What’s in a name? This week on Coffee Design we’re featuring the newly launched 2015 Grand Cru line-up of coffees from our friends & partners at Stumptown Coffee. Grand Cru offerings have become an annual tradition at Stumptown, and each year they produce limited edition packaging for the run.
The term grand cru comes from the French wine classification system, where it literally means “great growth” and is used to designate the top grape-growing villages in Champagne, as well as the very best vineyard sites in wine regions like Burgundy, Alsace, and in the Saint-Émilion AOC of Bordeaux. For decades the term has been adapted from the wine world to denote a limited or special run of products in fields like chocolate, beer, cheese, and coffee.
And now…cold brew? Stumptown’s taken Gesha and Pacamara from some of the most famous farms in the coffee world—Finca El Injerto in Guatemala and Finca El Puente in Honduras—and paired that with in-house design to create a memorable line-up. A wine bottle full of Finca El Puente Gesha Grand Cru Cold Brew? Believe it.
As told to Sprudge by Diane Aylsworth.
When did this Stumptown Grand Cru debut?
Nov 6, 2015. Grand Cru Coffees have been part of Stumptown’s line up for years—we are launching the new packaging this month. Our 2015 Grand Cru coffees are both from Guatemala Finca El Injerto, and we’re offering a Gesha variety (available online only) as well as a Pacamara variety (available in our cafes and online).
Who designed the package?
Packaging was designed in-house by Jenny Censky.
Please describe the look in your own words!
For the Grand Cru Cold Brew, we chose the wine bottle to signify the elegance of the coffee inside, and felt that the swing top gave it a unique look. The labels for both the Whole Bean boxes and the Cold Brew bottle, designed by Jenny, were inspired by vintage cigar boxes and classic liquor bottle design. The deep blue and the gold help communicate the regal-ness of the product inside.
What coffee information do you share on the package?
For the Grand Cru Cold Brew, the top front labels designate that this is a Grand Cru Gesha variety. On the back we detail the farm—Honduras Finca El Puente—as well as the tasting notes: bright and clean, with notes of orange blossom, juice of papaya, and a sweet creme brulee finish.
For the bags of Grand Cru coffee, the region and varietal information is denoted on the labels that seal the box and that decorate the bag inside.
What’s the shelf life of the cold brew? Is it something I can keep in my wine cellar for years?
As with all of our Cold Brew, it is fresh and perishable. It’s meant to be savored not saved! We hope folks enjoy our Grand Cru during the holiday season…along with the holidays, it expires on January 2, 2016. And as with all of our Whole Bean coffees, we recommend consuming it within a couple weeks after the roast date.
Is the bottle recyclable?
Yes – the swing top needs removed though.
Coffee Design is a feature series by Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge. Read more Coffee Design here.
