7 Best Bourbon-Infused Coffee Brands, Ranked

Third-wave coffee fanatics have probably tried every modern coffee trend under the sun. From innovative brewing methods, such as the coffee siphon and the AeroPress, to creative roasting methods, the coffee world is a wide-open field simply begging to be played in. This has led to one of my personal favorite modern coffee practices: Using coffee and bourbon together to create out-of-this-world cups of joe. I had my first taste of the trend at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle in 2018, and I'll never forget the experience. The Starbucks Reserve coffee beans, which were aged in bourbon barrels, smelled intensely of whiskey but tasted like a sweet, slightly sharp coffee. 

Since then, I've always opted for a barrel-aged or bourbon-infused coffee when I can. These are two slightly different methods: Barrel-aging coffee ages the green coffee beans in bourbon barrels for months to give them an aromatic, gently flavorful whiskey note. Bourbon-infused coffee, on the other hand, soaks the green beans in bourbon to impart the whiskey characteristics. As a barista with 10 years of specialty coffee experience, I was excited to try seven different coffees — all either bourbon barrel-aged or bourbon-infused — and let you know how they rank. I did a cupping of each coffee and I enjoyed all of them. Each has its merits; some are more subtle and, therefore, universally palatable, while others boast great intensity.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

While some prefer to use bourbon in fall cocktails, others prefer a caffeinated twist on the beverage. Don Pablo's take on the bourbon coffee trend resulted in its Kentucky Bourbon Infused Coffee, a medium roast coffee whose Honduran beans are soaked in Kentucky Bourbon and then roasted to perfection. Though Don Pablo's offering ranked at the bottom of my list, it was still exceptionally good and, I believe, one of the most universally palatable. In fact, that's why it wasn't my personal favorite — other coffees on this list were simply more potent, unique, and aromatic. 

The whiskey aroma of the beans was subtle and light compared to some other coffees on this list, and I can appreciate how it doesn't hit you over the head with pungency. I wish the beans had been roasted lighter, though that's a personal preference; to me, the medium roast of these beans overshadowed the whiskey, and I think it would have been more balanced as a lighter roast. Rather than getting whiskey the instant I brought the cup to my lips, it was more of a subtle aftertaste that complemented the beans nicely, though I wish it had been more apparent up front. Overall, if you're new to the bourbon coffee trend and hesitant about dipping your toes in, I would recommend grabbing a bag of Don Pablo's to test the waters. If you're looking for something stronger, try another coffee on this list.

Black Powder's Bourbon Infused Coffee ranks only slightly above Don Pablo's for me. The green Costa Rican beans are infused with Kentucky Straight Bourbon, after which they're roasted and bagged up for distribution. I was excited to try this coffee because of the elevation at which the beans were grown. The higher the elevation, the more "wild" coffee will taste, with bright and fruity notes. Though some fruitiness came through in this coffee, I wish it was roasted lighter for more of those notes to come through.

The biggest distinction between Black Powder's coffee and Don Pablo's is that Black Powder's is slightly brighter, whereas Don Pablo's is more muted. The difference was only slight, though, and I still think this coffee would be palatable to a wide audience. The bourbon notes lingered slightly longer on my tongue than Don Pablo's did. I actually think that this coffee would make a great French press cold brew coffee. The bourbon notes were subtle and came through mostly at the end of the sip, which would come through beautifully in a cold brew. I prefer my coffee black so I wouldn't be inclined to drink this one with cream, but I don't think cream would interfere with this coffee or Don Pablo's bourbon coffee.

Fire Dept.'s Spirit-Infused Bourbon Coffee was one of the boldest on this list; pour a splash of this hot coffee in a chocolate cake batter for a unique kick to your dessert. I enjoyed this coffee but I wish the company would tell me more about the beans' origin and their infusion process, as that information isn't available on the bag or the product's webpage.

I appreciated the strength of this coffee, and I actually think bourbon was incorporated in just the right way here; it helped smooth out the end of what otherwise would have been just a pretty strong cup of coffee. I liked the aroma of the beans as well; it was smooth with subtle hints of whiskey, telling me the whiskey would come through slightly stronger in this cup than in some of the others. This would be a great coffee if you like to drink your coffee with milk and still want the whiskey flavor to come through, but I wouldn't say it's the best one on this list if you're looking for a unique coffee that will hit you over the head with pungent notes of whiskey.

I must admit, I was immediately taken aback by the packaging of Oak & Bond's Bourbon Barrel Aged coffee. The cylinder is unique, attractive, and makes me want to keep it on my counter to look at all day. The beans also boast a beautiful aroma. Upon opening the canister you're immediately hit with the scent of bourbon, and coffee follows — but the bourbon isn't at all overwhelming. Rather than being deep, it's a very light, almost sweet whiskey aroma that made me very excited to try this coffee.

The bourbon shone through in this coffee more than in any of the others I've covered so far, and it married with the coffee in the best way. The bourbon enhanced the coffee without overpowering it and yet still held its own. It's a potent bourbon flavor, just as I like it, and I felt like I could smell it while it was in my mouth. Toward the end of the sip I even got a hint of the Mandarin orange notes boasted on the canister. Being a single-origin coffee works to this coffee's advantage, as I don't think I'd have gotten the orange in a blend. This is a great cup for those looking for a smooth, easily palatable, yet still unique cup of whiskey coffee. 

I'm pretty upset that I ordered a sample size of Clout's Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Aged coffee rather than a whole bag, as I'd like to make this my daily afternoon cup. The beans smell delightfully of bourbon, chocolate, and coffee, and I think it was wise of Clout to choose single-origin Colombian beans for this roast; Colombian beans tend to have classic coffee-tasting notes like chocolate, caramel, and stone fruit, which beautifully complement the bourbon essence without either taking prominence over the other. 

Upon first sip, this coffee reminded me of one of my favorite cocktails, an espresso martini. I kept taking sip after sip and only found more notes to identify, like chocolate, dark cherry, vanilla, and even some honey. I was surprised I enjoyed this one as much as I did given that chocolate and cherry notes aren't my favorite in a coffee (I prefer fruitier coffees) but these worked well together with the whiskey. This coffee is really yummy without bragging about it, and it also managed to be versatile, which I admire — I could see myself using it for cold brew, a martini, with cream for a gentler sip, or even being stirred with a chocolate spoon. 

Upon tasting Regent's Bourbon Barrel Aged coffee I was convinced it would be my favorite, and it almost was. I love everything about this coffee — I thought it a bold move to barrel age a naturally processed coffee, which tends to have a fruitier, earthier, more intense flavor profile. Guji is also one of my favorite coffee varieties, and Ethiopia (along with Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi) is among my favorite countries of origin for coffee beans. Given this specific bean's distinct flavor profile, marrying it with bourbon could have gone awry — but Regent did it beautifully. 

Tasting Regent's coffee gave me a cyclical experience that kept me wanting more. The light fruitiness of the coffee hit me right away, and I was left with bourbon at the end of the sip, making me want another sip to taste it along with the fruit again. It was a really beautiful, almost floral coffee whose natural notes remained distinct from the bourbon notes. It's like pairing lemon and basil: Each flavor holds its own remarkably well, but they make an incredible pairing. This coffee is ideal for someone with a palate like mine, who prefers unique and fruity coffees and wants to see how that flavor profile works alongside bourbon. 

At last, we've arrived at my top pick: Rising Cock's Whiskey Business Bourbon Blend. I was taken aback by how much I loved this coffee, especially given that it's a medium-dark roast (usually not my preference) and the strongest tasting note in it is whiskey. Nevertheless, this coffee simply floored me upon opening the bag. It's delightfully aromatic and smells like sweet whiskey, almost like a deep candy with coffee notes in the background. Taking a whiff of the bag felt like stepping inside a distillery. 

Despite not being a single-origin coffee, it had the most unique taste of any other coffee on this list — one of the reasons it ranked at the top for me. Rising Cock's coffee has by far the most potent whiskey flavor of any of the coffees on this list, so if you want a bourbon coffee that will knock your socks off, this is the coffee for you. Its flavor is rich and full, with notes of whiskey, and it's sweet without tasting at all artificial. It's pungent, strong, and incredibly smooth, and I would only recommend drinking it black to experience its full flavor. I will say, however, that this makes it not the most universally palatable on this list — it may be a coffee where you either love it or you hate it. You should absolutely gift this to the bourbon lovers in your life who are also coffee fanatics.

I've been fortunate enough to have sampled many, many coffee varieties throughout my barista career, and I'm overjoyed I took the time to sample and compare whiskey coffees from different roasters. Because I know what I like in coffee, much of my ranking was based on personal preference, and everybody's coffee preference varies. If you enjoy subtler coffees, you may rank coffees that are lower down on my list much higher than I did, so I tried to indicate which I thought would be palatable to more people throughout my ranking. 

Overall, I tended to rank more unique coffees higher, and barrel-aged coffees tended to rank higher than bourbon-infused coffees. The aroma of the coffee also factored significantly into my ranking, as did the potency of the whiskey flavor in each. To get an accurate and uniform tasting of each coffee, I did a cupping, which gave me a concentrated form of each to try.