PORTLAND, Ore. -- Craft spirit maker Eastside Distilling has created Hue-Hue Coffee Rum. Hue-Hue (pronounced “way-way”) is a coffee-infused rum that starts with Arabica coffee beans grown at the Finca El Paternal Estate in Huehuetenango, Guatemala.
The free trade coffee is custom light roasted by Portland Roasting Company, then small-batch cold brewed by Eastside by hand, following a proprietary process that has been optimized for spirits by Eastside’s Master Distiller, Mel Heim.
After brewing, the coffee is hand blended with silver rum and a trace amount of raw Demerara sugar. The result is Hue-Hue, a 70-proof spirit.
Hue-Hue is unique in having the full flavor and richness of cold brew coffee, without the syrupy sweetness of sugar-drenched coffee liqueurs. The new Hue-Hue bottle design was created by Sandstrom Partners, a leading spirits branding firm that branded Aviation Gin and Bulleit Bourbon, among others, and with which Eastside works closely.
The Hue-Hue name is derived from Huehuetenango, a city in the highlands of western Guatemala where the coffee is sourced.
The company is planning distribution outside Oregon later in 2018.