Oddly Correct Domain Orange Blossom Cold Brew

I’m back with another cold brew from Oddly Correct’s Domain Cold Brew brand, roasted, brewed and bottled right here in Kansas City! Today I’m checking out Orange Blossom, a Colombian single origin from Huila infused with orange blossoms. Slurp!

Oddly Correct

Domain Cold Brew

Purchase this locally (online “coming soon”)

Oddly Correct Domain Hop Toddy review

Oddly Correct Hop Toddy V1.0 review from 2012 from my old site!


ODDLY CORRECT DOMAIN ORANGE BLOSSOM COLD BREW

Kansas City, Missouri’s Oddly Correct is one of my all-time favorite roasters and coffee shops, so making this an unbiased review may be easier said than done. Fair warning! Oddly Correct started making cold brew coffee way back in 2012 with their Hop Toddy. This was a Toddy-brewed coffee with a light hopping to add a bit more high notes to the coffee. Fast forward to 2017 and Oddly Correct has spun off the cold brew side of the business as Domain Cold Brew. Earlier this year, Oddly Correct junkie Daniel Lance approached OC’s owners, Gregory Kolsto and Michael Schroeder about taking Hop Toddy off the cafe-only shelves and going national with the product. After some brainstorming and negotiations, the three formed Domain Cold Brew as a partnership. Michael designed and built an FDA-inspected facility to make the coffee in 200 gallon batches next door in Kansas City, KS, and the trio came up with a more shelf-friendly labeling than the inside joke that was the letterpressed brown paper bag that the original Hop Toddy came in. And, thus, Domain was born! Domain uses Oddly Correct coffee, of course, roasted by Michael in-house next door to the cafe on Main Street.

Domain currently has three offerings, all using La Mesa de Elias, a Colombian coffee from Huila. I reviewed the new version of Hop Toddy last week (link is above) and loved the spanked-up, very hoppy version of the current iteration. The coffee was definitely a vehicle for the Cascade hops in Hop Toddy, and, man, it was SO good! This morning I’m looking at the Orange Blossom version of Domain Cold Brew, which is brewed with orange blossoms to give it a, “light, sweet and floral” flavor.

Cracking open the bottle, the aroma right out of it takes me back to the orange popsicles I lived on in the summertime when I was a kid. That aroma could not be any more dead-on if I paid it to be! LOL My first sip is the orange version of the Hop Toddy… the orange blossom flavor is what this product is all about. My next sip was not nearly as in-my-face with the flavoring, so I suspect I may have had some stratification going on inside the bottle, something that definitely happens to coffee, beer and other beverages. I gave the bottle a few vigorous shakes and that seemed to mellow the flavor out a little. The Hop Toddy was really bright because of the hops, but with the Orange Blossom, I feel like the brightness I’m getting is more from the coffee itself. I get that classic Colombian high end that is citrusy and even has some lemon candy notes in it. Of course, the orange blossoms are more than apparent, too!

As promised, the orange blossom addition to this coffee gives it a very floral aroma and flavor. I can’t shake the orange popsicle association with that flavor, though, which I actually like, but that does read a little on the synthetic side for me. For me, this Orange Blossom is brighter in a more citrusy way than the Hop Toddy and is a little more refreshing than the full bore hops invasion of the other cold brew. I could see this being used in coffee-based cocktails.

This Orange Blossom from Domain is pretty good, but it’s a little over-flavored for me. I like the flavors I’m getting, but that orange popsicle flavor that, for my palate, is what dominates this drink, comes off a little synthetic and I just don’t get the same vibe as I do from the Hop Toddy. I’m definitely an IPA beer fan and I love hops bitterness and flavor, but I think this Orange Blossom just reads a little more “flavored” and “synthetic” than the Hop Toddy does for me, which seemed more “natural” and “oragnic” with the way the flavors work. I found my palate fatiguing a little while drinking the Orange Blossom where I just wanted more and more of the Hop Toddy. I love the brightness and freshness of the Orange Blossom, but for my palate, the Hop Toddy is the clear winner out of these two. Tomorrow I’ll post my thoughts on the Origin version, which is the straight cold brewed coffee with no flavor infusions, so stay tuned!