'Whisky Process – El Borbollon
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Farm: El Borbollon
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Location: Apaneca Mountain Range
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Altitude: 1200-1500m
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Process: Washed then Whisky Barrel Aged
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Varietal: Red Bourbon
This is a coffee we’ve been experimenting with and excited about for a while – a whisky barrel aged coffee. Commissioned by the premier 'Wales Whisky Fest', we’ve teamed up with Penderyn Distillery to make our first ‘Barrel Aged’ coffee – a process involving ageing and storing green unroasted coffee beans in a used Penderyn Single Malt Welsh Whisky cask for 4 weeks. Throughout this process, the green coffee absorbs and retains all the rich boozy goodness that the barrel has to offer that after roasting to a medium profile leaves us with deliciously moreish notes of Boozy Christmas Cake, Dark Chocolate and Toffee, Walnuts, Spice, and of course, sweet Penderyn whisky.
The process began with a phone call from the 'Wales Whisky Fest', and quite quickly we were super excited at the opportunity to try this rarely attempted process. A few phone calls later and we had our barrel, one that had previously been used to store one of Penderyn's flagship Single Malt Welsh Whiskies.
Next we needed our bean, and after much sampling we decided upon a beautiful washed crop from the farm/mill of El Borbollon in El Salvador. The mill specialises in their Red Bourbon varietal, with this crop having wonderful ginger bread, dark chocolate and toffee characteristics. We thought it would taste great with some whisky notes on top – so into the barrel it went.
Now the real labour starts. We needed to ensure all beans were equally exposed to the whisky left in the barrel by rolling the barrel daily in our courtyard, which, with a 40kg barrel and 70kgs of green coffee in isn’t as easy as you might hope. 4 weeks later, the beans are now out of the barrel and ready for roasting.
We opted to roast the beans on a delicate medium roast profile that both preserves and highlights the whisky that the coffee has absorbed, as well as bring out the natural rich flavours of the coffee itself. Due to the complex process involved and the limited amount of beans we can age at once, this coffee is of limited availability with a uniqueness and quality to match, so make sure you grab yours now before it’s all gone!
