Should You Buy Or Make Your Own Nitro Cold Brew Coffee
With the continual growth and popularity of cold brew as a market segment, there are many new product developments, startup companies, and ways for a cafe to add cold brew to their menu. One of the more popular trends we are seeing, are for cafes to borrow on loan on a full kegerator setup, and then pay for delivery of a finished cold brew product already kegged. Sort of the hands off, fast-and-easy way to start selling cold brew. But at what cost? More on that soon.
As you already know, cold brew is premium product that fetches a premium price in cafes, chains, and grocery markets. Generally, in a commercial setting, cold brew coffee is twice as expensive to make as traditional style iced coffee brewed as a concentrate and then crashed onto ice. The cost of goods warrants the premium price.
The cost of a delivered keg of cold brew, is approximately $95 from our research. Delivery charges may also apply, as well as the cost of nitrogen. However, I’d like to just look at the cost of the cold brew. A five gallon keg yields 640 ounces of product. That equates to 14.8 cents per ounce for finished product. That means for a 12 oz serving, your cost is $1.78. If you sell this for $4 before sales tax, your gross margin is 56%. That does not include the cup, lid, straw, and labor and waste to realize your net profit.
Add Some Alcohol Or Cream Liquor
There’s something about adding a shot of anything with alcohol to coffee that is magical. But it doesn’t have to end with the everyday blends you see out there. Irish coffee is fine but gets boring after a while. Why not spice it up with some spiced rum instead? If you’re feeling exotic there is also a good reason to add a small bit of absinthe to your nitro mix. Or perhaps conventional liquors like Midori with a splash of ginger ale. Those of you who experienced Farrell’s Ice Cream parlor might remember the Green River’ soda. Try adding that to your nitro coffee next time!
Is Nitro Cold Brew Safe To Drink
Nitro cold brew coffee is safe to drink and should not cause you any concern. Many beers have been made with nitrogen over the years and have not been liked to any issues.
If you do recognize any effects of drinking nitro cold brew coffee, it will more than likely be linked to the caffeine content or coffee directly. You should always consult with a health professional, though.
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How To Make Cold Brew Coffee
Cold-brew is simply coffee grounds steeped in cold water for at least 8 hours . You can use any kind of coffee beans you like best. If you can source these from a local roaster they will be high-quality with better flavor and aromas due to the freshness of the beans.
You need the coffee ground to a very coarse consistency. You can do this at home using a burr grinder or make sure you choose a cold brew or french press grind. Coffee shops and coffee roasters will usually offer to grind the beans for you.
When brewing any kind of coffee, be it hot coffee or cold, its always best to use filtered water. Filtration removes impurities and the better the water tastes the nicer your coffee will be.
Add coffee grounds to your cold water at a 1:7 ratio. Its best to use a glass pitcher or large mason jar to steep the coffee as glass doesnt impart any unpleasant tastes or odors into the coffee.
Give the mixture a stir and let it sit overnight either at room temperature or in the fridge. Most of the extraction happens after 8 hours but to get the fullest taste from your coffee, its best to leave it for 12 hours or more. I find around 18 hours to be the cut-off before the coffee starts to taste bitter.
Once the brewing stage has finished you need to pass the mixture through a coffee filter to remove the grounds. You can use a paper filter or cheesecloth or even use a french press to filter it.
Nutrichef Nitro Cold Brew Keg
The last nitro cold brew maker for home is the Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Maker from the NutriChef store. This machine seems to share quite a bit of resemblance with the last item we reviewed as it features the same gripped stainless steel handle, stainless steel spear and faucet, a well engineered pressure valve to maintain freshness, compatible tooling equipment and a 64 ounce keg to deliver fresh cold cascaded nitro cold brew. Once you buy some N20, you’ll be able to enjoy this in the comfort of your own home. Many people feel as though food and drinks are never as good at home, but this nitro cold brew maker proves that theory incorrect.
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Growlerwerks Ukeg Nitro Maker
Best Rated Nitro Cold Brew Maker
Coming in at number three is the GrowlerWerks uKeg Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Maker manufactured by GrowlerWerks. This nitro cold brew maker is slightly more expensive than the others on the list, but for good reason. The GrowlerWerks features a beautiful polished stainless steel keg with stainless steel accessories. All of the kegs are double wall insulated so that you can take this out of the fridge for a party, and it’ll stay cold for quite some time. This machine comes with a 50 oz. keg, coffee filter bag, coffee funnel, a proprietary uKeg tool, stainless steel faucet and attachments, the Nitrous Oxide holder as well as a unique pressure valve to maintain freshness for longer.
The GrowlerWerks allows for you to save money at home, while also ensuring the same delicious taste you’d expect at a cafe. From the cascading, to the preserved freshness, it’s quite incredible that these machines are available for such an affordable price. If you are someone that likes to buy Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew or Dunkin’ Donuts Nitro Cold Brew, you’ll rest assured that you’ll be saving a lot of money taking things into your own hand as you make nitro cold brew at home. Not only is this innovative device possibly the best nitro cold brew maker, it is the highest rated!
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History Of Nitro Cold Brew Coffee
Cuvee Coffee in Austin, Texas pioneered nitro cold brew back in 2011. The brewing process was kept as a closely guarded secret for a long time. People only knew that nitrogen was used to create that creamy texture its hard to ignore when you put Nitro in the name.
But their exact method was kept a secret for as long as they could.
Through trial and error, it turned out that brewing temperature wasnt the only important factor to the perfect nitro cold brew recipe. You also had to remove the oxygen.
Making cold brew nitro coffee at home can be very hit and miss. This is because the amount of oxygen in your brewing container can really ruin the flavor.
The guys at Cuvee Coffee were working in factory conditions where they could pump all the air out of their brewing vessels. By using kegs and pouring their cold brew from a tap infused with nitrogen like a pint of Guinness, they created a rich, intense cold brew flavor with extra creaminess.
If you want to learn more about Cuvee Coffees process, check out this video:
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Did We Mention Quality Control
Last but not least, not that we needed another check in the box, but the other glaring problem I see with delivered cold brew is product control and consistency. For any cafe or coffee focused restaurant, you should be very concerned about what is in your keg, how it was made and transported, what ratio was used for dilution, what coffee was used, etc. As cold brew distributors make decisions about their product and profit, you will not have full control over the product you are serving your customers.
Cold brew delivery and free equipment sounds great, and we can see the short-term appeal. However, the best long-term strategy, for any cafe or restaurant, is to make the investment in your own equipment, and reap the long-term profits and maintain full control of what comes out of your tap.
Mini Keg Vs Whipped Cream Dispenser
Depending on how into cooking you are, you may already have a whipped cream dispenser. If you dont though, theyre not expensive to buy and the cartridges are relatively cheap too so its an easy way to get started.
If youre a regular cold brew drinker looking to have the nitro version every so often, the whipped cream method is definitely the way to go. However, if you plan to have fresh nitro coffee at home frequently, its worth investing in a new nitro cold brew maker.
Minikegs are quite expensive. But, when it comes to making nitro cold brew, they have a couple of big benefits over using a glass jar and whipped cream dispenser:
Once youve poured each drink, all of the oxygen is removed from the nitro coffee maker. This will make the coffee taste brighter and fresher for much longer.
When not in use, you can easily store your nifty nitro coffee machine in the fridge. So, every time you want a creamy, cool coffee, it is quickly and easily on hand. We recommend making a big batch at the weekend so you have a whole weeks worth of coffee ready to pour.
Theyre super easy to use too. Once youve made your cold brew, you simply fill the keg and place the whole thing in the fridge. To turn it into nitro coffee, make sure there is a nitrous oxide cartridge installed , and pull the lever like a draught beer.
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How To Make Nitro Cold Brew At Home
Easy to Follow, Step-by-Step Guide to Revolutionize your at Home Cold Brew
Just hearing nitro cold brew coffee conjures up an image of brightly colored cans with lightning bolts on the outside. The cans clutched in the hands of cramming college students, entry-level CEO wannabes, and the steroid pumped dude-bro types.
Thankfully, that image doesnt ring true. Instead, nitro coffee is a luxurious drink that infuses already super smooth cold brew with nitrogen gas. The result is a smoothness that my vocabulary cant do justice to.
And to make things even better, its super easy to learn how to make nitro cold brew at home.
If youre worried that getting the right level of smoothness is a skill reserved for TV chefs or upscale coffee shops, never fear. You also dont have to empty your bank account on technology that will only take up space at the back of your cupboard.
Rejoice as you can brew in batches. Then you will have weeks of awesomely smooth morning coffee for the cheap price of a whipped cream container. Interested? Read on and we will show you exactly how to make homemade nitro cold brew.
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How To Make The Perfect Cup Of Nitro Cold Brew At Home
You might not believe it, but you can actually make nitro cold brew coffee at home, although, you do need to have the right equipment as its not as simple to make as a latte, for example.
Nitro cold brew is a coffee that is prepared by steeping coffee grounds in cold water over an extended period. A great way to make nitro cold brew is to use 16 ounces of cold water, 2 tablespoons of finely ground coffee, and steep for 12 hours.
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What Is Nitro Cold Brew
It all starts with a standard batch of cold brew. The brewers keep the coffee in a keg under the dispensing counter, where a tube connects it to a dispensing tap. When the barista pulls down on the tap, nitrogen bubbles fill the cold brew thats coming up and out of the system. These gas bubbles are smaller than carbon dioxide bubbles.
That scientific fact means nitro cold brew does not come out looking or feeling like soda. Instead, it comes out looking and feeling smooth and creamy. There is a light-colored crema at the top, which gives way to a deep-brown body below. Many people who have tried cold brew liken it to a draft beer like Guinness in aesthetics and consistency.
Moreover, unlike soda, which is known for not being sweet on its own, the nitro cold brews nitrogen sweetens the drink naturally. While you can add sweeteners to nitro cold brew, the standard practice is to let the nitrogen speak for itself, so to speak. As a result, nitro cold brew is compatible with keto, paleo, and vegan diets.
What Is Nitro Cold Brewanyway
For those of you who don’t know, nitro cold brew is a coffee drink like nothing else I’ve had before. It’s basically cold brew coffee that’s charged with nitrogen. After it comes out, it has a thick layer of cream-like coffee at the top. Just like any Guinness beer head, this top layer is very smooth and packs-a-punch at delivering a caffeine boost. But it’s also very different than regular coffee since the nitrogen changes the overall texture. It’s smoother and sweeter than regular coffee. Some flavors popped in my mouth, I hadn’t experienced before. And I found that I had more energy throughout the day because of it.
Now for those of you who are coffee purists, there is nothing wrong with being curious. After all, making your own coffee at home is always about your special brew. But ever since that day I tried my first nitro cold brew, Ive been trying to make it for myself. Now I’m not exactly a rocket scientist when it comes to these things. Yet I did enough research with my friend, and I think we’ve figured out how to make the best recreation at home. And if you want to be just as adventurous as we were, you’ll want to know how we cracked the recipe that came-out even better. Here’s exactly what we found.
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Nitro Cold Brew At Home
Despite what many people think, nitro cold brew at home is quite a simple task to accomplish, as long as you are willing to buy some of the gear and get over that first startup hurdle. To make your own nitro cold brew at home, all you need is coarse ground coffee, water, a filter or cheese cloth, a source of nitrogen and a container to house the coffee. Not only will you save more money over time becoming your own barista, but you will also be able to experiment and find your favorite nitro cold brew coffee.
1. Coarse Ground Coffee
Before you can prepare your nitro cold brew at home, you first need to find some fresh coffee beans that you want to use for your cold brew concentrate. You should buy these fresh from a small batch coffee roaster, not a generic name brand coffee company that will sell you old beans.
Once you have the coffee beans that you want to use, you will need to ground these coarsely. Typically, coarse ground coffee is used for slower coffee extractions, like a French press, percolator or cold brew. If you are unsure what these coffee grounds should look like, they will resemble something similar to that of sea salt.
2. Cold Brew Preparation
3. Making Cold Brew
4. Nitrogen in Coffee
There are two popular ways that people are making their own nitro coffee at home, one is with a whipped cream dispenser and the other is with a mini keg. We highly recommend the mini keg for the easiest experience, and not to mention, the best nitro cold brew.
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As an amazon associate i earn from qualifying purchases. Basic hints of making nitro cold brew coffee.
. Add three to four cups of.
How to make the new starbucks toasted coconut cold brew at. After 12 to 24 hours, your cold brew is ready.
Image result for nitro cold brew with images nitro. Alexandra deabler is a lifestyle writer and editor for fox news.
New review up for the starbucks cold brew coffee cocoa. As an amazon associate i earn from qualifying purchases.
Nitro cold brew at home how to make it like a barista. As an amazon associate i earn from qualifying purchases.
Pin by dean on products i love nitro cold brew. Basic hints of making nitro cold brew coffee.
Pin by kell on starbucks nitro cold brew starbucks. Charge the canister with one shot of nitrous oxide and give it a good shake for 30 seconds.
Pin by kell on starbucks starbucks drinks nitro cold. Charge with one shot of nitrous oxide and give the dispenser a good shake for about 30 seconds.
Pin on drinkssmoothies. Commercial coffee shops and the major big chains dont do anything special that you cant recreate at.
Rise original black coffee brewing nitro cold brew. Discharge the canister and pour your nitro cold brew over ice.
Read this before you order starbucks nitro cold brew. Each pitcher pack is filled with a perfectly measured portion of the same blend of latin american and african coffee that.
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La Colombe Lemon Shandy
BEST FLAVORED
It might sound really strange, but the La Colombe Lemon Shandy is a delight to the senses. La Colombe has paired their nitro cold brew coffee made from pure Colombian beans with lemonade from ripe, Sicilian lemons to create a refreshing and uplifting beverage unlike anything youve tasted before. The silky, thick texture of the coffee makes this drink taste much more decadent than it actually is. In fact, each can only has 60 calories and offers a good dose of vitamin C thanks to the included lemonade.