Jay-Z and Kanye on Watch the Throne, Supreme and Louis Vuitton in the fall of 2017, Seinfeld and Larry David on Seinfeld…what makes a good collaboration is two equally talented sides coming together to make something that is better than what they would have alone.
In the case of Black Button Distilling and Joe Bean Coffee Roasters—who now enter the pantheon of great collaborators—what they could not have produced without each other is the new Citrus Gin Don Roger Coffee.
This creation comes from a process called barrel aging, which allows for a unique flavor that blends the original notes from a batch of coffee beans with notes from a liquor barrel. In this case, the maple, vanilla, fruit, and spice notes from Joe Bean’s Nicaraguan coffee are accented by the flavors from Black Button’s Citrus Gin barrel. The result is a smooth, round, taste that has just a bit of a bite.
For Black Button and Joe Bean, the Citrus Barrel Coffee represents trial and error. These two creative, passionate brands first connected in 2015 for a different barrel aging project. Then, a Zimbabwe coffee was aged in a Black Button Bourbon barrel.
“That project was a lot slower for us since it took time for us to figure out what coffee would go with the bourbon as well as figuring out how to balance both flavor profiles,” says Kathy Turiano, co-owner of Joe Bean Coffee Roasters. “Our first few attempts at aging came out way too bourbon-focused and we lost a lot of the coffee notes along the way, but we did eventually get there and we were really happy with the results of that collaboration.”
Nicaraguan coffee and citrus gin proved to be a much easier mix—these complimentary flavors were a match made in heaven throughout.
The Citrus Gin Barrel Aged Coffee is available by the cup at Joe Bean’s coffee bar and available by the bag in store or online at joebeanroasters.com.
From now until the end of February, Joe Bean will donate $1 to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Rochester for every bag of Citrus Barrel Coffee sold.
Follow Nick’s Picks on Twitter @NicksPicks585.
