Review: Drive Coffee 8Js Jim Clark Medium Roast

(2022) There are world famous race car drivers and then there is the standard bearer. Jim Clark, a winner of over one-third of the Formula One races he entered and winner of the Indianapolis 500, is still the racer global drivers are compared to. It is a lofty bar Drive Coffee set to name a medium roast after the iconic driver.

Drive Coffee has created 8Js Jim, a single-origin medium roast from Mexico, inspired by his career win at the Mexican Grand Prix. The 8Js name comes from the eight historic drivers whose first names begin with J. In true Drive Coffee form, the beans are delivered in a steel oil can-inspired package, this time with the iconic Jim Clark Lotus and the instantly-recognizable Colin Chapman Lotus livery of green and yellow. 

The best way to describe Drive Coffee’s 8Js Jim coffee is through the words of another Indianapolis 500 winner. Dario Franchitti, a huge Jim Clark fan, was given a chance to drive Clark’s restored Indy 500-winning Lotus in 2010. Said Franchitti, “[Jim Clark] was an absolute tiger in the car…but it was as much the guy he was outside the car that…he’s my hero. He was this quiet, simple, humble guy.” 

Drive Coffee’s roasts typically run lighter than what we prefer, but their incredible light roast skills have caught our attention and find them refreshing. This medium roast single origin coffee brews up quiet, simple, and humble. Taken black, and the single-origin selection comes through. One of the tastiest notes in coffee is any flavor of chocolate, and 8Js Jim has it. The flavor profiles of creamy milk chocolate along with hazelnuts had us pairing the mug with Nutella breakfasts. The coffee was an absolute tiger in the mug. It was no surprise the oil can was emptied in record time. A remarkable medium roast had this dark roast fan singing praises at how delicious 8Js Jim was. 

As the motorsports calendar picks up, this is the perfect coffee bean for anyone looking to emulate Jim Clark’s notable races. Those looking to spectate the Formula One Monaco race (a race Clark frustratingly never won) and follow it up with a flag-to-flag viewing of the Indianapolis 500, Drive Coffee’s 8Js Jim medium roast provides a nice attention to detail of the festivities for one of the biggest weekends in motorsports. We haven’t tried watching a full lap around the clock for Le Mans in one viewing, a race Jim Clark finished second in once, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. With the recent passing of what would have been Jim Clark’s 86th birthday, that’s all the reason to raise a mug.