Bourbon barrel coffee and odd crema

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
Jesse.F
Posts: 96
Joined: 3 years ago

#1: Post by Jesse.F »

I'm currently in Cincinnati, and have been trying out some different roasters, and I picked up a bag of Bourbon barrel aged beans, and my understanding was the green beans had been kept in old barrels for a bit before roasting. Now, I was expecting this to have a bit of an impact on flavor and smell, but was very taken back by just how much of an impact it had. I am enjoying the shots in getting, and have been playing around with blooming, and different profiles. It is certainly good, but very different than regular coffee. One thing I was curious about however, the crema in getting seems to be much thicker (not sure that's exactly accurate) like it's so robust it can hold peaks, it doesn't settle flat like with regular coffee. Has anyone else experienced this? And idea why? I'm just curious what about keeping beans in a barrel would have such an impact on the crema.

tennisman03110
Posts: 356
Joined: 5 years ago

#2: Post by tennisman03110 »

Is the coffee dark or oily? Do you know when it was roasted, i.e. might it be too fresh? And I'm just going to assume they don't have any extra flavorings or additives (correct?).

Crema is carbon dioxide. Much like the bloom of V60, a super fresh coffee is going to off-gas at a higher rate.

I've personally used bourbon barrel beans a few times, always for drip. I did find them super strong in flavor. If there's a relation between crema and the actual aging of the green beans, I can't say.

Jesse.F (original poster)
Posts: 96
Joined: 3 years ago

#3: Post by Jesse.F (original poster) »

It is fresh, roasted on July 14th, but I have roasted fresher (I know not the best idea, just wanted to see what would happen brewing shots with coffee roasted just a day earlier) but no, they are not oily. Certainly a bit darker roasted than I usually use. Just found the texture of the crema interesting.

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another_jim
Team HB
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Joined: 19 years ago

#4: Post by another_jim »

I've also had bourbon barrel coffee, and noticed a difference in the crema. It may be the coffee, rather than the barrel. Is it dry processed? A Robusta, A Yemen, etc.?
Jim Schulman