Avalon Coffee Stout is not only a fan favorite, it’s a favorite of Head Brewer Brian Hink’s, as well. Our man spent some fifteen years in the coffee biz, brewing that other nectar of the gods, so, not only is a coffee stout a match made in brewing heaven, Brian’s subsequent geek-out nearly caused his head to explode.

And, with a four-hour flight to Denver to the Great American Beer Festival, Brian was more than willing to fill that time telling us more than we ever wanted to know about coffee. So, if you’ve ever wondered how our ingredients get into your glass, Brian’s got the scoop! (Of coffee grounds….)

Avalon Coffee Stout is a heavenly brew to drink as these fall evenings start getting colder and longer, as the sun fades quicker, and we’re further removed from the dog days of summer.

Brian on the Brew

Avalon Coffee Stout is a match made in heaven, combing the full-bodied roastiness of our stout with the medium-bodied and rich Avalon Coffee house blend to concoct a brew that is simply perfect. It’s a heavenly brew to drink as these fall evenings start getting colder and longer, as the sun fades quicker, and we’re further removed from the dog days of summer.

African coffee is some of the most underrated out there, oftentimes bringing strong lemon, berry, and floral notes that really add a nice complexity to any blend.

Brian on Avalon Coffee

[Social Media and Graphic Design Director] Courtney Rosenberg and I showed up at Avalon Coffee in Rio Grande at 1pm on Friday the 23rd just as Pete — their main roaster — was ripping through batches of coffee. He was mainly roasting their house blend — a mix of Costa Rican, Colombian, and Kenya — a beautiful blend of beans that hits all the right notes: soft acidity, rich cocoa and nutty notes, and a subtle berry aroma, thanks to the Kenya. African coffee is some of the most underrated out there, oftentimes bringing strong lemon, berry, and floral notes that really add a nice complexity to any blend.

If you haven’t gathered by now I really miss roasting coffee and creating blends!

Brian on Beans

Let me back up a second and talk about coffee in general. There are two types of coffee bean: Arabica and Robusto. Arabica is the higher quality, more flavorful, and less mass produced bean of the two, with Robusto being a little harsher, more stringent, and generally an inferior bean. Arabica grow at higher elevations — 2500 feet above sea level and higher — while Robusto are grown below that.

We’ll focus on the Arabica genus because that’s the good stuff. All coffee is only grown between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, primarily along the equator. Volcanic soil is great for coffee because it has the ideal minerality and pH content. There are three primary growing regions: Latin America, Africa, and Indonesia. Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico are the main Latin American offerings; Kenya and Ethiopia are Africa’s main players; and Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Papua New Guinea are the main Indonesian areas that produce quality beans.

Coffee can either be a single-origin offering — usually you’ll see a Colombian or Brazilian offering — a great coffee that can stand up on it’s own. On the other hand, that can either get boring or not offer enough flavor variety, and that’s where blending comes into play. Much like when we blend our barrel-aged beers: some individual barrels can stand on their own accord, and some are better to contribute to a blend. Sometimes we need the extra acidity of this barrel combined with the softer notes of that barrel to achieve the complexity we’re looking for. Coffee blending is much the same: the dark-roasted earthiness of a Sumatra will be balanced perfectly by the nutty offering of a Costa Rican, and all tied together by the berry floral notes thanks to an Ethiopian – stuff like that. (If you haven’t gathered by now I really miss roasting coffee and creating blends!)

Roasting coffee is much like baking: you don’t just turn on your oven and throw in some cookie dough and hope for the best.

Brian on Roasting

Roasting coffee is much like baking: you don’t just turn on your oven and throw in some cookie dough and hope for the best. You have a set temperature and time, looking for the desired end result. You turn the roaster on and bring it up to temperature, usually around 415-430 degrees.

A roaster is kinda like a dryer, tumbling around with constant heat being applied to the sides of the drum to supply an even and consistent heat source. As the roaster is heating up, you measure out your raw coffee beans — called green beans — and add them in stages at just the right time.

With your oven you can set it to 430 and there it goes; with a roaster not so much. It’s all about controlling the gas flow to control the flame, and also controlling the airflow through the drum — the more air you draw the cooler it gets; the less air, the hotter the drum will be. A skilled roaster looks for a window, and dropping the beans in at exactly the right time is paramount to getting the proper roast: drop the beans in even 5 degrees above or below and you’ll be playing catch up the entire roast — much like our mashing process.

Getting my hands back on the roaster at Avalon Coffee was a great experience and something I had really missed doing.

Ahhh, the Memories….

Having worked at Starbucks for six years prior to coming to CMBC and at Java Jane’s in Ocean City for nine years prior to that, I have an extreme appreciation for roasting coffee and the craft and artistry that goes into it. The owner of Java Jane’s went to the Diedrich Roaster manufacturing plant to take a week-long roasting course and taught me everything he knew back when I was in my early twenties, so getting my hands back on the roaster at Avalon Coffee was a great experience and something I had really missed doing.

So, has Brian’s extensive coffee knowledge paid off? Only one way to find out: come down and check out our Avalon Coffee Stout, pouring now.