Celebrated Pacific Northwest Roaster Dillanos Releases New Aromatic Infusion Boxed Set
Dillanos New Aromatic Infusion Boxed Set Combines Great Coffees, Wine, Whiskey
Living in the Pacific Northwest definitely has its advantages. We have an amazing array of exceptional coffee roasters, but we also live in a community that celebrates and supports numerous wineries, distilleries, and of course craft breweries. Dillanos Coffee Roasters’ home in Sumner, Wash., puts them smack in the middle of this fantastic nexus of artisans. Noting that, the sourcing team thought they might try to see what they could create if they worked together. The result: the just released Dillanos Aromatic Infusion Box Set.
œWe thought we could reinvent flavored coffee as we know it, and create something really amazing by wedding the three crafts of coffee, wine, and whiskey, says Dillanos Director of Coffee Phil Beattie. To that end, Phil found an American Oak barrel formerly used to age whiskey, as well as a porter ale, then set out on the hunt for a French oak barrel that had been used to age fine red wine from the Walla Walla Valley in Eastern Washington.
The Dillanos team selected two coffees to work with for the boxed set: First was Rio Azul from Huehuetenango, Guatemala, produced by the 150 families of the Azul Cooperative. The coffee is grown at over 5,000 feet features Caturra and Typica varieties, and was selected to be infused with whiskey aromatics. The result has been dubbed Whiskey Rio.
The second coffee comes from Las Lajas in Costa Rica and was used in the wine portion of the aromatics experiment. The Las Lajas coffee is known for its exceptional quality thanks to the hard work of the Chacon family who have also developed a reputation of their own for experimentation, especially with honey processed coffee. The infused coffee from Las Lajas is called Costa Roja.
The coffees were suspended and sealed within the wine and whiskey barrels, however, at no point were they actually in contact with the sides or bottom of the barrels. “The desire was to solely impact the aromatics of the coffee and leave the flavor untouched,” says Phil. “The integrity of the flavor of the original coffees stands, but the aromatics of the coffee have been influenced in such a way that the senses are tricked into believing you are truly tasting the best of whiskey and wine flavors.
The Aromatic Infusion Boxed Set includes four-ounce packages of each of the two coffees, presented in their uninfused state and four-ounce packages of the Whiskey Rio and the Costa Roja. All of the coffees come presented in a custom wooden box set.
You can order the Dillanos Aromatic Infusion Boxed Set here to try these cool coffee experiments for yourself.