Thurman Wise Takes On Coffee in Good Spirits | COFFEE BREAK!

In our latest episode, bartender and beverage innovation specialist Thurman Wise taught us what coffee professionals can learn from the cocktail world.

Now we’re putting those lessons to the test.

Thurman is back for a competition-style collaboration loosely inspired by the World Coffee in Good Spirits finals. His challenge is to make two drinks using the same bright Kenyan peaberry: a classic Irish coffee and a completely different designer beverage, all while keeping coffee at the centre.

There are no rehearsed routines, and we’re following the competition rules very loosely. Thurman adjusts the whiskey by taste, sweetens the cream and changes his signature drink halfway through making it.

The result is a lighter specialty-coffee Irish coffee, followed by a stripped-back Manhattan riff made with rum, cherry syrup and black pepper, with coffee taking the place of sweet vermouth.

We explore how to balance coffee with spirits, why temperature and dilution matter, how these ideas could become non-alcoholic café drinks and why the best signature beverages are often the simplest.

Then Thurman shares his favourite martinis from around the world and explains what coffee can learn from bars obsessed with getting every little detail right.

It’s Coffee in Good Spirits, IJC style.

Plus, Condesa Co.Lab joins us with the weekly green coffee market report.

COFFEE BREAK! is your weekly inside scoop into the coffee community. Everything from on-the-fly barista tips and honest café reviews to hospitality stories and gatekept coffee secrets.

CHAPTERS!

00:00 The Coffee Cocktail Challenge