Nantucket Coffee Roasters greets the season with new rum and whiskey barrel coffees. This past winter, owner Wes van Cott was hanging out at Cisco Brewery when he noticed an old rum barrel sitting around. When he found out that the barrels are often discarded after their life as a rum vessel, he dreamed up a different fate for them. Van Cott poured a batch of green Ethiopian yirgacheffe beans into a rum barrel and closed it up for a month. When he opened it up, a strong, spicy aroma wafted out.
Next came roasting, which rendered the beans more fragrant than ever! Finally it was time to taste, and what a glorious taste had been bred. It had all the essence of rum without any of the alcohol. Van Cott and his team loved it so much that they repeated the process with a whiskey barrel and experienced the same phenomenal result. Boozy Beans are available online or at The Bean on Centre Street for $22.95 per 12 oz bag. But don’t expect them to last forever. Each batch is only 130-150 pounds; and once it’s gone, it’s gone.