The Nitro cold brew coffee became the new kid on the block six years ago when it was first introduced on the market. Years later, it has managed to maintain that same flair. True fans of this drink cannot get enough. This guide is here to teach you how to make the same tasty brew at home.
What is Nitro Cold Brew Coffee?
The nitro cold brew is a regular cold brew coffee with the addition of one ingredient. The nitro coffee is infused with nitrogen gas.
Produce the rich and creamy head of this brew immediately after introducing the gas. This is the reason why it looks like a Guinness beer.
It is possible to replicate this drink the same way your favorite coffee joint makes it.
Nitrogen gas is the most important ingredient, and you cannot substitute it. Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide just won’t have the same taste or appearance.
The History of the Nitro Cold Brew
The nitro cold brew originated in Austin, Texas. The owner of Cuvee Coffee began serving cold brew that had been charged by nitro kegs. Introduced in 2012, this coffee became an instant sensation.
In 2014 nitro cold brew started making its way throughout the country, and the reception was equally great.
Because of this brew’s sustained popularity, major coffee retailers such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks added it to their menu.
How to Make Nitro Cold Brew In Your Kitchen
The typical nitro coffee retails for around $5. You can learn how to create this coffee at home and save yourself some money in the process.
The upside of making this brew yourself is that you can add your own twist to the recipe. Play around with the ingredients to create a customized brew.
What You Need To Make Nitro Cold Brew At Home
- Coffee beans
- Grinder
- French press or another way of making a cold brew
- Nitrogen cartridges
- Handheld nitro cold brew coffee maker: This equipment is similar to a whipped cream dispenser and contains nitrogen cartridges.
- Nitro tip for the handheld cold brew coffee maker: This is what gives it the thick creamy texture.
How To Make Cold Brew
Making a cold brew is half of the process of creating a nitro brew. Fortunately, it doesn’t require any special skills to make a decent cup of cold brew.
Besides, you only need a sizeable container for making coffee and a strainer. I’m pretty sure you have that lying around in your kitchen.
Here is the procedure for making cold brew coffee:
- Grind the coffee beans coarsely using a grinder.
- Mix the ground coffee with water, and let it steep for 12 hours to overnight. During the steeping process, coffee infuses into the water slowly. The result is a concentrated brew.
- The next morning strain it. It’s ready.
You can adjust the concentration of the cold brew to suit your palate. You can either make it stronger or less concentrated.
Start with a ratio of one cup of coffee beans steeped in four cups of water. This mixture yields a fair concentration of cold brew.
If this brew doesn’t work for you, then adjust the ratio upwards or downwards until you find the sweet spot.
Tips For Making The Best Cold Brew Coffee
- When you grind the coffee beans, ensure that they are only coarsely grounded. If you over grind it to form a sandy powder consistency, the brew will be over-infused.
- The strained coffee from sandy powder coffee beans tastes muddy and gritty. Stop grinding when the beans look like coarse cornmeal or rougher.
- Use filtered water for brewing coffee. This advice goes for generally brewing coffee. If you use filtered water, the flavor will be clearer and sweeter.
- Steep the ground coffee for 12 hours. During this time, the coffee gradually infuses water with flavor and color. You can cut this time short, but please don’t be impatient, or you’ll get a weak cup of coffee.
Over-steeping the coffee gives the water time to extract bitter flavors from the coffee, and you may want to avoid that. We recommend that you do not steep for more than 15 hours.
Procedure For Turning Cold brew Into Nitro
You have made a cold brew to your preference, next, turn it into a nitro brew using the following procedure:
- Take out the refrigerated cold brew.
- Use the plunger on the French press to separate the coffee grounds from the drink.
- Take out the nitro coffee maker and pour it into the chamber of the nitro maker.
- Once the chamber is filled with cold brew, attach a nitrogen cartridge to the nitro coffee maker.
- One of the nitro maker’s caps comes off. Insert the cartridge into it, going in face-up. Secure back the cap that you removed.
- Give the nitro maker a thorough shake after ensuring that all caps are fastened. Once you are satisfied with your shake, your brew is ready!
The right way to pour your nitro cold brew coffee into a cup is to angle the make sideways. Angling it all the way down is also fine. These two methods of pouring coffee ensure that the brew is charged.
Please note that it is important to drink your cup of nitro coffee fairly quickly before it goes flat.
Conclusion
After all that work, pour your drink correctly and enjoy the homemade nitro cold brew coffee.
The nitrogen gas in the coffee gives it a creamy, frothy, and foamy texture that is similar to beer. Because of this, other ingredients used to make regular coffee such as cream, milk, and sugar are not necessary to mix with nitro coffee.
Nitro coffee brew tastes better than regular coffee. It is also less acidic, less sugary, and has a higher content of caffeine.
