14/09/2026
With THE BOURBON SNIFFER, we present one of our most exciting projects to date – a coffee where we decided to step into the role of the experimenters ourselves.
In March of this year, we asked ourselves a simple question: Why should farmers and producers be the only ones experimenting with ageing and maturation processes? So, we set out to find a previously used whiskey barrel and eventually discovered a finishing cask that had once held an Islay Single Malt.
For this project, we selected a Washed coffee from Oaxaca, Mexico. The blend of the Bourbon, Typica and Mundo Novo varieties spent more than six weeks ageing inside the cask, gradually absorbing the volatile aromatic compounds of both the wood and its previous contents. The green coffee was then vacuum-sealed for a further two weeks, allowing the flavours and aromas to stabilise and further develop before we finally roasted it.
The result is not a flavoured coffee, but a carefully developed barrel-finishing process that combines the coffee’s own character with the smoky, maritime and spicy influences of an Islay whisky – without overpowering or masking its origin.
In the cup, the coffee is reminiscent of a whiskey on the rocks: distinctive peaty Bourbon notes meet a vibrant citrus freshness, while a pronounced sweetness of vanilla and caramel brings everything together, resulting in a balanced and long-lasting cup.
THE BOURBON SNIFFER proves that our first barrel-finishing experiment has become exactly what we had hoped for. At the same time, it marks the beginning of a series of further experiments in which we aim to explore and push the boundaries of what is possible with green coffee.
