Ivan Solis - Stout Barrel

MEET THE PRODUCER | We'll say this about Ivan Solis: we've never seen his LinkedIn profile, but it's got to be pretty impressive. The son of multi-generational agricultural workers, Ivan has worked in food or coffee production in Costa Rica for practically his whole life. He gained extensive experience at two of the largest milling operations in the country before establishing his own wet mill in 2017. He's spent the better part of a decade exploring and experimenting with innovative processing techniques, and his pioneering efforts have earned him the respect and trust of hundreds of farmers in the Tarrazu region. Oh - and he's also been a certified Q Grader since 2009!

MEET THE COLLABORATOR | A craft beer staple in the Research Triangle, Bond Brothers Beer Co. has been rolling out meticulously crafted ales, lagers, and sours for nearly a decade. We've enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the company and particularly one of its owners, Whit, since 2017, when we first collaborated with Bond on one of their first coffee stouts. Through a mutual respect and obsession with flavor, Kyle and Whit have helped to expand one another's palettes over the years as they each strive to push their respective industries forward. 

TRUST THE PROCESS | For this collaborative release, we started with Ivan Solis's wildly popular Cinnamon Anaerobic Catuai lot. Back in Tarrazu, fresh coffee cherries were first brought to the Santa Fe wet mill where the fruit was pulped, but mucilage was not washed from the seed. Everything but the cascara was added to GrainPro bags and combined with cinnamon powder. This mixture was then left to ferment in an anaerobic environment for several days before finally being moved to concrete patios to dry.

Here in North Carolina, we stuffed that amazing cinnamon co-fermented coffee into five of Bond Brothers' stout barrels, which had previously spent four years aging bourbon and then two years aging one of their stouts. We let the coffee hang out in those bourbon barrels for 12 days before finally roasting it and blending it back with more coffee from the original lot.

TAKE A SIP | You'll perhaps be unsurprised when greeted by a very boozy aroma as you bring this coffee to your lips. However, the tasting experience is remarkably balanced and sweet. A cinnamon + spice structure forms the backbone of this blend, and combined with that sweetness and a pleasant acidity, gives us tasting notes of gingerbread, candied orange, and spiced chocolate. We couldn't be prouder of how this experiment turned out, and with a coffee cup in hand we say Cheers! to our friends at Bond Brothers in particular and to the craft beer industry as a whole - may collaborations like this one continue to bring our industries together, even as we strive to push each of them forward.

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Origin | Santa Maria de Dota, Tarrazu, Costa Rica

Producer | Ivan Solis

Farm | smallholders in El Vapor community

Washing Station | Santa Fe Wet Mill

Process | Cinnamon Anaerobic Washed + Bourbon Barrel-aged

Variety | Catuai 

Elevation | 1500-1900 masl