If you are interested in the rapidly expanding world of nitro coffee, then it behooves you to taste the products of up and coming craft brew houses, just as one would suggest for someone looking to expand their horizons in the world of beer. Cafes all around the world are finding new ways to steep their brews, and experiment with exotic spices and flavor profiles that match the silky mouthfeel that comes with a nitro brew. The natural sweet and creamy beverage offers unique opportunity for the avid coffee drinker looking to cut back on calories, acidity, and dairy. Here are some of our favorite nitro coffee brewers that are setting the bar:
Stumptown Coffee:The process and method for adding nitrogen to cold brew coffee is said to have originated in Portland, Oregon. Among the craft coffee houses that introduced the beverage circa 2013, Stumptown Coffee is one of the heavy hitters and veteran brewmasters behind this next step of coffee evolution. Their simple brew is additive free and steeped for nearly 24 hours. It's certainly a welcome surprise when you find out that stumptown nitro coffee contains no sugar, no cholesterol, 1g carb and 26.5 mgs of caffeine per fluid ounce. Their canned Nitro brew won't have the same cascading bubbles like it would when you pour it from a draft, but even the cans will give you that amazing cocoa after taste. For the best taste and full silky mouthfeel, we always suggest drinking nitro coffee from a draft.
Rise: New York's Rise nitro coffee is a bit different from the other heavy hitters, as Rise only brew nitro. They started making their own nitro coffee in an apartment in New York, which is the equivalent of starting a computer company in a Bay Area garage. Rise has 26mg of natural caffeine per fluid ounce. If you like chocolate milk, you will really like Rise's Nitro coffee.
Grady’s: Originally from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Grady's New Orleans style cold brew has been around for years, thanks in part to their 20-hour long steeping process. They are exclusively a large production cold brewery, which is now located in the Bronx. Grady's brew has 20mg of caffeine per fluid ounce. They use a spice blend while steeping, and Grady's promotes "Chicory" in their coffee blend. Blending Chicory is what makes Grady's coffee "New Orleans style." The Chicory root is native to the marshy bayou lands of southern Louisiana, and softens coffee's bitter bite while adding dimensions of flavor to the cup.
Intelligentsia: Originally derived from San Francisco, the Chicago famed Intelligentsia coffee company promotes roasted Ethiopian coffee beans in their nitro cold brew. Integrating the midwest brewing ethics and tradition, Intelligentsia keeps their steeping simple, and boast flavors such as caramel, cherry, and lime to give their nitro coffee a light fruity aftertaste to accompany the usual earthy cocoa tones. Intelligentsia combines the traditions of midwest brewing with the innovation of San Francisco to produce a solid nitro coffee with integrity and poise to reflect a coffee for the modern American.
Parlor Coffee: Parlor Coffee started as a tiny cafe in the back of a barbershop in Brooklyn, NY. Parlor recently teamed up with the Danish brewing sensation Mikkeller to introduce quality nitro coffee using Danish methods used for popular beer. At the Citi Field location in Queens, Parlor and Mikkeller launched an oatmeal coffee stout collaboration, and you can now order Parlor Nitro coffee at any Mikkeller location. Parlor nitro coffee is frothy and creamy, just like the other brewers, but is known to have a slightly more acidic aftertaste, much like a regular cup of joe.
The new world of nitro coffee leaves a lot of room for new methods and steeping secrets that have been left untapped, even with simple beverages such as coffee, there is a plethora of flavors and tones that can be noticed with an experienced pallet. No matter what flavors and textures you prefer, nitro coffee is always better when tapped from a keg. Such culinary experiences will leave everlasting impressions on any guest at your next party.
Comments