January usually signals a slow down, a sort of reset. But if you know us, you know we don't really do "boring." This is why we are thrilled to kick off 2026 by teaming up with our East London neighbours, Nirvana Brewery, to launch the Nirvana Mocha Porter: a limited-edition alcohol-free brew that brings together the best of specialty coffee and craft beer.
This collaboration has been a long time coming one. We’ve actually been neighbours on the same industrial estate since Nirvana started brewing in 2016. We’ve always known that coffee and dark beers are a natural, delicious pairing, but the timing had to be right.
This year marks Nirvana’s 10th Anniversary (and over 20 years for us!), so it felt like the perfect moment for two local pioneers to finally join forces and craft something together. After seeing their recent success with chocolate milk stouts, and with our Coffee Concentrate killing it (a four-handed drink made with Midnight Oil, of course!) putting the two together was a total no-brainer. The result? A rich, velvety porter with notes of dark chocolate, hazelnut, and caramel that proves you don’t need booze to have real body.
Why The Baron? (And Why It Matters)
For this brew, we knew we needed a coffee that could stand up to roasted malts without getting lost. Enter The Baron, our best-selling espresso sourced from Daterra in Brazil.
It wasn't just about the flavour profile, but also about the values we both share: Climpsons and Nirvana give a sh*t about how things are made. Sustainable sourcing is integral to us, and Nirvana’s whole reason for being revolves around inclusivity and sustainability. Using beans from Daterra—a B-Corp farm that has been our partner for over 10 years—gave us that extra confidence that this brew serves to improve the lives of those who grow the ingredients, not just those who drink the final product.
The Science behind the "Mouthfeel"
Alcohol-free dark beers are notoriously hard to crack, often ending up thin or lacking complexity. Nirvana solved this by building a base of amber, brown, and chocolate malts for dry cocoa notes, then using oats and lactose to soften the edges.
To get the coffee right, Nirvana used our Daterra Coffee Concentrate, which is flash-brewed hot and instantly chilled to lock in flavour. According to James, the brewer at Nirvana, this precision was a game-changer:
"With whole beans in beer, you’re often chasing extraction and worrying about harshness. The flash-brewed concentrate gave us intense aroma and flavour without bitterness. It allowed us to dial in the coffee character accurately, ensuring it stayed balanced with the beer rather than overwhelming it."
The concentrate provides complex dark fruit and nutty flavours without the astringency of heavy roasted malts, creating that crucial, creamy "mouthfeel" you expect from a stout or porter.
How to Enjoy It
This isn't just a Dry January substitute beverage. What we aimed to create with this collaboration was a genuinely complex drink for any time of year: indulgent, smooth, and energetic.
Because it’s a dark beer with a wonderfully warming taste profile, it is perfect for the winter season, yes! But it works as a tasty mid-week treat to add some joy to dark evenings, or as a sharer when you're watching the game with mates. And, because of that coffee kick, it serves as a great pick-me-up that pairs surprisingly well with a nice Sunday roast.
The Nirvana Mocha Porter is available now. Grab a can, pour it into a glass, and toast to 10 years of Nirvana and 20+ years of Climpsons.
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