Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Co. launched our newest limited-time-only flavor today, Bourbon Brown Sugar. It’s the most recent in a long history of flavored roasts, and we expect this one to be devoured over its deliciousness. We caught up with Barnie’s Coffee Team to learn more about the inspiration for this delicious new blend and here's what they had to say.
1. What was your inspiration for Bourbon Brown Sugar?
When we create a new coffee flavor, we always take a few things into account. First, we want a unique flavor that stands out to people. Second, at the same time, we need it to be relatable. We like to create flavors that evoke emotion and memories. We want to create flavors that everyone can taste before they sip. We launched the Bourbon Praline last year because of a survey with Vault Flavors that our customers wanted to bring back. This was a very popular flavor for the year overall with its analytics behind the 45 day period of when it was sold.
We noticed a trend with the Brown Sugar flavors within the last two years of the whole coffee industry and we thought wouldn't it be delicious to sort of combine the best of both flavors?
2. How do you come up with new flavor ideas?
We started our day on the Bourbon Trail complimenting the typically chilly weather of January and allowed ourselves to get the ultimate cozy with Barnie and his newest flavor for 2025. Combining rich brown sugar sweetness with a hint of bourbon to really set the mood of comfort to the start of the new year.
We usually narrow the list of flavors down a bit and each person pitches their series of top trends. It's kind of funny, everyone in our company grew up drinking Barnie’s coffee somewhere. So you really get a wide range of opinions. Each of us Barnie's Coffee Team Members then draws up our own interpretation of flavor. We really play on the flavors of what up grew up eating and drinking. I think about what I've grown to really enjoy about coffee, and what we associate with it.
3. What food items do you think Bourbon Brown Sugar goes best with?
Well, of course, it will go perfectly with a fruit pastry or muffin. But If you wanted to focus on the flavor of the coffee, I think a plain croissant with butter would be perfect.
4. Can you describe the flavor of Barnie’s Bourbon Brown Sugar Coffee in your own words?
Barnie’s Bourbon Brown Sugar flavor is a sip that brings the family together for a memorable—and delicious—fun filled coffee. Find your sweet adventure and easy conversation in every sip. It has a dual flavor, delicious both hot or iced.
Bourbon Brown Sugar is a medium roast made with 100% Arabica Coffee with no sugar
and less than 5 calories per 6 ounce cup. You’re already meeting those resolutions with our coffee. It’s also available in decaf. Our Bourbon Brown Sugar contains no nuts or nut derivatives, no fat, and is gluten-free.
5. How is your flavoring process different than others?
Because Barnie’s specializes in flavored coffee, we bring four decades of experience to our blends. Our goal is to produce a smooth cup of coffee with the highest quality beans. We use a proprietary flavoring agent, formulate an idea of what each flavor should taste like, and then we apply that and blend to perfection.
8. Why do you think people like flavored coffees?
People focus on hand-roasting and grinding their single-origin blends and making them with a fancy machine. And that’s all well and good, but sometimes you don’t want to fuss with the process, but you still want to have some variety. And I think that's what's really cool about our flavored coffees. I like the variety you can have. Some people think about buying a flavor and committing to that flavor and the same flavor gets kind of old after a while. But if you have a few flavors then you can really mix up your flavor week. Each day you can pick whatever you're in the mood for from your palette of choices. One day you might want Very Berry Blackberry Shortcake and the next Chocolatey Chocolate Hazelnut, and then maybe English Salted Toffee. You can shake up your morning while still having a nice consistent cup of coffee.
Find it available in both Decaf and Regular Coffee options: https://www.barniescoffee.com/collections/bourbon-brown-sugar
