The Fascinating Parallels Between Coffee And Bourbon Have you ever noticed similarities between things not often compared and found it interesting? Then, exploring further reveals even more similarities? Well this happened to me over a long period of time. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, but definitely someone who is passionate about two beverages: coffee, and bourbon. As I’ve learned more about each over the past few years, I’ve recognized more and more similarities between these two beverages. Now it’s gotten to a point where there is so many, it has to be shared! Coffee is something I’ve been passionate about for a long time. I’ve actually worked in specialty coffee for about five years with various experiences of packaging orders, being a barista, and a roaster. Coffee is a very complex beverage, even more so than spirits. When I learned about coffee, it’s often related to the wine industry, which adds another parallel to consider, but I want highlight bourbon. Coff...
Mashbill vs. Taste Profile One aspect of whiskey that intrigues me is how the grain bill (or percentage of grains used to make the whiskey) affects the flavor. The further I’ve gone down the rabbit hole learning about whiskey production, the more I’m fascinated by the many factors that can affect how a whiskey tastes. (If you want to know more about that, check out my article on terroir in bourbon, which covers the many aspects of production that affect flavor.) What really gets my mind wandering is the fact that a grain recipe may seem to point toward a certain taste profile, but the taste doesn’t seem to match what you may expect. As I’ve tasted more and more products, I realize that there are different styles of the same whiskey, but the grain recipe may not always match what you may expect the flavor to be, and this is so intriguing to me. What really got me thinking about this was rye whiskey. Early on in my whiskey journey, I remember YouTube recommendations for “Kentuc...