Char & Stave Coffee Liqueurs, Classic Coffee and Cafe Amaro

I’d like to thank Char & Stave and Bluebird Distilling, along with their PR team, for sending these with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Char & Stave’s Café Amaro and Classic Coffee Liqueurs, crafted by coffee roasters, are showcased on a snowy day, ready to elevate cocktails with bold flavors.

Busy day today. I had some work to do, plus I needed to change the light bulbs in my microwave. You’d think that would be easy enough, right? Bulbs burn out. Manufacturers should probably give you easy access to them and maybe even tell you what replacement bulbs to buy. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

Well, not so much. I spent the entire morning trying to figure out the correct parts on the manufacturer’s website. They were willing to sell the bulbs to me (though they were out of stock), but they weren’t willing to just tell me what bulbs I needed so I could buy them elsewhere. Naturally, I ended up taking the burned-out bulbs to Home Depot, comparing them to what was on the shelf, and picking out a couple that looked like they’d work. Luckily for me, they did. I’m not very happy with GE Appliances right now—it shouldn’t take all day to change two light bulbs—but whatever. Let’s just say I’ll be having a cocktail later.

Speaking of cocktails, I’m taking a closer look at a couple of cocktail ingredients tonight. These were sent to me by the producers for review purposes a couple of months ago. I’ve been sitting on them for a while, waiting for their turn to come up in the queue. Well, today their turn arrived…just in time to soothe away a frustrating day.

So, what are these ingredients? Two takes on a coffee liqueur. The Classic Coffee is exactly as it sounds—essentially a sweet cup of alcoholic cold brew. The Cafe Amaro, on the other hand, is more like a cross between the Classic Coffee and a traditional amaro. It’s nuttier and more coffee-forward than the Amaros I have in my cocktail stand, but it offers more depth of flavor than a standard coffee liqueur. Before I dive into my tasting notes, let’s see what the producer has to say about them.

Char & Stave Classic Coffee Liqueur is crafted using Char & Stave Arabica Coffee and Bluebird Distilling Vodka, one batch at a time with no artificial flavors. The spirit presents a velvety smooth mouthfeel, with savory chocolate notes up front followed by tinges of citrus, and a finish of slightly sweet dried fruits. Shines in an Espresso Martini, White Russian, or “Night Cap” (3 oz. on the rocks).

Char & Stave Cafe Amaro Coffee Liqueur is a bittersweet coffee liqueur blended with a balance of citrus and botanicals spanning Oris root, angelica, cardamom, chamomile, lemon peel, gtrapefruit peel and gentian root – made one batch at a time with no artificial flavors. Shines in a Coffee Negroni, Char n’ Tonic, and more.

All Char & Stave coffee beans are roasted in-house, with beans sourced from small farmers and microplots worldwide. Both spirits are made with Char & Stave Arabica Coffee (62% Peru Cajamarca, 20% Costa Rica Central Valley, 18% Natural Papua New Guina Wahgi Valley). After the beans are roasted, a two-day Cold Brew method is employed to ensure maximum flavor and velvety smoothness.

Let’s see how they taste, shall we?

Char & Stave Classic Coffee Coffee Liqueur

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent to me at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $34.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.33

Details: 30% ABV

Nose: Rich and roasty coffee notes (think a medium to dark roast, not a bright acidic light roast)

Mouth: Sweet and chocolaty coffee notes with a hint of a burn from the alcohol.

Finish: Gentle and of medium length with notes of caramel and chocolate lingering.

Char & Stave Cafe Amaro Coffee Liqueur

Purchase Info: This bottle was sent to me at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $39.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.67

Details: 30% ABV

Nose: Coffee, nutty, gentian root, and a touch of citrus.

Mouth: Coffee, caramel, and gentian root.

Finish: On the longer side of medium and bitter with notes of coffee, cardamom, and bitter citrus peel.

Thoughts:

IMAGE: I’m so happy with these that they get a smile!

Both of these are very nice. Super tasty. I LOVE coffee. I love it even more than bourbon. And the Classic Coffee is just like drinking an alcoholic glass of cold brew. I could easily see myself having a pour of it one lazy afternoon. The Cafe Amaro would make a good sipper if you like to sip Amaros. Not many do. I like to have an Amaro and Soda now and then but I get that I’m an unusual person in my love for bitter drinks.

But where these will shine for people that are not as weird as I am is as a cocktail ingredient. I didn’t know a recipe for a cocktail that used both coffee liqueur and bourbon so I asked ChatGPT for a couple of recipes. They are as follows:

Coffee Old Fashioned

2 oz bourbon
1 oz brewed or espresso coffee (chilled) or coffee liqueur
1 tsp maple syrup
A few dashes of bitters (optional: coffee or chocolate bitters)

The Revolver

2 oz bourbon (preferably a rye-heavy one)
0.5 oz coffee liqueur
2 dashes of orange bitters
Orange peel for garnish

The Coffee Old Fashioned is based on a recipe from Happy Honey Kitchen. The Revolver is from Serious Eats.

Both of these liqueurs work great in both of these recipes. I’m extremely happy with both. The Old Fashioned is pretty basic when using the Classic Coffee, but that’s to its benefit. The Cafe Amaro has just a little too much going on for me when used here. The Revolver is amazing with either, and I am completely floored by how well bourbon, coffee, and orange flavors pair with one another. So good. That’s the one I’m having tonight to round the rough edges off of a frustrating day.

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Drinks by the Dram "Bourbon and American Whiskey Advent Calendar" from Master of Malt

I‘d like to thanks the folks at Master of Malt for sending this to me with no strings attached.

IMAGE: The front cover of the Master of Malt Bourbon and American Whiskey Advent calendar, featuring a burning barrel. Inset phtos of the 30cl wax sealed bottles.

It’s Friday, and I’m here, so that must mean it’s time for another bonus post! This week, we’re diving into the Drinks by the Dram Bourbon and American Whiskey Advent Calendar from Masters of Malt. This was sent to me in celebration of the fact that Masters of Malt is finally able to ship to the United States again.

The last time we talked about Masters of Malt was back in 2018, just before they had to stop shipping to the U.S. At that time, I had a fantastic experience with them. They were a great resource for purchasing bourbons that were available in Europe but unavailable stateside. I took a quick look at their site now, and while they do have a few items I can’t get in Minnesota, it’s probably not quite enough to justify the cost of international shipping. However, their Drinks by the Dram program still stands out—it lets you purchase 30 mL (about 1 ounce) sample bottles of spirits you might not otherwise have access to. If you want to try a variety of spirits but don’t want to commit to a bunch of full bottles, this is definitely something to consider. Personally, I don't like Scotch so I skip it and stick to bourbons, other whiskeys, or even brandies.

Which brings us to the Advent calendars. Master of Malt offers a wide range of them—more than I could possibly list here. They’ve got calendars for gin, rum, Scotch, vodka, and even niche options like Peaty Whisky or Spiced Rum. Prices range from $52 to $260, depending on the spirit category and how many days your calendar includes. You can even build your own, though let’s be honest—half the fun of an Advent calendar is the surprise!

The one I received is the Bourbon and American Whiskey Advent Calendar. It’s priced at $136.85 plus shipping, and so far, I’m having a lot of fun with it. Without giving too much away, I’ll say it’s a solid mix of widely available big-name brands, smaller niche distilleries, and even a few gems from UK independent bottlers—like a 24-year-old bourbon from That Boutique-y Whisky Company.

So, should you rush to their website and grab one for yourself? Well, that depends on your situation. For me, $137 plus international shipping is a steep price for the equivalent of 750 mL of whiskey. But if you’re looking for an awesome gift for the whiskey lover in your life? Absolutely. This is a unique and entertaining gift that would last the recipient 12 to 25 days, depending on the calendar you choose. I can think of plenty of people I’d spend that much (or more) on, and I’d grab this as a gift for them in a heartbeat.

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Blind Barrels Craft Whiskey Subscription Box

I’d like to thank Blind Barrels for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Tonight’s bonus review isn’t about a whiskey, per se, but rather a whiskey subscription box experience. Blind Barrels reached out and asked if I’d be interested in taking a look at their offering. Since this doesn’t easily translate to just words on a page, I decided to have some fun and make a video about it. For those who’d rather read than watch, here are the key points.

Blind Barrels Subscription Box

Purchase Info: I received this sample box from the producer at no cost for review purposes. Individual boxes and quarterly subscriptions are priced at $69.99 each, plus shipping. An annual subscription for four boxes is also available for $199.99.

Details: This subscription showcases craft whiskey and includes four blind 50 mL samples per box. More information is available at BlindBarrels.com.

Thoughts: I go much more in-depth on my thoughts in the video above, but here’s the bottom line. As someone who’s practically drowning in whiskey bottles (not a bad problem to have, right?), this isn’t something I’d personally buy for myself. If you’re a whiskey veteran with shelves that look like a distillery showroom, you might feel the same. But if you’re in that phase where you’re still itching to try all the whiskey—where every bottle you haven’t tasted feels like an unsolved mystery—this could be right up your alley.

Blind Barrels sends you four surprise samples of craft whiskey every quarter, wrapped in a little mystery and a whole lot of fun. You need to click a QR code just to find out what you are tasting. Back when I was a wide-eyed enthusiast chasing every new release and suffering from serious FOMO, this would’ve been exactly what I’d have wanted. And let’s be honest, we all go through that phase in our whiskey journey—where discovering new, obscure whiskeys is like unearthing hidden treasure.

If that’s where you are, this box adds a touch of adventure to your sipping routine. Or if you have a whiskey lover in your life who’s already hard to shop for, this might just win you gift-giver of the year. Hell, even now, I’d love to get one. Because let’s face it, blind tastings are a fun little game where everyone wins. And this one? Definitely no exception.

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Four Roses x Ooni Bourbon Barrel Aged Honey

I’d like the thank Four Roses, Ooni, and their PR team for sending me this sample with no strings attached.

I am a pizza fanatic. I have it at least once a week and always on Saturday. I choose Saturday because my pizza is not a frozen disk out of the freezer but a fully-from-scratch affair that needs time. To give you a taste of how much I like pizza, we grow about 100 tomato plants of various varieties per summer, with 95% of the harvest going into pizza sauce (the rest goes into my wife’s Bourbon and Beer Chili). I spent twenty years crafting a recipe to my liking, at one point tossing the entire last decade of development when I realized I wasn’t satisfied, then starting from scratch before tweaking it with every batch until I locked in something that I was completely satisfied with. That sauce recipe is a richly spiced Midwestern-style sauce, not a tomato-forward New York/East Coast style. And it was developed to work best with a sourdough crust, whole milk mozzarella, and pepperoni, and to bake well in a home oven.

This is not the style of crust that the people who developed tonight’s pizza topping had in mind. This honey is a partnership between Four Roses and Ooni Pizza Ovens. I thought about getting an Ooni at one point before realizing that my preferred crust isn’t really cut out for that high of heat. People who have them seem to like them, though. And I’m definitely in the “live and let live” camp when it comes to pizza styles.

Here is what the companies have to say about their newest collaboration:

“The bourbon barrel aged honey was crafted in partnership with Bohman Bee Company, specialists in creating local raw honey. Once sourced, the honey was then aged in ex-Four Roses barrels that once aged its Small Batch bourbon. The barrels were freshly dumped and never rinsed to fully impart the richest essence of bourbon. The end result is a honey with tasting notes of ripened red berries and dried spices, perfect for drizzling on freshly made pizza and a sweetener in summer cocktails.”

IMAGE: Delicious honey that makes me smile. It gets a smile rating.

So if you’ve been around a while, you know I love honey. Almost as much as I love pizza and bourbon. And even though that is the case, I seldom remember that a honey drizzle is the perfect topping for a spicy pepperoni pizza. I am going to need to remember it in the future because this is just the best addition to my home-cooked Saturday pizza. The sweetness of the honey really complements the spicy, salty flavor of the pizza. Because this honey was aged in Four Roses barrels, which can be fruitier than other brands, it brings out the fruity notes of the tomato. It’s really quite tasty.

Of course, if you are not a pizza fan (gasp!) that doesn’t mean that you can’t try this honey. On its own, it has a wonderfully fruity and slightly boozy note from the barrel aging. Not as much as other barrel-aged honey that we’ve covered, but it’s very mellow, much like Four Roses. It also works great as the sweetener in cocktails made with Four Roses. All in all, if you are a Four Roses fan, like I am, give this one a try. It’s available on the Ooni website for $16 for a 10-ounce bottle. I like this one a lot.

If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

My Wandering Eye: J. Carver Barrel Gin

My Wandering Eye is an ongoing series reacting to the rising prices in the bourbon world. We’ve reached a place where even average products have hit the range where they compete price-wise with other types of aged spirits. If I’m going to be asked to drop $40 to $70 on a mid-range bourbon, I might as well see what else I can get for that money. I hope to see if another spirits category offers something downright tasty in that price range. The goal isn’t to find cheap spirits but to maximize the quality I’m getting at a particular price point. The reviews in this series will all be written through a bourbon drinker’s lens.

We are going wandering through the liquor store again for this one. This is another of the late December purchases and tastings from pre-Dry January. This time, I decided to wander into the Gin section to see if something there struck my fancy that could be had for a reasonable price. In this case, I decided on a locally distilled gin from craft distiller J. Carver. And this one is very local. The distillery is just over a half-hour’s drive from my house.

I’ve found that there are times when I really like gin, especially in cocktails. In those times, I’ll reach for a cocktail made with gin over one made with whiskey. I think of it this way: sometimes I want Diet 7-up, and other times I want coffee. Both are calorie-free, but I have completely different mindsets when I reach for each of them.

This particular gin, though, blurs the line between coffee and Diet 7up…err…gin and whiskey. This gin has spent some time in the barrel, you see. Here is what the producer has to say about it:

Yes!  It's gold in color!  Yet this "whiskey-lover's gin" has become the darling spirit of top mixologists across Minnesota.  Dynamic and complex, this gin is distilled with eleven botanicals including orange and cinnamon and finished in new charred oak barrels coopered in Minnesota.  This hearty, 96-proof gin adds something special to gin and whiskey-based cocktails, and begs to be sipped neat or on ice. 96 proof

So, let’s dig in!

J. Carver Barrel Gin

Purchase Info: $37.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.53

Details: 48% ABV.

Nose: Juniper, lemon, white pepper, and coriander.

Mouth: Sweet barrel notes of vanilla, caramel, and oak hit first with notes of juniper, cinnamon, lemon zest, orange, and mint.

Finish: Medium to long and tingly with lingering notes of juniper, lemon, and mint.

Thoughts: While I don't think I would ever sip gin neat, this one comes close. I'm enjoying the tasting quite a bit. But since gin is used for cocktails in my house, I need to see how it tastes in those before I pass judgment. First, I did a gin rickey, my favorite deck drink. It works ok in a rickey. It's not my favorite, but it's ok. It makes the rickey a little sweeter than I'd prefer. My favorite winter gin drink is a Negroni (not that it has to be winter to enjoy it, that’s just when I seem to want one.) Now here is where this one shines. The cinnamon notes I noticed in the mouth come through and play very nicely with the vermouth and the bitterness of the Campari. Very nice cocktail. And also a very nice gin. I like it.

Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.

My Wandering Eye: St-Rémy VSOP French Brandy

My Wandering Eye is an ongoing series reacting to the rising prices in the bourbon world. We’ve reached a place where even average products have hit the range where they compete price-wise with other types of aged spirits. If I’m going to be asked to drop $40 to $70 on a mid-range bourbon, I might as well see what else I can get for that money. I hope to see if another spirits category offers something downright tasty in that price range. The goal isn’t to find cheap spirits but to maximize the quality I’m getting at a particular price point. The reviews in this series will all be written through a bourbon drinker’s lens.

Last month, my wife and I decided that we were going to participate in Dry January this year. Not for any real reason. It just seemed like something to kick us out of our rut. Because of that, I needed to look ahead and see what I could find that I could taste ahead of time. I had a couple of things hanging around that I hadn’t gotten around to writing about yet, but that wasn’t enough for an entire month. So I went to the liquor store, set myself a price limit of $150, and bought everything I was going to taste for the coming month. What follows is one of those purchases.

I’m in my local liquor store a lot, which is one reason I am participating in Dry January this year. I just buy way too much bourbon. Most of it is for reviews, but I also have stuff on hand outside of that. And since I buy way too much bourbon, that probably means I consume too much as well…as my ever-expanding waistline can attest to.

So, as I spend a lot of time at my local liquor store, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise anymore when I hear the familiar refrain “Anything I can help you find in Bourbon?” from one particular salesperson. If he’s working, he asks me that question every time I go in. And usually, I just politely decline the offer of help. He’s a helpful guy, but I know a thing or two about bourbon already. Really, the only thing he might be able to tell me that I don’t already know is if people are buying a product or not.

This is why when he asked me his usual question in late December, I didn’t decline the offer of help. Instead, I asked him a question. I told him that I write about spirits and am looking for something non-bourbon to write about. “So, what are people buying?” He told me that people have been really liking an inexpensive brandy from St. Rémy.

And so folks, we are wandering tonight. I’m not going to lie. I know nothing about this brandy. I only have it because the salesperson walked up to me and recommended it when I asked. And to be honest, I didn’t have high hopes once I got home. Minnesotans are known for their bland tastes in food. And every time I’ve seen something advertised as “Minnesota’s Favorite” it has lived up to that stereotype. Plus I found this description of it on the liquor store’s website:

St-Rémy VSOP embodies the iconic and historical taste of St-Rémy It is a translation of the original recipe that made St-Rémy renowned around the Globe. The right choice for a great authentic taste. St-Rémy VSOP conveys the taste of small, freshly-picked red berries, while bringing out the sweet vanilla flavor of oak. It is a round, balanced spirit that is easy to drink. With its light and subtle nose, St-Rémy VSOP is excellent neat, on ice or with a simple mixer.

So St-Rémy VSOP tastes like St-Rémy. Helpful. Well, let’s dig in and see if it is any good, shall we?

St-Rémy VSOP French Brandy

Purchase Info: $12.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $0.87

Details: 40% ABV.

Nose: Green apple, brown sugar, honey, and cinnamon.

Mouth: Not much going on here. Very delicate. Faint notes of floral apple and honey.

Finish: Gentle and short with apple, honey, and cinnamon notes.

Thoughts: This is possibly the most delicate brandy I've ever tasted. At the same time, it doesn't taste of ethanol, like so many cheap spirits do, so it's not terrible either. If you take the time to tease out the notes, they aren't bad. The salesperson I talked to said my fellow patrons were really enjoying it. Which, since Minnesotans have a reputation for loving bland foods, makes sense. This one is very bland. It’s not for me but it isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. This one gets a neutral face rating.

Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.