Muddy Waters Coffee Co. has created a special blend in honor of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, and it’s hard not to see some subversive commentary in the way it’s described. This law enforcement brew has “Nutty Undertones,” the label says. Also a “Bitersweetness” [sic] and, ahem, a “Full Body.”

That sound like Chief Wiggum to anyone else?

Outpost contributor Jennifer Savage spotted this dark roast on offer at the Courtroom Cafe, which sits more or less directly above the Sheriff’s Office HQ. 

But Muddy Waters owner Chris Nichols said the description applies to the coffee only. “Honestly, I didn’t even realize that [possible interpretation] until a friend, an attorney, pointed it out to me,” he said. 

Nichols said that sheriff’s deputies kept bumping into his delivery guy in the courthouse elevator and asking when their office would get one of Muddy’s many specialty roasts dedicated to groups and causes, such as the Annie & Mary Rail-Trail Blend, the Six Rivers Planned Parenthood Blend and the Yurok Blend.

Nichols was game, and he said the deputies specifically requested a strong, dark blend. So the master roaster based the new blend off of his Angelo’s Italian Roast, which happens to be nutty, bittersweet and full-bodied. When his lawyer friend called his attention to the juxtaposition, Nichols got a bit worried. 

“I thought, oh, maybe that’s a mistake,” he said. But so far the deputies aren’t complaining. “They seem to love it,” Nichols said of the specialty roast. 

We’ll have to give it a shot try.