million and 1 million bottles for the calendar year.
The coffee-flavored liquor, produced by M.S. Walker Inc. in Somerville, Mass., has long been the top-selling hard liquor in Maine, according to statistics compiled by the state Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations.
Each year, the bureau releases a list of the top 25 selling units of liquor in the state. The bureau bases its list on the number of cases sold and separately tracks different sizes of the same brand.
Four different sizes of Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy routinely appear among the top 10 spots on the list.
For 2011, different sizes of Allen’s were ranked first, third, fourth and ninth on the list. The largest bottle, 1750 milliliters, was the top-selling unit in Maine last year with 56,159 cases sold, with each case containing six bottles. The smaller the bottle of Allen’s, the fewer cases of it sold in 2011, as is typical every year.
The total sales figures for all four sizes of Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy in 2011 was 988,123 bottles sold with a retail value of $11,991,937. The most recent year during which fewer than 1 million bottles of Allen’s sold in Maine for less than $12 million was in 2006.
The brand of alcohol had its best year ever in Maine in 2009, when 1,065,108 bottles of various sizes sold for a total retail sales value of $12,953,850.
Tim Poulin, director of operations for the state bureau, said Tuesday that, despite the decrease in the liquor’s sales in Maine, it remains the most popular brand in the state by far. Coffee-flavored liquors generally sell well in Maine, he said, but none compare to Allen’s.
“It’s just very popular in Maine, for whatever reason,” Poulin said. “It’s a love affair in Maine.”
The bureau does not keep statistics on the sales of beers, wines or other alcoholic drinks such as hard lemonade or tea, Poulin said.
Trailing behind Allen’s sales, 142,065 bottles of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum were sold in Maine last year for a total retail sales value of $3,428,710, which is the second highest value total among the top 25 units of liquor. Second in terms of volume in 2011 was Orloff Vodka with 276,982 bottles that sold for a retail sales total of $2,727,341.
Bacardi Light rum, which sold 113,822 bottles in Maine last year for a retail sales total of $2,417,571, was ranked fourth for both value and volume. No other brand appears on the state’s Top 25 list more than once.
Follow BDN reporter Bill Trotter on Twitter at @billtrotter.
This story is just LOOKING for some great comments! Come on folks, lets see how creative you can be.
First it starts snowing outside today, and now we get news of this…….
It actually is a cold day in hell. Budweiser take me away!
heck with go to the store and buy some brandy!
Yup, The world is going straight to heck. I’ll bet the ACB sales have dropped because folks’re making their own at home using P.Spring Vodka,chocolate milk and instant coffee…….Now that I’ve given up ancient family recipies………….
might as well mix up a brandy!!
The Champaign of Maine is on the wane.
Allen’s ass in a glass….
Fat ass in a glass….
Sure tastes like ass in a glass. Even if it is a plastic one.
Haha, excellent. Nicely done.
I wonder if this is LePapages fault?
all blame “trickles down” to Bush.
-I miss voting for that man.
Here, Here.
Can’t be Bush’s fault… He quit snorting coke and drinking years ago.
I don’t know. Did he stop drinking ?
I hear he accounts for over 1/3rd of the Allen’s sales!
Maine seems to enjoy the bottom shelf. Five O’ Clock? Its like kerosene
the wikipedia article on Allen’s Coffee Brandy lists some of the nick names…the obvious “champagne o’ Maine”….and another I haven’t heard before…”Fat A** in a Glass”
Funny, I’m right backwards from you – have heard Fat Aѕѕ in a Glass but not Champagne o’ Maine…Anyone have any other good ones?
Drunken Uncle Allen
“The Diarrhea of Tomorrow”
gorilla milk…. 50 ounces of Allens and 9.1 ounces of Oakhurst 1%
Go to any Rite Aid, look at the people buying ACB and then you’ll know why it’s called “Fat A** in a Glass”.
The poll question is kind of misleading it asks if you drink it but Allen’s has lots of uses. Bait presevative, lobsterman preservative, Ice cream Flavor.
Say it isn’t so! Come on folks you know what this means-Time for some fat a$$ in a glass for all allowed.
Allen’s Coffee Brandy is free – just swipe that EBT.
Its more complicated than that sometimes. Occasionally, they have to use the ebt to buy bottles of water, then dump them to get the money to get the allens. Hard workers.
what would happen if people took just a fifth of the energy they put into scamming the system and used it to do something productive?
They prefer to do nothing!
Mother’s milk for Maine’s less fortunate.
NOOOOOOoooooo!!!!!!!! They are going to start sobering up! GOD help us all!
Oh no, Mr. Boston’s is taking over!Side Note: Doesn’t the shape in the Sombrero glass look eerily like Maine??
IT DOES ! Thats too funny !
I was thinking it was intentional………
Never know with Photoshop these days!
Kind of looks like the stir stick is centered around Princeton.
Maybe it’s one of those State O’ Maine ice cubes floatin’ in there.
Just need to push more “Welfare Moms”. That’s equal parts Allen’s and Diet Moxie. :)
Do people seriously mix coffee brandy with Moxie??
Apparently. I’ve seen this on mixology sites and someone has posted it under the recipes section of the official Moxie website:
http://drinkmoxie.com/moxology.php?id=129
Yes, I used to bartend and they do. Another common one was brandy with club soda….ewwwww!
Here’s an even worse one- Allen’s and Moxie Energy Drink.You feel awful and can’t pass out.
Try Southern Comfort/Coffee brandy.
Fat Cracker A**.
I bet they’re spending the extra money on fireworks.
See what happens when you beat up on welfare recipients! Bad for the economy!
Fat A– In a Glass !!!
Could this be a sign that the economy is finally turning around?
Perhaps, but it will be some time before bikini sales rebound.
Did the governor switch to Kahlua now that he’s one of the elite?
He’s smart if he did. Allen’s is nasty stuff. I prefer Kahlua myself.
Allens is too classy for LePage, I’m thinking his drink is Mad Dog 20/20
Thank you for a good belly laugh!
It fits him well as he is a Mad Dog
Boone’s Farm Tickle Pink
I miss that stuff:(
Country Quencher is much better.
He can afford to drink a lot better quality on our tax dollars.MD…eeww.
The Guv takes his with VODKUH.
vodker
The Governor switched to Oxy’s and Decaf.
Dairy farmers take another hit, milk sales must surely drop if the Allen’s sales drop?
Buy a 1/2 gallon of Allens and gallon of milk, dump half the milk on the C Store parking lot, fill it back up with Allens and start riding around, A Maine tradition
hahaha thats to funny,a page out of my past i cant stop laughin!
It’s still #1 in Islesboro.
Oh…I just knew this headline was goin to have some great comments…thanks everyone
Know what? This was something us kids did back in the college days and some years beyond that! What kind of “probable cause” can this bring when a cop tries to stop you from drinking a carton of milk if you aren’t driving erratically.
Like dumping water at Shaw’s parking lot, return a couple of empties and get the deposit, then all you do is buy a bottle of vodka or gin at Shaw’s with the extra deposit change and refill the plastic bottle with the booze. Then, let the good times roll (in more ways than one).
It’s hard to drink anything when your in a full body cast.
Its because we have a milk shortage
Maine Champagne sales are down , times are tough all over !
Oh no!!!! people are drinking less…God forbid.
I think you can blame it on bath salt sales in the Bangor area……
I don’t drink Allen’s – but then again, I don’t drink anything I have to mix with milk. Who has the money to spend on alcohol AND milk?
I never tried the stuff. So…..either I’m missing out on something……or perhaps not?
nasty stuff, everyone I’ve ever known that drank it regularly was half crazy, and that is no joke!
Is it popular because it’s cheap? I never heard of it until coming back to Maine.
I believe it’s a New England thing; I know they didn’t have it when I lived down south.
down south they have 200 proof liqur; who needs coffee brandy?
No, its fairly expensive!
Come on who doesn’t have a happy memory with Allen’s? Sad but true, I once drank so much that barely made it back to my apartment….that was across the street. Sometimes I still sweat that smell.
I bet sales havent slipped in the County!!
Washington or Aroostook?
Aroostook
PBR with lime and de coconut
You stay classy, Maine
“for whatever reason?” LOL!! Sugar Alcohol and Caffeine… what could possibly be the attraction there…
In college we used to make our own, on some variation of the recipe below. We’d make a triple batch (or more) in our dorm, and substitute Everclear for the Vodka. Bottle it and let sit for a week or so, then let the fun begin. Husson girls loved that stuff! Kinda miss those days…..
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/coffee-liqueur/
You are the man Mike, sounds like good times….Yummy!!!!
Hey I think I went to school with you…………….
Millinocket Martini
Breakfast of Champions!
I prefer home-grown and Snapple…..
I have never liked Brandy. My family drinks it straight! AHH!!
I love the Vodka. Not Orloff, I like the good stuff! That I can handle straight.
Oh BTW, If you dont work, hooked on pills, you dont drink as much Allens! Your all pilled out!
Tip a half gallon of ACB upside down in each back stake pocket of your truck. Drive down through town about 3 m.p.h.. Now you are taking part in a Maine honored tradition. Trolling for “rubenesque” women. Turn on some hip hop to catch your G.V.W. the fastest.
HAHAHA! GVW=Gross Vehicle Weight or something else?
I find this so funny, I’m literally laughing out loud (cliche but true)
Well of course.
Welfare cuts=less Allen’s.
If Allen’s sales slip in Maine, I fear that the Penobscot, Androscoggin and Kennebec Rivers would probably eventually run bone dry.
A worrisome economic indicator…
“As Allen’s goes, so goes Maine!”
I dont drink any alcohol. No POT. No cigarettes. No illegal drugs. Caffeine is the hardest drug i take. That is probably why i have the most clear headed opinions on issues in the State of Maine. Modesty prevents me from going on even more.
I didn’t catch your your opinion on this issue in the State of Maine. The only opinion I caught was your opinion on your opinions.
Perhaps not using all that you mentioned just leaves room for an over-inflated sense of self?
That may be a possibility, i did liked your post myself.
I do like facing reality ‘raw’ and not running away from reality,which is why youse people drink booze and smoke POT, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT6qhK77dfg&feature=related
With no disrespect, I do have a shortwave I have already dug out, and would like to know what channel you broadcast from. Love to listen.
when you find out about nibiru you’ll start drinking ….book it
Caffeine makes people scatterbrained and contributes to attention deficit.
“Modesty prevents me from going on even more,” but pride made you make the post in the first place.
And what’s up with youse and POT?
For one, Pot causes autism in offspring.
So your parents got high allot?
Better get back to your scientific research…
Google “Sam’s Story”.
no autism is caused by mercury , used as a preservitive in the vaccinations we(1960-70s generation) got when we were born . then the autism showed up in the children born to those people .
The States with the highest alcohol consumption per capita, like Maine,also have the highest rates of children with autism.
Circular logic
Well you should keep your offspring from smoking it then.
Snore…….dont break your arm patting yourself on the back
It’s those damned Republicans again…puttin’ everybody to work so there’s not enough time for Allen’s.
I Didn’t Know Obama was a Damned Republican.
Huuuuu!
Uhhhhhhhhhhh!
My comment was tongue-in-cheek. Please don’t take offense, but I was referring to the executive branch of Maine government.
My comment was also tounge in cheek, and I wouldn’t take offense at anyone posting on BDN.
There will be NO working during drinking hours!
The moral of
the story is clear
instead of brandy
stick to beer
don’t you no why the state ask to lower alcohol content. look its no longer 80 proof now 70 proof only reason anyone drank it for the strenth sales will fall untill they restore it in the meantime hyram walker taste way better
I wonder if its a good thing if my fav beverage doesn’t even make the list.
It’s Ginger Brandy or nothoing for me.
Be glad it’s not Buckfast, a heavilly caffeinated British wine made by Benedictine monks. Scotland’s largest local police department found it mentioned in 5000 crime reports over a three year period, 114 times with the bottle used as a weapon.
fists, knives and bottles! weapons of choice in the UK!
go figure
Fat ass in a glass, drink er up
Did the DOT post this too?
about time we get some real news …….hahahaa
The taste of Coffe brandy reminds me of the taste of father johns medicine yuk
Hey! What about Ron Virgin Dark Rum? It’s bottled in Lewiston. That’s pretty good.
Allen’s + milk = Piscataquis county latte
Allen’s Coffee Brandy, cigarettes and scratch tickets. How will I ever afford to buy oil in this recession?
If your’re drinking Allen’s,you have to mix it with red cap milk.It just doesn’t taste right if it’s with that diet milk!!!
In the 70s my weekends started on Wednesday evenings with several of us sharing one of many fifths of Allens into the real weekend. I can’t stand the stuff now but have got to say Allens gave me many fun times, from what I remember :)
Birth rate must be down. Mommy’s don’t get the free mixer from WIC!
YUK.
When I was drinking 3 six packs Bud Ice. Then take a ride out in the countryside. BDN needs to find something better to write about. Coffee Brandy come on.
Ah yes, Orloff Vodka. Might as well throw away the cap because it’s not going back on the bottle.
hahahahaa good one
I bet many of the cry babies telling sad sack stories about how they are freezing because of heating costs, are the same ones spending $12M a year on booze. Not to mention spending money other alcohol brands,POT.
Yessah Bud… They “git” their milk from WIC or F.S. for free and use their Tanf for the booze and ciggys and then go get “help for heat and rent because they have no $ !
Yup. You guys know it all.
Sadly, PPH has no word on beverages served with menu at Obama’s fundraiser:
“Chris Weber, president of Black Tie, said she has prepared an
all-Maine
menu that features, in addition to the lobster corn dogs, classic Maine
lobster rolls with drawn butter, Maine oysters, Duck Trap smoked salmon,
Maine shrimp cocktail shooters, and Pineland Farms tenderloin beef
served on baguettes.”
it was old english 800s and shlitz malt liquor bulls
mmmmmm liquid panty remover.
they truck most of it directly to washington county……
Dave in east corinth, are you drinking less ????????????????????
Hangover in a bottle!!!
I’m in the wrong business! LOL
The vary idea of loyal Mainers relying on people from away to satisfy their booze habit – SCANDALOUS!
Then again, who can fault us for getting sticky-brained when the good stuff is just too damned expensive. Plus, a bottle of Allens leaves enough change for a whole bunch of scratch tickets. Win, win!