Disclaimer: Cooper's provided some of the coffee used for this review as well as the coffee for the MDB giveaway. That said, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Affiliate links are used to support MDB costs such as web development, hosting, and alcohol.
I love coffee. I also love alcohol. So imagine how stoked I was when my friends from Seattle, the coffee capital of the country, sent me coffee from a small batch roaster out of New England. Enter Cooper's Coffee. These guys are aging their coffee in rum and whiskey barrels and spoiler alert: it’s pretty fucking good.
Booze in your coffee isn’t new. Neither is getting fired for drinking at work. That’s where Cooper's Cask comes in. They’ve perfected a barrel aging process process to infuse coffee with sweet delicious alcohol that will inspire your taste buds, but won’t get you pulled over. And that’s something special.
So here’s my review. Just to be clear, I don’t know shit about coffee. The guys at Cooper's are probably thinking to themselves, ‘well shit… we picked the wrong guy to send coffee’ and they’re absolutely right. But I still appreciate it! I drink crappy coffee nearly every day and I’ve had a few coffees that were better than average, but they never lit my fire… until now.
What’s weird about this review for me is that I HATE flavored coffee. The best way to brew a cup of pumpkin spice flavored coffee is to throw it in the trash and rethink your life choices. If you want to add the flavoring afterwards, be my guest, but coffee that is purchased pre-flavored is just straight garbage in my opinion. If you want to know why I’m right (and I am right), read this article which basically says that coffee manufactures general take low quality beans and spray them with artificial flavor compounds mixed with solvents. I’ve watched enough Breaking Bad to know that solvents like propylene glycol are not food or flavors. It’s not going to hurt you, but it’s still not food. So let’s recap. Roasters use chemical flavorings to trick people into buying shitty coffee, but Coopers Cask turns this concept on its head.
Cooper's Cask starts with high quality beans and then ages it in locally sourced rum and whiskey barrels. The natural oils seep out of the barrels and into the beans giving it that adult flavoring kick without the actual booze. If you’re thinking to yourself, “well what’s the fun in that?” I get you. That's why I experimented with each of the flavors by adding real booze and it’s outstanding. Their alcohol flavored coffees mixed with a little cream, sugar, and more alcohol reminds me of an alcoholic after dinner coffee at a high end restaurant and has become one of my favorite ways to start my evening. At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, these guys nailed it.
But flavored coffee isn't all they do. Their single origin coffee is out of this world. Actually it's out of Kenya... and Ethiopia. and some other places, too.
John from Cooper’s recently sent me a sampling of their single origin coffee selection for this review and it’s some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. No added flavor, no gimmicks, just really good coffee. I've had a lot of each of the four roasts and they're all great in their own way. I'm partial to the Sumatra Dark Roast just in case you're looking for Christmas ideas this far out.
The Bottom Line
Cooper's Coffee is some seriously good coffee. The quality hits you in the face as soon as you open the bag and catch that first whiff. These single origin beans are meticulously selected, the roasting process is spot on, and their flavored coffees are the best I've had. Simply put, Cooper's Coffee is my new go-to for quality coffee. If you're looking for a new roaster or if you simply want to up your coffee game, check out Cooper's Coffee. You won't be disappointed.
Visit the Cooper's Coffee Website
Click here to buy some Cooper's Coffee while supporting MDB at the same time!
Or try a 1lbs bag of the Mad Dad favorite Sumatra Dark Roast