Nitro Cold Brew
Cold brew poured like a stout, cascading in the glass and settling under a thick, creamy head, with a texture that tastes like milk has been added when none has. Cafés use nitrogen from a keg. At home, a cream whipper gets surprisingly close.
At a glance
- Concentrate : water
- 1:1
- Active time
- 5 min
- Total time
- 65 min
- Makes
- 2 glasses
- Serve
- Cold, no ice
- Kit
- Cream whipper
Ingredients
Note: Cafés use pure nitrogen. Home cream chargers are nitrous oxide, which is more soluble and tastes faintly sweet. The cascade and the head are the same idea, a little less dramatic.
Method
-
Make and chill the cold brew
Make cold brew concentrate and filter it twice, the second time through paper. Dilute it one to one and chill it in the fridge until very cold.
Cold liquid holds more gas. Warm coffee will foam out of the whipper and go flat.
-
Fill the whipper
Pour the cold coffee into the whipper, no higher than the fill line. Screw on the head firmly.
-
Charge and shake
Fit one charger and screw it in until the gas releases. Shake the whipper hard for thirty seconds, then put it in the fridge for an hour so the gas dissolves.
Shake 30 seconds, rest 60 minutes -
Pour hard into a glass
Hold the whipper upside down, nozzle into the bottom of a tilted glass, and pull the trigger fully. No ice.
The pressure drop releases the gas in tiny bubbles, which is the cascade. Ice breaks the head.
-
Watch it settle
Stand the glass upright and let the cascade settle for thirty seconds into dark coffee under a creamy head. Drink it without a straw.
Settle 30 seconds
Why this works
Nitrogen barely dissolves in water, far less than carbon dioxide does. That is the whole effect. Forced in under pressure and released through a restrictor tap, it comes out of solution as a cloud of tiny bubbles, much smaller than the bubbles in a fizzy drink. Tiny bubbles feel creamy rather than sharp, and they rise slowly, which gives the cascade that seems to fall down the glass as the bubbles at the edges are dragged by the liquid's flow. The same technology pours a Guinness.
The creaminess changes how the coffee tastes. A thick, fine foam coats the tongue and softens bitterness, so nitro tastes sweeter and smoother than the same cold brew poured flat, with no milk or sugar. Nitrogen also adds no acidity. Carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid in water, which is why fizzy coffee tastes sharp.
The home version uses nitrous oxide because that is what cream chargers contain. It is much more soluble than nitrogen, so more of it dissolves and the bubbles are a little larger and the foam less dense. It also tastes faintly sweet. The result is not identical to café nitro, but it is close in texture and much closer than any other home method.
Cold brew on tap first appeared in American specialty cafés in the early 2010s, and it was in cans and on major chain menus by the end of the decade.
Variations
- With milk: half cold milk and half concentrate in the whipper, for a creamy nitro latte.
- Vanilla: 15 ml of vanilla syrup in the whipper with the coffee.
- Nitro cold brew float: poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Stronger: undiluted concentrate in the whipper, poured into a small glass.
Cream whippers hold gas under pressure. Use food-grade chargers only in a whipper designed for them, never fill above the line, never remove the head while it is charged, and keep chargers away from children.
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Questions
What is nitro cold brew?
Cold brew infused with nitrogen and poured through a tap that releases the gas as tiny bubbles. It cascades in the glass and settles under a creamy head.
Can I make nitro cold brew at home?
Yes, with a cream whipper and nitrous oxide chargers. Pure nitrogen needs a keg and tap. The whipper version gives a very similar creamy texture and cascade.
Why is nitro cold brew served without ice?
Ice breaks up the foam head and dilutes the drink. Serve it from a very cold canister into a cold glass instead.
Does nitro cold brew have more caffeine?
No. Nitrogen adds no caffeine. It depends on the cold brew it is made from and the dilution.