Wine barrel aged coffee
We have yet another coffee trend to keep up with, this time in the form of wine barrel aged coffee beans.
Portland, Oregon based Coffee shop owners Bruce and Matt Milletto are reported by Perfect Daily Grind to have come up with the idea.
Pinot Noir has been made in Oregon since the 1840s, and it is these Pinot Noir barrels that are used to age the green coffee beans.
“We were actually toying with the idea of combining the complexities of wine an the nuances of coffee for quite a while, and it only became a reality when we established a great working relationship with Sokol Blosser,” Matt told PDG.
“Aside from Pinot Noir barrels, we experimented with some white barrels for a summer blend. We also tried bourbon barrels and, interestingly, Aquavit barrels too. However, we’ve found that the Pinot barrels really strike a balance between wine and coffee. We aren’t trying to create flavoured coffee – we really want the oak to complement and enhance flavours already in the coffee.”
It seems that the co-creators previous bartending experience was one of the major reasons for the merger between speciality coffee and spirits.
The aim of this process was to create beans that would not damage your grinder, but also offer a versatile addition to alcoholic cocktails whilst being a flavoursome daily coffee brew.
The process of making barrel aged coffee is not easy, and Bruce and Matt have created a series of syrups to help create coffee cocktails without the need to understand the barrel aging process.
We just wonder if this is the start of a revolution in coffee bean aging, or just another niche product that doesn’t really add to the taste of the bean?
Here’s hoping it’s the start of a coffee bean barrel aging revolution rather than the latter.