Sneak Peek: FEW Bourbon Whiskey With Cold Brew Coffee Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

I’m not a coffee drinker, but I get the attraction to mix whiskey and coffee because I share a similar interest in pouring a shot of whiskey into my pot of tea. Such a coffee combination usually takes place in a coffee-based cocktail (the famed Irish Coffee is but the best known example), but FEW Spirits has taken the idea a step further.

After much experimentation, they settled on a method that both produced a fine whiskey and flew with the Federal TTB: instead of using water to cut the bourbon prior to bottling, they used cold brew coffee. The choice of cold brew hinged on how the more bitter, more acidic hot brew coffee fouled the taste of the bourbon it was blended with; the milder cold brew worked better.

The Bourbon
A pour of this 93 proof (46.5% ABV) bourbon has a look that leans to dark amber in the glass. Swishing the bourbon leaves a coat steaming with legs.

The whiskey is same as the regular FEW Bourbon, with even the same proof level, and the only real difference is cutting it with cold brew coffee. At first, the difference isn’t something that jumps out at you. The nose has a fruity note that I don’t recall marking regular FEW Bourbon, but otherwise it’s what I was expecting: that Cracker Jack mix of sweet corn and caramel, laced with sweet and hot paprika. The palate is exactly how I remembered FEW Bourbon: vanilla and corn syrup balanced against crushed red pepper and baking spices.

It’s the finish where things veer off the existing path. It starts out with rye spice and oak, but that fades into a lingering, marginally bitter coffee flavor. That final note runs on and on, a light and last presence that even a not-coffee-drinker like myself wanted to renew with another sip.

The bottom line is if you are a coffee lover (and most readers will be) and you already like FEW Bourbon, this is a must-have item. For everyone else, it’s an enjoyable sipper with a novel finish, as well as a hallmark of the kind of experimentation the craft spirits sector has become known for.

The Price
FEW Bourbon Whiskey With Cold Brew Coffee (that tangle of a name was mandated by our friends at the TTB) is reasonably priced at $45.