Boozy Greens
What could possibly be more exciting than coffee, right? Well… who could forget about the intoxicating effects (both chemical and flavor) of alcohol! We all know how well coffee and alcohol blend with one another, as seen from the growth in popularity of the CIGS (Coffee In Good Spirits) competition; And how can I not mention the beauty of a perfectly balanced espresso martini or the creamy nirvana that is Irish Coffee. As the specialty coffee industry booms in the United States, so does the list of coffee varieties, processing methods, espresso-based drink recipes, and apparently post-process-processing?
As most of you career baristi out there know, working behind the bar 40+ hours a week means a constant necessity to experiment and explore. As baristi, our Golden Rule is simple, connect local and global communities through the growing love for coffee. Despite our focus primarily being social connection, we are also expected to continue the ever-growing momentum of the coffee industry. We have all seen the rapid influx of experimental coffee processing methods (the most recent, to my knowledge, being Koji processing). However, it seems we have moved into post-process-processing. Apparently there are roasters in this crazy little world of ours who are soaking green coffee in various alcohols, intending to infuse the coffee with the intoxicating flavors of rum, whiskey, wine, etc. while still producing a cup with 0% abv. Introducing processed green coffee to liquid for an extended period of time? Tannins, bitterness, waste, time, price, oh yeah, and the increased possibility of combusting alcohol infused beans in my home… How could I not try this?
You can view my roasting setup here in order to fully breakdown the process I followed.
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First I needed to decide which coffees I was going to pair with which alcohols. Luckily, I recently stocked up on a large variety of green coffees.
Ethiopia Limu Kossa Geshe, Colombia Cresta El Hato
Ethiopia Limu Kossa Geshe
The Ethiopia is natural processed with flavor notes of blueberry and pineapple. This specific lot had a gorgeous grape acidity and a heavy sweetness. Instantly, I knew which alcohol to reach for, Sake.
Colombia Cresta El Hato
For the Colombia, an autumn-like sweetness riddles the cup. Notes of panela, sorghum, and spiced hot chocolate with a beautiful body. What better way to accentuate those spice and chocolate notes with a heavy-bodied red wine.
Next, the alcohol selection.
Gekkeikan Black & Gold, 1924 Bourbon Barrel Aged Double Black Cabernet Sauvignon
Gekkeikan Black & Gold
A beautifully heavy-bodied and well-balanced liqueur with notes of papaya, roasted pecan, and melon. My hopes are to accentuate more tropical fruit notes in the coffee by introducing similar notes from the alcohol. The last thing I want to do is completely strip the beans of their pre-destined flavor notes. I discovered this sake while having a company party at a local Hibachi grill; Which makes this a more sentimental flavor experience for myself.
1924 Cabernet Sauvignon
I decided to pair this coffee with a bourbon barrel aged cabernet sauvignon. This wine in specific has notes of blackberry and autumn-spice. The barrel aging leaves behind notes of caramel, brown sugar, and burnt oak. Ideally I wouldn’t have used a wine with such a high tannin level. However, I don’t have my hopes up for this experiment so I wasn’t about to buy yet another bottle of wine. (If you’re a wine fanatic and have the opportunity, give Gervasi in Canton, OH a visit or fork out the shipping cost for a few of their wines/spirits. Support local, you won’t be disappointed.)
Once my choices were made, the rest was fairly simple. Soak some beans.
140g green coffee placed into a bowl
295mL chosen alcohol
Cover, steep 24hrs
Strain, spread soaked greens evenly on baking sheet
*Bake 160-170f for 2hrs, stir/re-distribute every 30min
*You can check the weight of your greens throughout if you wish
Once dried, time to roast. This part was trickier than I was anticipating. I hadn’t considered the difficulty of roasting without having an accurate perception of the beans’ roast color. I based my roast degrees solely on bean temperature, which I measure using a phidget and thermocouple setup you can read about here. reaching first crack with these boozy beans was an uphill battle. it was near impossible to get them to crack on time leading to a few wasted batches of coffee. however, after a few experimental roasts, i was able to formulate an answer to my question: boozy greans?
the answer is simply, kind of? the green coffee used and the alcohol chosen of course plays the largest impact on the outcome of the product. i found sweet red wine is by far the best option out of the tested alcohols. sweet red wine, chocolatey and fruity terroir, and a medium-dark roast is where I found the sweet spot. the yemen origin probably wasn’t the best decision for this experiment due to its acidity and its already difficult roast parameters. despite these challenges, i still ended up with a really great cup.
avoiding waste as much as possible, I only ran a few test roasts of the boozy greens project and never went back. the amount of time and effort it takes to steep the green coffee in wine overnight, airdry the beans, and then hope there is a demand for a wine-flavored coffee is just a ridiculous process not worth the outcome. will I continue my experiments into re-hydrating green coffee with random beverages? absolutely. should you attempt this at home? absolutely. should we begin selling flavored and rehydrated coffees in speicalty cafes? ehhhhhh… maybe?
Christopher feran, a big name in the coffee-processing and roasting community here in the united states, who also happens to be an Ohio local, released a limited edition coffee which was rehydrated in mt. dew baja blast. He even packaged the coffee in baja blast themed aluminum cans. in order for rehydrated coffee to sell, i believe it will need to be a bit gimmicky; attracting all of us coffee nerds who love bizzare flavors and experiments. at the end of the day, cafes should probably avoid soaking their specialty grade greens and save the rehydrating for the stale crop.
