Xmas Barrel from the HAYB roastery is a Christmas espresso that combines sweetness, spiciness, and a slightly dessert-like character. The flavor profile features notes of honey, cocoa, and spiced rum, resulting in a cup that feels warm, full-bodied, and pleasantly aromatic. Honey brings a smooth sweetness, cocoa adds a deeper, rounder tone, and spiced rum shifts the entire profile toward a more distinctive festive character. Yet this is not a heavy or dull coffee, but an espresso that retains plenty of clarity and freshness.
The blend combines Ethiopian Worku Buke from the Yirgacheffe region and Colombian coffee from the Cauca region. The Ethiopian component consists of native Heirloom varieties, while the Colombian component is represented by Caturra. It is precisely the combination of these two distinctly different origins and varieties that gives the blend a broader character, where the more delicate aromatic notes of the Ethiopian coffee meet the rounder, sweeter profile of the Colombian component. The result is a Christmas blend that relies not just on a catchy name, but on the contrast between two countries, varieties, and different processing methods.
The processing combines the washed method with barrel aging. The washed portion helps keep the cup cleaner and more precise, while barrel aging can add a spicier, sweeter, and more distinctly aromatic character. It is precisely this combination that gives the coffee its festive character, featuring not only chocolate and honey-like sweetness but also hints of spiced rum. In an espresso, its body, sweetness, and more pronounced spicy character really shine through.