Whiskey-flavoured coffee smashes funding target

Craft coffee producer Whiskey Barrel Coffee is to take its Bourbon barrel-aged coffee beans to a wider audience after surpassing its crowd-funding target on Kickstarter.

The coffee absorbs “the devil’s cut” of the Bourbon cask, resulting in a whiskey flavour

The Colorado-based business aims to “change the coffee experience” with its barrel-aged coffee, and at the time of publishing has raised US$26,757 of its $25,000 target with seven days remaining.

Whiskey Barrel Coffee is produced using green Vitoria Estate beans, the top 1.5% of all of the beans from a local coffee farm. The beans are placed in ex-Bourbon casks, and absorb “the devil’s cut” of the Bourbon – the liquid retained by the wood – to take on the flavour characteristics of the whiskey.

The coffee is available in two key offerings: Dark Roast Whiskey Barrel Coffee, described as a “full bodied powerhouse of flavours”; and Light Roast Whiskey Barrel Coffee, a “medium bodied masterpiece of mellow coffee and whiskey flavours”.

A limited edition Angel’s Share blend, which is a combination of Whiskey Barrel Coffee and the brand’s Classic Line coffee, is also available.

A statement on the Kickstarter page reads: “We would like to expand our production capacity to keep up with the demand, and offer new products to continue the evolution of the Whiskey Barrel Coffee experience. Our signature hands-on process can’t be expanded using machines.

“To maintain the quality and attention to detail in Whiskey Barrel Coffee, we need to invest in people who share our passion and want to become a part of the demanding process that makes our product so special.”

Each bottle of Whiskey Barrel Coffee is hand-filled, hand-labelled, dipped in wax, and marked with the batch and bottle number.

At the end of last year, ‘make your own cocktails’ company Taste Cocktails raised 120% of its £60,000 target to launch a monthly cocktail kit subscription.