Water Avenue Pinot Noir Barrel Aged El Salvador



   Today I feature a special bean from the folks over at Water Avenue Coffee. On the banks of the Willamette River in Portland Oregon's Southeast Industrial District, Water Avenue Coffee Roasters, founded by industry pioneers, began roasting coffee in 2009. Seizing the moment by purchasing a vintage, French-built 1974 Samiac roaster from a company in Switzerland, and set about building a new business around it. Having dozens of years experience in training and consulting in the specialty coffee industry, Bruce and Matt saw a great opportunity also to develop and showcase a retail and roasting business in the same building as the American Barista & Coffee School, and share with new Water Avenue Coffee customers the decades of combined experience to offer an unsurpassed level of support. By bringing together great coffees and great people, Water Avenue Coffee stands out for its incredible products and unsurpassed customer service, even in a city where great coffee is often just around the corner. Water Avenue thrives on building long term relationships with their customers and wholesale accounts.

   This is their Pinot Noir Barrel Aged El Salvador. This bean brings about the marriage of 2 family operations; the Menendez family who grow coffee in El Salvador, and Sokol Blosser Winery of Dayton, Oregon. Water Avenue ages green coffee grown by the Menendez family in oak barrels that once held Sokol Blosser’s famous Pinot Noir, infusing the rich, chocolaty Salvadoran coffee with the poignant grape notes of great Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. I brewed this at a 1:8 ratio. The grind of this bean was amazing. Dark fruits & floral & chocolate. The brew was very nice as well. The barrel presence wasn't as noticeable as other barrel-aged beans I've tried, especially bourbon barrel beans, but you could definitely tell the aging added a nice fruitiness & oakiness to the cup. Chocolate, nut, fruit. Very tasty cold brew.

   Many thanks to Aurora & Water Avenue for the tasty beans.

Go check them out here:  wateravenuecoffee.com


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