For this edition of DEAREST ANNA, we selected a robust blend of barrels including a couple that were originally filled almost three years ago. This blended base was rich with oak tannin, smokey char and sweet bourbon, and I wanted to identify a coffee that wouldn’t just wallop the beer with the typical ‘coffee’ notes. For that, I leaned on a blend of Peruvian coffee from Intelligentsia that brought lots of piloncillo sugar, golden raisins, and hints of spiced apple. Then we finished the beer with a light touch of our favorite Tahitian vanilla beans for a wonderfully floral, fruity top note. I think this is another wonderful addition to this beer series. The coffee, while subtle, is almost certainly not going to become a green pepper bomb in the future and the intense structure and tannin provided by the long rest in the barrels should allow this beer to age gracefully for many months to come.