Coffee Shops Are Getting Creative With Nitro Everything
by Dan Engel
Published on September 14, 2022 (Freshcup Magazine)
To say that nitro coffee is taking off might be the understatement of the year. With a 904% menu increase over the last four years, it’s fast becoming one of the trendiest drinks around. Cafes across the nation are adding nitro options to their cold brew lineup, and with such a steady increase, we think nitro drinks are here to stay.
But there’s a lot more to nitro than cold brew.
Although they generally end up in the cold brew section of the menu, there are so many fun and exciting ways to craft genuinely amazing drinks with nitro. Here are 15 unique nitro-based drink recipes that cafes, restaurants, and cocktail bars are using, along with tips on how to get creative with nitro infusion from coffee experts across the globe.
Full article on FreshCup : https://freshcup.com/coffee-shops-are-getting-creative-with-nitro-everything/
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With a smooth texture and beer-like head, nitro cold brew continues to hit high notes with coffee drinkers worldwide. In fact, recent reports reveal nitro cold brew hitting a staggering 904% menu increase over the last four years.
Traditionally, serving nitro-infused drinks typically means investing in inefficient systems. Nitro setups can be cumbersome and generate waste, which may conflict with other environmentally-conscious business practices around the café, like composting spent grounds or reducing plastic usage.
We spoke to Murthy Tata, an inventor, chemical engineer, and founder of NitroBrew, to learn about the inefficiencies of serving nitro coffees and what cafe owners can do to eliminate the environmental costs of offering these drinks.
Full article on FreshCup : https://freshcup.com/the-sustainability-dilemma-of-nitro-cold-brew-coffee/
Nitro coffee is turning into a staple option for many consumers. Whether they enjoy a good nitro at home or at a local cafe or a chain store, it is only getting more popular. Cafes across different regions , big and small, see increased demand. The silky smooth beverage is a great drink on a hot summer day. The cascade of tiny nitrogen bubbles settling at the top to form a crema is a visual treat. Dairy is optional.
We believe that the nitro trend will only grow, not just for coffee but other beverages like tea and cocktails too. The visuals and the taste of nitro beverages is so unique that more and more people are taking notice. NitroBrew® brings this into your home with the single serve kettle system. You can infuse any drink in under a minute from the comfort of your home, one cup at a time.
As a consumer, you typically have the following options to enjoy a nitro coffee:
Let’s look at the costs associated with each of these.
The pre-packaged nitro-coffee market seems to be gaining momentum. There are more canned nitro options for consumers at grocery stores. Companies of all sizes are rushing their pre-packaged options to market. Typically, you need to shake the can or bottle and dump the beverage somewhat violently into a glass to achieve the perfect cascade and infusion. This technique works but is subject to a lot of variabilities and you may not achieve that classic nitro pour you were hoping to see! The cost of these ranges from $20 to $30 for an 8 pack. These pre-packaged options can get expensive for a consumer who needs a coffee fix every morning. This could add up to $800 -$1200 in a year.
Getting your nitro fix from a coffee chain isn’t budget-friendly either. Prices available online and in menus can range from $3.25 to $5.00 per cup. Projecting that over a year, you are looking at $1000 to $1500 (yikes!). It adds up pretty quickly.
There are several different products available in the market to enjoy nitro coffee at home. Most have cartridges that need to be replaced. While the initial cost of these systems is low, the cost of consumables, like cartridges, add up really fast. NitroBrew® is the only system out there for home use that has no consumables. Air is 78% nitrogen so NitroBrew® uses air to infuse into your beverage. You can make your own cold brew coffee at home or purchase any from the market. There are several options available. Another tip for you, with NitroBrew®, you can even just chill drip coffee and infuse! See how you like it. Is decaf your thing? Well, we have customers who nitro their decaf coffee with our system!
Cartridge systems might seem convenient at first. All you have to do is fill a container with cold coffee and screw in a cartridge on the available port. The in-built mechanism pierces the cartridge and the gas flows into the headspace of the container. The container then has to be shaken and dispensed. They are offered in a few different sizes and there are plenty of cartridge manufacturers on the market. The cartridges are filled with pure Nitrogen (N2) or Nitrous Oxide (N2O). Manufacturing and trashing these cartridges are a huge source of pollution, more on that later.
Looking at some of the popular systems online, the prices for the first year of use range between $593 to $1194*. The catch though, is in the recurring cost of those cartridges. Depending on the type of system and volume of gas required, second year onward, the cost ranges between $394 and $1033 per year. This cost never goes away as long as you use the system.
The price of NitroBrew® systems may seem high at first, but, over a short period of time, the system pays for itself and then some! There are no recurring costs of consumables. The systems are designed to be durable and safe to operate. There is no risk of malfunctioning cartridges or handling cylinders. The versatility and flexibility of NitroBrew® is unmatched. You can make any drink a nitro drink and experiment to see what others drinks you may enjoy on nitro. Beer, coffee, tea, cocktails, mocktails, root beer, cream soda and more. NitroBrew, with zero consumables, easily offsets the initial higher price of the system! Plus the fun of trying and experimenting different drinks on nitro is appealing to many! Enjoy nitro drinks without trashing the environment!
While we would love everyone to have a NitroBrew home kit and experiment, a word about supporting local cafes and coffee shops. Being a small business ourselves, we know how hard we have to work to earn the trust and business of a consumer. We also know that local businesses put their heart and soul into their business and are some of the most passionate people we have come to know. We would never dissuade you from visiting your local shop with family or friends and enjoying good company with some good coffee. Such interactions are invaluable. But if you go to your favorite cafe and don’t see NitroBrew, maybe you can put in a word for them to check us out 🙂
NitroBrew 12oz Kit
78% of the air we breathe is Nitrogen. The price and energy to extract that Nitrogen from air, package it and transport it to the point of use is quite high.. This extraction process is a source of pollution because significant amounts of Carbon Dioxide is produced, which is a greenhouse gas. As high as these charges may seem, they don’t end at the point of use. The cartridges then have to be disposed of. They cannot be recycled because the risk of explosion of an unused cartridge is high. So, they end up in a landfill. To get to the landfill, they need to be transported from the point of use to a dump zone via fossil fuel powered trucks which add to air pollution. This pollution is further worsened in cases of Nitrous Oxide. The gas itself is very harmful to the environment, manufacturing and transporting it aggravates the situation further.
NitroBrew® takes sustainability seriously. Using the air we breathe to infuse into drinks is extremely energy efficient, causes no pollution and the dollar savings for consumers is like a cherry on top of that nitro brew! You can pat yourself on the back for doing your part for the environment!
Nitrogen is a transparent, odorless gas that can be infused into coffee or any drink to produce a smooth, creamy beverage. Nitro Brew Coffee has been a fairly recent trend of nitro beverages that offers a completely different and delightful coffee experience. Cream or dairy is optional.
However, storing, transporting, and refilling nitrogen regularly is a highly energy-intensive process. The energy used to generate nitrogen from the air (air is 78% nitrogen) via the fractional distillation process produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide, not to mention the pollution dredged up for the fossil fuels generating power. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, is a major contributor to global warming and ocean acidification. Once produced, the cost of transporting and maintaining the high-pressure nitrogen tanks and cartridges can further add to the carbon footprint and climate change, and can be felt in the pocketbook.
Smaller portable and disposable gas cartridges, although convenient, can still mean moving a lot of metal for even smaller amounts of gas. And remember, although those cartridges are providing nitrogen, you are already including a lot of oxygen into the beverage by the time you open the gizmo, pour your drink, and screw-in that cartridge anyway! Today, most of the disposable cartridges are not recycled and end up in landfills.
We also think nitrous oxide gas (N2O) used for certain products (e.g. whipped cream and some “nitro-style” creamed coffees) is especially damaging. The global warming potential of nitrous oxide is almost 300 times greater than carbon dioxide Nitrous oxide persists in the atmosphere for hundreds of years as well causing cumulative damage to the environment. While nitrous oxide gas cylinders and cartridges bear the same problems as nitrogen systems, the nitrous oxide gas used ends up in the environment.
We developed NitroBrew Kits with two things in mind:
i) Offer a clean and sustainable way to make nitro beverages
ii) Make serving nitro brew affordable for everyone
At NitroBrew, we are very passionate about environmental sustainability. We offer a way to make Nitro-beverages without any consumables. Although all NitroBrew products can handle a variety of gases (nitrogen, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, argon, helium, etc) we strongly encourage everyone to simply use the air we breathe. When using air, you still infuse a lot of nitrogen (78% of air is nitrogen). Most of the remaining gas that is oxygen is actually more foam-positive than nitrogen.
The wonderful flavor of coffee (and tea, chocolate, beer, and various beverages and foods in general) is the result of complex chemical reactions that happen during processing. For example, the amino acids react with sugars and other carbohydrates during the roasting process (some of these are called Maillard reactions) giving rise to a variety of compounds beyond what is already present in the beans. These compounds include flavonoids [sic], polyphenols, tannins, and so on. The signature bouquet of a particular cup of coffee is the result of the bean variety, its growth and harvest conditions, moisture, the roasting time and temperature program, and so on. The spectrum of compounds that impact the taste and flavor can be quite complex- so much so that one can sometimes resign themselves to attribute it all to the mood of the roaster on that particular day he or she came to work 🙂
Everyone agrees that a freshly brewed cup of coffee from freshly roasted and ground beans tastes the best. But, if you let that coffee sit around, the flavor can go stale. The culprit is oxidation. There are numerous mechanisms for oxidative damage to the foods and beverages that cause staling. The maillard reaction products, flavonoids, polyphenols, various aldehydes, and lipids undergo oxidation by various mechanisms. Usually, despite the oxidative reactions, the compounds associated with stale character do not appear until long after the oxidation happens. Indeed, if the product is stored cold, it may take so long to notice stale character that the shelf life can be ‘freshness-dated’ as long as many months into the future.
The bad rap that oxygen gets is (justifiably) mainly from the experience of packaged goods industry where the goods need to be inventoried and moved through distribution and sales channels. Oxygen presence slowly leads to the food or beverage developing a stale character. Although the staling is noticeably faster at warmer storage temperatures staling is extremely slow at refrigerator temperatures. For example, beer, which happens to be one of the most oxygen-sensitive products to package, demands that the total package oxygen content be less than a few tens of parts per billion to get a decent shelf life at typical storage and distribution temperatures. If the product is kept cold, it can take several months for even an expert taster to pick up any stale character.
But none of the issues with Oxygen is really relevant for a typical NitroBrew technology use case. The idea is to make a fresh NitroBrew’d drink, on-demand, for instant gratification! With NitroBrew, while you can still use nitrogen for nitro coffee (or nitrous oxide to make whip cream), you can also do all of that with just air! And you don’t have to keep restocking gas cylinders or cartridges to continue to enjoy your favorite NitroBrew’d beverage. Go on and pat yourself on the back for really doing your part in helping Mother Earth heal.
Drawing the air we breathe and infusing that into the beverage is very energy efficient. The benefit of eliminating the large carbon footprint to manufacture and distribute these compressed gas cartridges and the pollution from the spent cartridges is huge in itself. The dollar savings and convenience that result from it are the icings on the cake.
Nitro Brew solution for small shops, artisan cafes, mobile carts, etc with NitroBrew single serve commercial bundles or the Nitro Brew Table Top system. Recently, Barista Magazine had NitroBrew and One Utopia featured in their ‘Take Away’ section and you can read about the interview with Tina, owner of One Utopia!
Tina A: Owner, One Utopia inside The Downtown Exchange Clermont, in Clermont, Florida as well as a mobile unit that services Central Florida.
1. http://blog.parker.com/the-hidden-costs-of-gas-cylinders
2. https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwaxyz/your-nang-habit-is-trashing-the-earth
3. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials
4. https://nitrobrew.com/good-beer-gone-bad/
We bring you experiences from customers of NitroBrew and how they use them at home with delicious results. Whether it is just you enjoying a great cup of coffee or are surrounded by family and friends, we hope you add a little extra special touch to your drinks with Nitro Brew this holiday season!
Customer endorsed and in their own words!
“The NitroBrew machine is amazing and very convenient and it is fun to experiment with. I mainly bought it for cold brew coffee’s and the occasional stout beer but I have put Whiskey, Mountain Dew, Orange juice, milk, protein drinks and sweet tea all through it for fun.
Look at my nitro cold brew coffee, it looks exactly like a Guinness beer in a pint glass.
Another thing I tried recently, pineapple whiskey sour that I poured with NitroBrew and it changed the texture entirely and was pretty awesome. Pretty simple machine to use! “
“I was making some nitro brew and then it hit me that I could make my own personal whip cream with your NitroBrew maker. Not only is it fast and easy to make the whip cream but it tastes heavenly. All you need is some heavy whipping cream and a flavored syrup I used vanilla. This is a game changer for the small town coffee shop I am at.
I have done hazelnut and English toffee whip cream and it was awesome. We sold some at our shop for toppings on some espresso shots and our customers love it!!
Thank you for making such a good product!”
Nitrous Oxide gas (N2O) used for certain products (e.g. whipped cream and some “nitro-style” creamed coffees) is especially damaging. Did you know the global warming potential of nitrous oxide is almost 300 times greater than carbon dioxide? Nitrous oxide persists in the atmosphere for hundreds of years as well causing cumulative damage to the environment.
This really makes what Dylan has done with NitroBrew very special. Thank you!
“Passion fruit mocktail – Made this mocktail using the nitrobrew kit. Passion fruit juice with a dash of Grenadine and a Cranberry thyme mixer from @iconiccocktailco
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The nitro infusion gave this drink a frothy smooth mouthfeel and the mixer added a lovely herbaceous flavor! Perfect for entertaining and enjoying with friends and family.”
“Apple muffins with pistachios, raisins and cranberries – they make for a wonderful breakfast! They are dairy free and made with whole wheat flour. Whole wheat and brown sugar darkens the muffins but they are moist with a beautiful crumb. You can make them ahead and just warm them up before eating. My family thought they could use some sweetness so they had it with a drizzle of maple syrup. ⠀
It is a warm fall here in AZ so we had the muffins with chilled Nitro coffee without milk. The cold frothy coffee was really refreshing. You could add dairy or non dairy milk of your choice. I used the single serve NitroBrew to make my nitro cold brew coffee. The best part – no cartridges or cylinders required here!” ⠀
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Whether it is nitro coffee with your favorite breakfast in the morning or a mid to late afternoon nitro tea with snacks or a nitro cocktail or beer at the end of the day, we hope you are inspired to try some of your own creations at home with the NitroBrew single serve systems!
We hope to bring you more ideas from our creative NitroBrew customers. If you would like to contribute, we would love to hear from you. Just email us at info@nitrobrew.com.
Happy NitroBrew’ing! Happy Holidays and stay safe!
If you’ve been down to your local coffee shop recently, you may have noticed a new item on the menu called nitro brew coffee. Nitro coffee started as a third wave coffee shop trend that’s quickly moved into the mainstream. The biggest coffee retail giant introduced the item to their menu in select stores as a seasonal item. It was so popular with their customers, though, they decided to keep it on the menu nationwide year-round.
If you’ve tasted the beverage, you’ll know that it’s a thicker, creamier tasting cold brew. The rich (and better for you) coffee packs a big punch when it comes to both taste and experience. But what is nitro coffee, exactly? What are you drinking when you order it, and is it actually safe to consume? It’s time to unwrap the nitro coffee mystery and discover why so many people love it and how you can bring that big taste home with you.
Nitro coffee is cold brewed coffee infused with nitrogen gas. There are a few ways nitrogen-infused coffee differs from your regular cup of cold brew. First, your barista will serve nitro coffee cold from the tap or infusion kettle. The beverage starts with regular cold brew coffee. That’s made by steeping coffee grounds in cold water for several hours (usually at least overnight and for as long as 24 hours). The mixture is then infused with the nitrogen gas right before it’s poured. That’s done with special equipment that you might be more used to seeing in a bar than in your local coffee shop.
Nitrogen gas has been used in beverages for hundreds of years. It’s the same thing you’ll find in some of your favorite beers. The gas is safe to drink and an alternative to carbon dioxide. Most beverages use carbon dioxide gas, which creates larger bubbles you’ll find in soda and regular beers. Nitrogen gas reacts differently when it’s pumped into a liquid. The bubbles created by nitrogen are smaller and the overall texture of the beverage is creamy and smooth. Nitrogen gas also adds a little bit of sweetness to the drink. That’s why it works so well for coffee. Nitrogen-infused coffee tastes smooth and creamy without the addition of milk, sugar, or their substitutes.
Plus, nitro coffee looks really good in the glass. If you’ve seen a nitro beer poured, nitro coffee looks very similar. Both have a rich color, foamy head, and cascading bubbles going down the sides of the glass. The visual appeal of a nitro brew coffee is part of the overall experience of the beverage. It’s fun to look at and great to taste. It’s an Instagram-worthy beverage that actually tastes even better than it looks.
One of the reasons nitrogen coffee is becoming so popular is because it can be a healthy alternative to your regular caffeine fix. It earns the title of being a healthy coffee beverage in a few different ways:
Nitrogen boosts the flavor of the coffee and makes it creamy and sweet, so there is no need to add calories through milk or sugar. That makes it a calorie-conscious caffeine lover’s dream. It’s also appealing to anyone with milk sensitivity since the creaminess doesn’t require you to use any dairy or dairy alternatives.
The other benefit comes from how you make nitrogen coffee, particularly the cold brew coffee. Because cold brew is slowly steeped in cold water, it pulls less of the acidity out of the coffee bean. This makes a rich, ultra-caffeinated brew that’s lower in acidity than traditionally brewed coffee. The lower acidity in the final nitro brew coffee is easier on your stomach, leading to fewer digestive issues for coffee lovers.
The caffeine content in the cold brew is a lot higher than in a traditionally brewed cup of coffee. While the longer brewing process pulls less acidity out, it actually pulls more caffeine out of the coffee beans. So if you are sensitive to caffeine, you’ll want to be careful about how much of it you consume. If you are trying to cut back, though, nitro brew coffee could be beneficial, though. You’ll be able to get your caffeine fix without drinking as much coffee.
The health benefits and wide range appeal of nitro coffee are why you’ll be seeing is appear on more and more menus. It’s also why many people are looking for ways to make this tasty caffeinated treat at home.
One of the only drawbacks of nitro coffee is the pricetag. Nitro coffee tends to be expensive, and a cup at your local indie coffee shop could cost you as much as $5 or more. Ready-made nitrogen coffees are now hitting the supermarket shelves, but those are still pricey. Unfortunately, the quality of canned nitrogen coffees is often lacking. The best way to drink nitrogen-infused coffee is to have it freshly made right before you drink it.
The good news is it’s easy to make nitrogen-infused coffee at home. You’ll need to make sure you have the right setup first. Coffee shops and restaurants invest in commercial-grade equipment that can infuse cold brew with nitrogen gas on demand. Nitro coffee lovers can do the same thing at home with a kettle system that infuses a cup at a time.
Look for a nitro cold brew coffee maker that don’t require consumable nitrogen cartridges. These will increase the cost per cup over time and require you to keep the supplies on hand. The systems will instead use an air compressor to infuse the coffee since the air we breathe is about 80% nitrogen anyway. Plus, fewer consumables means your at-home coffee routine is more environmentally friendly.
It’s time to head down to your local coffee shop to try it. The sweet, smooth, creamy coffee drink is taking over the menu of coffee shops around the world. It’s becoming the most sold beverage for many establishments. You can make it your new usual or purchase equipment to help you bring the taste home. Either way, nitro brew coffee is here to stay.
Love the smooth, creamy mouthfeel of nitrogen beer? You aren’t alone! It’s a trend with staying power and one that more and more restaurants are bringing to their menu. It’s also something that many consumers are looking to bring home with them. The popularity of nitrogen drinks has inspired many manufacturers to bring their own nitrogen beer systems to the market. But which one is right for you? Whether you are looking for a nitro beer tap system to install in a commercial setting or want to enjoy the taste at home, here is a guide to helping you find the set up that’s right for you.
There is something pretty special about nitrogen-infused beer. It’s a beverage that really captures the senses. The first thing you’ll notice, though, are the visuals of it. Nitro beers are best poured into a stout glass, which allows the drinker to enjoy watching the bubbles cascade through the liquid. Then there is the way the beer feels in your mouth. Nitro beers taste smoother and creamier vs. a beer charged with Co2. The nitrogen creates a richer texture on the tongue and makes it a totally different drinking experience.
That’s why people love it and want to experience it again and again. The way the beer looks, smells, and tastes enhance the drinking experience. To achieve that, whether at home or for a pub or restaurant, you’ll need a nitro beer tap system.
There are a huge variety of systems to choose from, but in general, you’ll be able to choose between a kettle system and a keg system. Which system is right for you will depend on several factors. Those include how much nitro beer you expect to serve as well as whether you want to deal with consumables. The answers to those questions will help guide your purchasing decision.
It may be hard to anticipate how popular nitrogen beer is going to be initially. If you are a business, you may need to do some market research about nitrogen beer consumption in your area. It’s likely those numbers will surprise you. It’s a beverage that’s been gaining in popularity over the last ten years and doesn’t show signs of slowing down.
If you are a home user, consider your weekly consumption. You’ll also want to think about whether you’ll be using your nitro beer tap system for parties and gatherings.
If you choose a keg system, you may find yourself locked into the size. That might end up being too much (meaning your beer will eventually get stale). Or it could be too little (meaning you are going through the hassle of changing out and charging the new keg more often).
Kettle systems like the one NitroBrew uses offer scalability. That way you can simply expand the system as demand for nitro drinks grow.
Depending on the system that you choose, you may need to consider the long term expenses and how they’ll affect your budget. All systems will need to be regularly cleaned to keep all the parts in good working order. Doing this should prevent any kind of blockage or break down in most nitrogen beer systems, so upkeep costs will be minimal on a high-quality system.
However, there are consumables to consider. Some systems are ready to go, right out of the box. Others will require you to use disposable nitrogen cartridges. These probably won’t blow your budget, but the cost does add up over time. Plus, you’ll need to make sure that you always have fresh nitrogen cartridges on hand. If you run out, that’s the end of the nitrogen beer until you get more.
When you are looking at nitrogen beer systems, it’s tempting to go with the option that’s the most affordable. Some people think that there is little difference between the systems so choosing the best deal is the smart way to shop. Unfortunately, if you end up buying a cheap nitrogen beer system, you could end up paying more in the long run. That’s because inexpensive parts make inexpensive systems, so the mechanics are more likely to wear out and break down over time. You’ll end up replacing your nitro system for beer more often. That means paying more in out-of-pocket costs than you would have if you’d initially invested in a quality set-up.
So before you try to save a few dollars, look at the quality of the systems you are considering. This is especially important in a pub or restaurant setting where you’ll be using the nitro system on a daily basis. Investing in quality will end up being more affordable.
NitroBrew covers all the bases. Our systems are easy to use, made with the highest-quality components, and deliver amazing nitro bubbles in every pint. You can browse our selection of top-quality nitrogen beer systems on our website and find the one that’s right for your home or business. They tick every box for both residential and commercial use. Get the creativity, quality, and mouthfeel you want as you pour the perfect pint every time. Order your nitro system for beer today.