Whether it’s food, fashion, or spirits, we love a collab as much as anyone. But this latest one – well, this has us over the moon! Coffee milk has been the official state drink since 1993, and local distiller ISCO Spirits is giving this lunchbox and diner staple an adults-only remix.
Providence-based ISCO has teamed up with Autocrat, the storied Rhode Island coffee syrup brand, to create Autocrat Coffee Syrup Bourbon, a limited-edition whiskey that brings together two distinctly local traditions. The new bourbon will be released October 8 at select Rhode Island retailers and at ISCO’s Cocktail Bar and Bottle Shop on Sims Avenue, and at some local bars and restaurants.
“Honestly, this is one of those ideas that feels so obvious in hindsight you can’t believe nobody did it sooner,” says Manya K. Rubinstein, the CEO of ISCO. “Coffee milk is in the state’s DNA, and Autocrat is the brand that makes that possible. Once we started talking about what a truly Rhode Island
bourbon could look like, Autocrat wasn’t a stretch, it was the answer.”
For ISCO, which opened in 2020 as Providence’s first distillery since Prohibition, the partnership fits neatly into a portfolio that has never been shy about Rhode Island inspiration. The distillery has previously experimented with such hyperlocal ideas as Pizza Strip Vodka and Ostreida, an oyster-based vodka, alongside its more traditional gins, vodkas and bourbons. But the Autocrat bourbon may be its most nostalgic Rhode Island release.
For that reason, lots of TLC and research went into producing a stellar product. “Whether we’re working with local farmers or local coffee syrup producers, we see ourselves as not just distillers but as custodians of the unique flavors that both inspire us and make us think of home,” says Eric Olson, director of distillery operations at ISCO.
Rather than simply adding coffee flavor to finished whiskey, ISCO took a more layered approach. Olson explains that the distillery coated whiskey barrels with Autocrat coffee syrup, then filled them with its organic corn-based bourbon, aged more than four years. The bourbon rested in the syrup-treated barrels for several months, allowing the whiskey to draw coffee, caramel, and roasted flavors from the wood. “It’s a much more patient approach, and it meant a lot of tasting and waiting to find the point where the coffee, caramel and oak were all speaking to each other instead of one shouting over the rest,” he says.
Autocrat itself stretches even further back into Rhode Island history. Founded in Providence in 1895 by grocers Seth H. Brownell and Frank O. Field, the company has long been synonymous with the coffee syrup used to make coffee milk. Today, the brand is part of Finlays Solutions and continues to operate from Lincoln. And they couldn’t be happier with the collaboration. “What ISCO has created feels both nostalgic and completely new. They’ve taken a flavor Rhode Islanders know incredibly well and found an unexpected way for people to experience it,” says VP of Marketing Art Lopez.
Rubinstein says ISCO and Autocrat can’t wait for the public and the cocktail community’s response. “Every time we’ve mentioned ‘coffee milk bourbon’ to a Rhode Islander, the reaction has been immediate – half nostalgia, half disbelief that no one made this before. That’s exactly the response we were hoping for.”
Once you get your hands on a bottle, try one of these original cocktail recipes, concocted by ISCO’s Cocktails Bar Manager Jayda Ford.
This is basically a Coffee Milk Old Fashioned – the syrup does the sweetening instead of simple syrup, so you get that classic coffee milk flavor riding right alongside the bourbon.
Stir all ingredients with ice, strain over a large ice cube in a rocks glass, and garnish with the orange peel.
Shake the bourbon, coffee liqueur and bitters, pour into a rocks glass, then float the coffee milk over the top with a bar spoon for that marbled look.
A swallow will tell you
Celebrate the release of Autocrat Coffee Syrup Bourbon at an evening of rare spirits, syrupy elixirs, and little “museum” moments like antique Autocrat bottles that tell the story of the brand. Wright’s Dairy joins as the official milk and coffee milk partner, pouring classic and bourbon-spiked cabinets. Local psychic Beth Metal will read swirls left in guests’ glasses in a very Rhody spin on tea leaf reading called “Autocratomancy.” 5-10pm. 1 Sims Avenue, Providence; ISCOSpirits.com
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here