What type of coffee is used for nitro cold brew?

The drink starts with regular cold coffee. It's made by soaking ground coffee in cold water for several hours (usually at least overnight and up to 24 hours).

What type of coffee is used for nitro cold brew?

The drink starts with regular cold coffee. It's made by soaking ground coffee in cold water for several hours (usually at least overnight and up to 24 hours). The mixture is then infused with nitrogen gas just before pouring it. Nitro coffee is simply cold-brewed coffee with colourless and odourless nitrogen gas.

The term “nitro” refers to nitrogen, and nitro coffee is any coffee that has been infused with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen naturally tastes sweet and the bubbles are significantly smaller than carbon dioxide bubbles. In fact, they're so small that you'll perceive them more like a cream than a carbonation. Place your fully filtered cold beer in the refrigerator and let it sit until it reaches the desired drinking temperature.

Cold coffee originated in Japan, where it has been a traditional method of brewing coffee for centuries. At the Manhattan coffee shop, Mighty Brew Bros (), it is used in cocktails such as nitro piña colada and combined with vanilla ice cream in a nitro float.

Nitro Cold

Brew coffee should have a nice waterfall effect with foam settling on the top, but don't worry if it doesn't look perfect on the first try. The cold infusion with nitrogen is released through a pressurized valve with small holes to create a creamy effect.

Not only do you want to pour hot coffee into your mini keg to make nitro, because there's a big difference between iced coffee and cold-brewed coffee.

Nitro cold brew

is a variation of cold coffee that uses the addition of nitrogen gas to create a smooth texture. Nitro is usually served in a glass or cup without ice, as nitrogen creates very cold coffee on its own, and ice cubes would interfere with that beautiful waterfall effect. Add some simple syrup, cream, vanilla syrup, or anything else you like to your glass, and then dispense the cold nitro beer right on top.

Like all cold beverages, the nitro version is very low in acid, which is beneficial for coffee drinkers who have a sensitive stomach or are prone to heartburn and acid reflux. Nitrogen bubbles help enhance the flavor of coffee, and you'll discover that cold nitro beer has a complex 26% flavor that's much milder and with less acidity than regular coffee. While the coffee beans used in the preparation are usually to blame for higher acidity, in the case of nitrocold beer, it's actually the preparation style itself that helps keep the acid on a discreet note. Regular cold beer is already much more expensive than regular coffee, because it takes a long preparation time and twice as much ground coffee, and most stores charge at least another dollar for the nitro version.

You may not have seen nitro brew coffee on the menu at your local coffee shop yet, but it will soon be there. Shake the keg well for 15 to 30 seconds and then place the entire keg in the fridge for one hour to allow the cold beer to reach the correct temperature.

Glenna Matthys
Glenna Matthys

Hardcore internet practitioner. Wannabe beer advocate. Infuriatingly humble beer expert. Devoted coffee evangelist. Hardcore social media scholar. Friendly beer fanatic.