Oh good, weโre dunking coffee beans in wine now.
A recent article in Time states that two NorCal/Napa coffee guys have created wine-infused coffee, because I guess thatโs something people have been wanting. Molinari Private Reserve is a collaboration between Rick Molinari of Molinari Caffe in Napa (legend has it if you say โMolinariโ three times, heโll appear and dunk your beans in some vin) and John Weaver of Wild Card Roasters in San Rafael, California, who worked together for over two years to โperfect the combinationโ of wine and coffee.
We here at Sprudge love us some wine and weโre kinda into coffee too, but that doesnโt mean the twain should meet. I love ice cream and I would cut someone for just a single piece of uni, but that doesnโt mean Iโm getting a table for three at Uchi so I can bring Ben and Jerry (well, maybe I would after chugging a lug of some of that Somatik, but you see what Iโm getting at). Some flavors are best enjoyed discretely.
And Iโd even be willing to say that the Molinari Private Reserve achieves the Platonic ideal of wine-infused coffee.ย Weaver spent over 20 years roasting for Peetโs Coffee before starting Wild Card, so the man obviously knows his way around a roaster. And MPR only uses โcarefully selected [green] coffeeโ that gets โrehydrated to a specific liquid percentage using a special house made redโ that was โcreated exclusively for Molinari by local Napa wineries.โ Which is all to say, itโs probably the best version of what it is. But what it is seems like a gimmick targeting chardonnay-breakfast soccer moms (or dads). Just because it’s the best iteration of a thingย doesnโt mean I want to drink it. Thereโs also a Platonic ideal ofย a steamy coil of poo, sooooโฆ
One of my esteemed colleagues here at Sprudge was lucky enough to receive a sample of Molinari Private Reserve. His full review complete with tasting notes can be found here.
But what do I know? I don’t even like barrel-aged coffee. Iโm just a rude dude with a โtude tryna harsh your coffee wine dreams. Maybe it isnโt less than the sum of its parts. The first batch of Molinari Private Reserve already sold out, and at $19.95 for a half-pound bag, thatโs saying something. People seem to be into it. If it sounds like something youโd be interested in, order a bag for yourself and give it a go.
But maybe wait until itโs not on backorder, because as their website notes (in bold no less), โBackorders require a 5 bag minimum.โ And thatโs two pounds more go-fuck-yourself than Iโm comfortable purchasing at one time, thank you very much.
Zac Cadwaladerย is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.
*top image via Molinari Caffe
