Nitro coffee has garnered many fans and continues to grow in popularity wherever it is available. It might sound like a rocked-fuelled beverage served on a drag strip. But you won’t need to visit Santa Pod or any racetrack to enjoy this form of coffee.
So, what exactly is nitro coffee and why should you try it?
Coffee on gas
Delicious nitro coffee is cold brew coffee that has been infused with nitrogen. Like revenge, it is a dish best served cold, and it contains no sugar, milk or other additives. That makes it an almost calorie-free treat and nitro coffee boasts a creamy, bubbly texture. Better still, it is topped by a stable foam. In other words, it’s like a coffee-flavoured Guinness!
Unlike most beers, Guinness is carbonated with nitrogen not carbon dioxide. This is what imbues Guinness with its signature creamy taste and head.
Nitrogen is colourless, odourless and safe to consume. It removes some of the acidity and bitterness from the coffee which makes nitro coffee more palatable to some drinkers. Usually presented in a clear glass to showcase the impressive micro-foam head, nitro coffee oozes the feel-good factor!
What is cold brew coffee?
Cold brew is made by steeping coarsely ground coffee in cold water for a lengthy period of time – up to 24 hours. The resulting coffee concentrate is then filtered and can be stored in the fridge. It is less acidic than other brews which means drinkers may not need to add milk, sugar or flavourings to enjoy it.
If you fancy trying cold brew, check out the Timemore Cold Brew Dripper Set. You can also make cold brew using an AeroPress.
Where was nitro coffee invented?
There is some debate about where the first nitro coffee was crafted but nitro coffee was certainly first made in America.
Some say that it was the brainchild of Mike McKim of Cuvee Coffee in Texas who is said to have first produced nitro coffee in 2012. Others feel that the new drink was invented by speciality coffee experts at Stumptown in Portland, Oregon. Legend has it that Nate Armbrust of Stumptown, a food scientist, had been experimenting with ways to produce fizzy coffee. After creating undrinkable brews using carbonation, he tried nitrogen in 2013 and the rest is history.
Perhaps both experts came up with the same idea and without being aware of each other. Who knows?
Where will you find nitro coffee?
Many specialty coffee shops are now equipped with a draft system that enables baristas to create nitro coffee to order. It would be worth visiting a few independent coffee shops in your area to see if nitro is on the menu.
If you visit the USA on your travels, you will find that nitro coffee is also available in cans, sometimes flavoured or featuring non-dairy milk.
Can you make nitro cold brew coffee at home?
Happily, you can make nitro coffee at home and without blowing up your kitchen! Here’s how to craft that magical creamy brew:
- Coarsely grind your chosen beans and place the grounds in a suitable container with lid.
- Add cold water. This should be filtered water. You may need to engage in a little trial and error to discover your preferred ratio of coffee to water but one part coffee to five parts water is a good place to start.
- Stir the mixture and then put the lid on the container.
- Place the container in your fridge and leave it to steep for 12 – 24 hours.
- Filter the coffee using a paper filter or mesh cloth.
- Check there are no grounds left in the concentrated coffee. If there are, filter it again.
- Dilute your concentrate by adding cold water. Use roughly one part concentrate and one part water.
- Add the coffee to a whipped cream dispenser (cream siphon). These dispensers utilise pressurised nitrogen to aerate cream, or coffee as it turns out!
- Load a nitrogen charger to the siphon and shake the dispenser for 20 seconds.
- Using the trigger, discharge the coffee into a glass.
If you are challenged for time, you could skip the cold brew process and use a French press instead then chill the coffee. Any coffee or concentrate that you don’t use can be kept in the fridge for future nitro injection!
Why drink nitro coffee?
For most coffee lovers, their drinks are like warming hugs in mugs that also fire up those all-important little grey cells. Cold coffee will never appeal to everyone, but many coffee enthusiasts have been enjoying iced lattes and cold brews for a long time. Nitro coffee brings a new experience into the mix that is cool in every possible way.
You will find that the smooth, creamy texture of nitro is something to savour as are its full-bodied flavour and lack of acidity. Nitro coffee is almost calorie-free, and it looks like a beer which makes it a great option if you are the designated driver on a night out with friends. This coffee also boasts a higher caffeine content that regular coffee and so could work well for you when you need a pick-me-up.
Nitro coffee isn’t rocket fuel but it could certainly inject a little oomph into proceedings. Why not power up your day with a new kind of coffee that’s unlike any other?