In case you are a whiskey and low lover, you may recall again in 2020 after we teamed up with the Topeka Whiskey Society (TWS) to create a distinct bourbon barrel-aged espresso that used to be to be had completely at our cafes.
So much is going into making a well-rounded bourbon barrel-aged espresso, and we realized such a lot all over the method. Plus, y’all beloved it! So when TWS reached out to us about taking part once more, this time with an Eagle Uncommon 10-12 months Kentucky Immediately Bourbon barrel, we jumped on the alternative!
Step one to any barrel-aged espresso collab? Getting our fingers on a used barrel!
It used to be a thrilling mid-July day when TWS’ John Day stopped by means of to ship the empty Eagle Uncommon Bourbon barrel to our roasting facility. Our head roaster, Mike Mazulo, helped him lift it into our warehouse for safekeeping. Whilst John used to be there, they mentioned possible choices for the way to cross about simply getting the espresso into and out of the barrel, as using the normal bunghole at the barrel proved to be a problem right through our first collaboration.
This time, we aimed to streamline our manner. Having tackled this ahead of, Mike and Matthew Yoakum, our manufacturing roaster, had the chance to plan sensible answers to the stumbling blocks that had up to now slowed us down.
One such answer used to be reducing a brand new hollow within the facet of the barrel. This proved tough because the barrel used to be relatively thick! Mike and Matt began by means of drilling a hollow into the bottom of the empty barrel to stop any further mud or sediments from falling within. Then, they raised the barrel onto its facet to finish the reduce, ensuring to stay the barrel freed from any particles.
Shifting a heavy bourbon barrel—they are heavy even if empty!—filled with espresso beans had additionally confirmed to be relatively a problem prior to now. Fortunately, Matt got here up with the bright concept to make use of 4 caster wheels to simply roll the barrel all over the getting older procedure.
Agitating the barrel (rolling it about 10 to fifteen occasions) day by day helped make sure that the entire espresso beans ended up with a constant moisture content material. We measured the moisture content material of the beans all over the entire barrel-aging procedure, monitoring it intently to verify constant roasts.
You could be asking of yourself, “However how did making a decision what espresso to place within the barrel?” Smartly, we left that as much as TWS contributors John, Jarrod, Ben, and Keith, who visited our warehouse to lend a hand style and choose a espresso for barrel-aging!
Mike defined cupping etiquette—from dry perfume to in spite of everything tasting the espresso. This cupping revel in used to be distinctive, as TWS even introduced alongside a bottle of the Eagle Uncommon 10-12 months Kentucky Immediately Bourbon to style along the 4 other coffees to lend a hand get a clearer image as to how the bourbon would supplement every single-origin espresso.
TWS contributors were given a possibility to seem over the Espresso Taster’s Taste Wheel to lend a hand establish prevalent notes within the coffees at the desk. Whiskey tasting is very similar to espresso cupping, and it used to be thrilling to proportion the processes with one any other! After a lot deliberation, the crowd landed on Finca El Socorro’s Crimson Bourbon Washed, a Direct Business espresso from Guatemala.
With a espresso made up our minds upon, it used to be time to begin barrel-aging! For the primary building roast, 16lbs of espresso used to be added to the barrel and allowed to age for 7 days previous to roasting.
Then it used to be time for a 2d cupping, this time with John and his daughter Olivia! With two other roast profiles to make a choice from, they were given immediately to paintings, noting what they loved about every roast. After all, they landed at the clean and candy mild roast choice for this espresso.
In terms of bourbon barrel-aging espresso, attaining the very best stability to spotlight each the bourbon taste and the traits of high quality espresso will also be difficult. Continuously, roasters stay the moisture content material too prime, necessitating fast roasting after casting off the espresso from the barrel to stop molding. Because of this, there’s a tendency to roast temporarily at prime temperatures, making it tricky to do away with one of the vital overpowering bourbon notes.
Take a look at the shade of this Crimson Bourbon espresso in several phases: From left, previous to going into the bourbon barrel, after being within the barrel-aged for seven days, after which after drying within the roaster for 2 hours.
With all this in thoughts, Mike and Matt advanced a meticulous barrel-aging procedure to verify the most productive effects:
- Inexperienced espresso is added to the empty Eagle Uncommon barrel and sealed. That is accomplished in batches of 35lbs at 11.6% moisture content material.
- The barrel is agitated at least one time in step with day for per week, getting older in a 75º warehouse at 52% humidity.
- After seven days within the barrel, the espresso is got rid of weighing 37 kilos at 14.1% moisture content material.
- The espresso is sealed in a bag and rested to homogenize to 13.7% moisture content material.
- Subsequent, the espresso is dried previous to roasting. It spends 2 hours within the roaster at 95º-105º with complete airflow, bringing the moisture content material down to twelve.2%. This “low and sluggish” manner avoids shedding natural subject within the espresso and stripping out risky compounds from the bourbon itself.
- In any case… into the roaster! At a mild roast, the barrel-aged espresso is clean and candy with notes of darkish chocolate, cherry, marzipan, and bourbon.
We totally loved taking part with the TWS in this espresso and stay up for listening to your ideas about it. Satisfied sipping!
