Starbucks Unveils Whiskey Barrel-Aged Coffee. Yum!
CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 3/7/2017, 12:15 p.m.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- I like my liquor brown and my coffee black. I'm sure I'm not alone. And that's probably why Starbucks now has a special new beverage for fans of whiskey and strong java.
Starbucks announced Monday that its Roastery store in Seattle has begun selling two new specialty drinks made from beans aged in whiskey barrels. Starbucks will be selling bags of those coffee beans as well.
The company said its Starbucks Reserve Whiskey Barrel Aged Sulawesi beans are aged in "freshly emptied" oak barrels from a local distiller in Washington State -- Woodinville Whiskey, Co. (I'd like to be the guy that helps to freshly empty the barrels!)
Starbucks said the beans are "hand-rotated frequently" over a period of several weeks to make sure they all come into contact with the barrel and absorb the flavor of the whiskey.
The roasting burns off the actual alcohol. But Starbucks says that the whiskey flavor and smell remains.
"You get those earthy notes mingling with the oak to create a cup that's unlike any other," said Duane Thompson, a member of the Starbucks beverage R&D team, in a release about the new coffee.
The Seattle roastery will sell two specialty drinks -- a cold brew sweetened with vanilla syrup in a sidecar glass -- as well as a hot "con crema" drink that features the coffee mixed with the vanilla syrup and topped with sugar and foam.
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