Common Grounds has won a coveted 3-star Gold award in both the 2017 & 2018 Great Taste Awards. GTA judges commented that it “has great nose; feels like you can taste the barrels in the aroma. It delivers a big hit of blackcurrants and forest fruits. With milk, the fruits are even more pronounced. Funky, sweet, rich, and smooth. Delicious. 3 star.”
Last year saw the launch of Common Grounds, a collaboration with Darkwoods and Magic Rock Brewery, to make the the ultimate triple coffee porter. This collaboration has now gone even further.
Magic Rock use whiskey barrels to age some of their beers in. This mellows the flavours of the beer and adds complexity from the wood and the traces of whiskey. The same effect can be found when you store green beans in the barrels. We use washed Ethiopian coffee from Yirgacheffe, that is “aged” in a Bourbon barrel for a couple of week before roasting
The results are stunning. A faint aroma of the whiskey (especially when you grind it!) gives way to a sweet smooth vanilla flavour. Just delicious.