“Barrel aging Starter is one of the most fun projects I’ve been apart of,” said Jake Rouse, Co-Founder and CEO Braxton Brewing Company. “It’s been a truly collaborative effort and the product is something our entire team has never tried and we’re really proud of it!”“To be honest, when Braxton came to me with this idea, I was both excited and scared at the same time,” says Justin Carabello, founder of Carabello Coffee. “We had never aged coffee in bourbon barrels before, and I knew that we only had one shot to get it right. But working through these types of challenges is also what has made our collaboration with Braxton so rewarding in such a short period of time. I could not be more proud of how this coffee turned out, and just love the fact that the Braxton crew approaches their coffee with the same level of craftsmanship as they do their beer.”Carabello chose to age a Fair Trade Organic coffee from Honduras for its exceptionally smooth body and a flavor profile of caramel and butterscotch. Two hundred and fifty pounds of un-roasted coffee was then aged in two separate barrels, with each barrel being rotated every two days so that the absorption of bourbon into the coffee would be as even as possible. Since the coffee picked up additional moisture during the aging process, Carabello decided on a slower than normal medium roast that produced mahogany colored beans that have no visible oils on the surface.Carabello and Braxton Brewing Company launched the Starter Coffee program in June. Working through an extensive coffee cupping process, Carabello Coffee created a specialty blend specifically for Braxton. This is the coffee that is used in Braxton’s coffee beers and served at the brewery three different ways – hot, cold, and on Nitro.