Today we filled 83 wet bourbon barrels with 350 pounds of Great Lakes coffee for the 2018 vintage of Griffin Claw's Flying Buffalo Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Coffee Stout.
At The Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co, everything starts with a relationship. From coffee farmers to local milk purveyors, we value the human relationships as well as the products. One such relationship we have been building over the last four years has been with Griffin Claw Brewery in Birmingham, Michigan. I have been a fan of their brewer Dan Rogers since he was brewing at Big Rock Chophouse which is practically next door to the brewery. Once the brewery was built, we started talking coffee. Dan is a self-professed coffee addict. It goes without saying that we are, too. We discussed doing a beer together and in 2015 we collaborated on the Flying Buffalo Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout. We chose a high toned Colombian coffee from our friend Arnulfo Leguizamo for the first iteration. In 2016 we chose a black honey process coffee from Costa Rican farmer Jhonnathon Camacho.
Last year and this year we used a natural process coffee from Las Lajas in Costa Rica. We personally know and visit all the farmers whose coffees we use in the beer. We are proud to work with producers in Central and South America and neighbors like Griffin Claw to produce a beer we can all be proud of. So whether you're drinking a light lager on a coffee farm in the summer or a more substantial stout with coffee in the Michigan winter, get to know your neighbors at The Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co and Griffin Claw Brewery.
