Oak and Bond Scotch Coffee: the Gold standard of infused coffee

One morning, like every morning, I went to wake my wife with a kiss, and in her sleepy demeanor, she asked if I had been day drinking. Most would be offended, but I knew where this hunch originated. I had just brewed some Oak and Bond Scotch coffee in an R2D2 French press. This interaction speaks volumes about the potency of this coffee.

From what I gather from the package, the coffee is a single-origin Colombian bean. It is grown around 1800 meters above sea level (MASL). Which is average for most specialty coffees I have interacted with. Which means we are starting with a phenomenal base to age with. They get the flavors by aging an undisclosed amount of time in used barrels. The company first launched with a Bourbon barrel-aged coffee and now has scotch and wine-aged coffees. But first, let’s talk about the packaging it comes in. The canister mimics a canister in which you would find a bottle of whiskey. On the front, you find information about the coffee, including its growing altitude, how it was processed, and where it was roasted. Additionally, you also have tasting notes and how dark it was roasted. On the back, you have the company’s goals for the coffee, a brewing guide, and an expiration date written by hand. What is done so well here is it overtly looks like a whiskey canister but has subtle clues that it is coffee inside instead of whiskey.

Onto the coffee tasting, as naturally that is what you all are here for. The coffee itself tastes like Islay alone. If you have no idea what that means, typical Islay-tasting notes are meat, sea salt, brininess, Peat moss, and iodine. It was consistent with both Pour-over and French Press. Pairing for this variation is a must because the intensity and duration of the Islay notes are overwhelming. I smoked it with both LFD double ligero, Luciano Maria Lucia, and Man O War Robusto; I cut too much off of the Man O War Robusto and just got hot air; the Maria Lucia brought out wonder fruit notes and some caramel. When pairing, do something that matches this coffee’s boldness and try for complimentary pairings. It would not handle a contrasting pairing well. The best use for this coffee is an introduction to alcohol for teens because it is spot on for the taste, and the other is for the experience it provides for adults. This is the first time anyone else has accomplished what Oak and Bond have accomplished here. They promised a whiskey-tasting coffee, and they delivered.

Overall, I would give this coffee a 7.5/10; It lost points because getting the actual bag in and out of the canister is a pain. It also lost points because I got tired of being beaten over the head with Islay notes. But it is a technically sound coffee, meaning that it delivers a coffee that tastes like whiskey, which is what it promised to do. Everyone should try this, just the wine or bourbon version. I think the scotch could do with a different barrel, maybe from the Speyside, Skye, or Campbeltown. But let there be no confusion: this is the best-infused coffee on the market to date.