The idea for Distillery Barrel Coffee grew out of my love of coffee and my interest in the history of Shenandoah Valley distilling–and, let’s be honest, bootlegging.

I have bootleggers in the Texas part of my family tree, who during Prohibition both distilled moonshine and “ran” it, too. My great-uncle would load his Model T with finished product, race at top speed through moonlit forests, then unload at a designated waypoint. We never knew this until he told the story in 2005, on his deathbed–he was still worried the “Revenuers” would lock him up!

I became a coffee snob about fifteen years ago. I have sampled many different roasters, and tried many different brewing methods (French Press is my favorite, but for convenience my daily cup is drip). Though I am not a big drinker of spirits, I have always appreciated the nose of good bourbon and craft whiskey. Combining coffee with the natural distillery barrel notes of oak, smoke and fine spirit seems like a great thing to do, and the people to whom I have explained the product have said it sounds great to them, too. They all have said that they would be interested or even eager to try some. 

The Shenandoah Valley is the perfect place for this venture. With its hard-to-reach hollows, its crops of corn and apples, and its good spring water, the territory from South Rockingham to Franklin County (VA) once was called the “Moonshine Capital of the World.” I want Distillery Barrel Coffee to highlight the Valley’s distilling heritage while bringing something new to coffee.

The coffee contains no alcohol: the high roasting temperatures burn off any trace spirit from the barrel. What’s left are subtle oak and spirit notes, which give the roasted coffee a delicious taste (whiskey, bourbon or rye, depending on the barrel used). The beans will be aged, roasted, bagged and labeled here in Rockingham County.

Spirit barrels and coffee are kind of magical. Yeah that sounds corny, but it comes from the heart. All right, get out of here.