Back in February, Punxsutawney Phil poked his furry little head outside, saw his shadow, and predicted that we’d be surprised by an early Spring. But a whole week after March 21, the official first full day of Spring, we here in Chicago were exclaiming, “That Punxsutawney Phil is full of it!”
Meanwhile, in sunny San Jose, where it is perpetually Summertime, the fine folks of Barefoot Coffee have been enjoying the warm weather by developing a refreshing bottled coffee.
Now that the temperature in Chicago is finally starting to resemble Spring weather, I can finally dip into the fifth and final coffee that Barefoot sent me in their care package a couple weeks ago.
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re crackin’ open a bottle of Cold Brew, from Barefoot Coffee Roasters in San Jose, California. Feel free to pull up a chair.
Barefoot’s Cold Brew is a blend of two of their finest Direct Trade beans. In conversations with Dave, the roastmaster at Barefoot, informed that the two coffees that comprise this blend are both from Huehuetenango, Guatemala, and that 15% of the coffee was fully washed and the remaining 75% were honey processed. However, he couldn’t tell me which farms were represented in the blend.
He expressed that while Barefoot is typically very transparent about their offerings, they wanted to keep the details of their Cold Brew discrete. I can respect that.
the basics:
origin: Huehuetenango, Guatemala
farm: N/A // N/A
elevation: N/A // N/A
cultivars: N/A // N/A
process: 15% fully washed, patio dried // 75% honey process
certifications: Direct Trade
the coffee:
Barefoot’s Cold Brew is rich, creamy, and decadent. To be honest, this beverage actually tastes less like a coffee and more like a chocolate milkshake—particularly when I sip it right out of the bottle. A big chocolate bomb explodes all over the tongue—so sweet and delicious. There’s plenty of collateral flavor after that chocolate bomb goes off, too—honeyed graham cracker, cherry, vanilla cream, and shaved walnut.
Over ice, the chocolate flavor is still the most prevalent, but the fruit notes really pop—the cherry for sure, but also raspberry and a tight, clean, bright clementine acidity.
Medium body; creamy mouthfeel; citrus acidity; clean finish.
the bottom line:
It’s not Summer yet, but with a bottle of Cold Brew from Barefoot Coffee Roasters, I’m just about ready for a day at the beach.
This coffee is sweet, creamy, and refreshing straight out of the bottle or over ice and is sure to please any palate—particularly now that the mercury in any given thermometer is rising higher and higher.
I can’t say that this Cold Brew is the “perfect Summertime cold brewed coffee” since it’s obviously not Summertime yet, but I can say that while 50-60° is the nicest temperature Chicago is going to get for a while, Barefoot’s Cold Brew is the bottle of coffee you want to have in your refrigerator.
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Andrew is a husband, father, dog lover, craft beverage enthusiast, content creator, and niche market Internet celebrity. Formerly of A Table in the Corner of the Cafe and The Pulitzer Project and contributor to Barista Magazine and Mental Floss, he’s been writing on the Internet for years.