Langston.
FEW distilleries.
Columbia Street Roastery.
So my boyfriend sends me a photo while I’m at work this morning, with the caption “Gin barrel coffee!” — because we love both — with the FEW logo prominently displayed. I saw the caption “Art by Langston Allston” underneath, and replied immediately telling him to buy that thing, and send me a picture of the front.
Right now at Columbia Street Roastery’s storefront, you can get a beautiful, unique, and interesting coffee. That statement is not limited to the packaging, though that in itself is worth the $12ish $25. Turns out, this experience is an encore of last year’s collaboration (that time with rye whisky), in honor of the Boneyard Festival. The package design is the same, but the product is much, much different.
Gin & coffee? I hear you think. I thought it, too, and in fact, have a long-standing argument with a friend, corroborated by countless local bartenders, that it is not a good idea, no matter what his mother drank. I stand by this, when you are speaking about pouring gin into hot coffee: it is an insult to both resulting in an abomination. What we’re talking about with this limited-edition roast is thankfully, deliciously, different.
Colombian-origin beans were aged for 3 months in a freshly emptied gin barrel from FEW Spirits, and then the beans were roasted. The result is a bright, spicy and sweet cup, and I’m not talking in coffee-connoisseur-speak here. It is definitely sweet and light, like fruit. You can taste the aromatic herbs from the gin, and it is smoooooooooooth, slipping down like water, with a distinctly green aftertaste.
If you like gin, you will like this coffee.
If you like coffee, this will be a new thing you will probably like. (I do)
If you like art, who cares, buy this thing.
[Editor’s note: the original price quoted was from a poor estimate from an unitemized receipt. Since then, the correct price has been published on the Columbia Street Roastery website, where you can order your own bag from anywhere.]
[yes, it’s still worth it.]