What do cranky mornings, lazy afternoons, and hot evenings all have in common? That’s right, cold brew coffee! Because of this beverage’s popularity among all ages and nationalities, it’s no wonder that new flavors and types are growing by the day. But do you know how to pour nitro cold brew?
Nitrogen-infused coffee has great popularity nowadays, and the fuss isn’t about anything! With its cascading effect, creamy taste, and micro-bubbles, who wouldn’t give it a shot?
So, whether you’re newly employed at the coffee shop around the corner or a coffee geek staying at home, we’ve got you! Today, we’ll tell you everything about how to pour nitro cold brew that amazes.
A Step-by-Step Guide to a Tasty Nitro Cold Brew
Upon hearing stuff like evacuate air or infuse pure nitrogen, you can get a little overwhelmed or confused. Luckily, we have all the details you need to follow in this guide:
1. Prepare the Mixture
To get things started, you need coffee and water. You need to grind the coffee beans into a coarse or medium brew.
If you only have fine-ground coffee, you can also use it, but things can get complicated at the filtering stage as it may slip through the filter screen and accumulate at the bottom.
Add filtered water to the coarse coffee grounds with a brew ratio of 1:5. It means that for every measuring cup of coffee brew, you add 5 cups of filtered water. Using freshly-filtered water through your kitchen’s sink filter rather than bottled water is a plus.
One of the reasons nitro cold brew enjoyed such a huge success and popularity is that it can be prepared in large quantities. So, keep that in mind while making a new batch.
2. Filter the Mixture
Author Note: After adding coffee and water, you’ll need to stir the mix with a plastic spoon. Then, cover it with a lid for a short while to ensure the ingredients are well-blended.
Next, filter the mixture to extract the coffee aggregates using a fine filter screen. You may need to repeat the process one more time if you still have coffee-ground leftovers.
If you don’t have the filtering screen, you may use an old clean pantyhose. These are almost always available and provide a great alternative to the actual screen.
3. Purge the Oxygen From the Keg
That’s when the fun starts! Once the filtered mixture is kegged, it’s crucial to evacuate the oxygen from the keg.
This becomes even more important if you’re using a five-gallon keg and you fill it with only 3 gallons of coffee for example. Those 2 extra gallons of oxygen will make it challenging for you to infuse nitrogen to make the nitro cold brew.
To eject the oxygen from the keg, place the lid back on it and set the pressure regulator to around 10 psi using the pressure adjustment rotating button.
Connect the gas hose to the keg and then pull the pressure release valve on the lid up a few times to ensure that all the oxygen is out.
4. Add the Nitrogen by Setting the Pressure Correctly
The nitrogenation of coffee can be done by exposing nitrogen to the mixture, then allowing the latter to be saturated with the first. A properly nitrogenated coffee should be smoother and sweeter.
What type of gas should you be using? You only want pure nitrogen for your coffee. If you use CO2 or pure gas mixture that has a small amount of CO2 in it, it will sour your coffee and change the mouthfeel.
To get the nitrogen into the mixture, set the pressure from 35 to 45 psi through the pressure regulator on the nitrogen tank, and connect it to the keg.
5. Infuse the Nitrogen Properly
This is a crucial step that a lot get confused with. Exposing the nitrogen isn’t enough to instantly nitrogenate the coffee. You need to let the fusion of the coffee and nitrogen occur. You can achieve that in three ways:
A. Extended Pre-infusion
Let the coffee solution absorb the nitrogen gas inside a keg for 2 to 3 days under high pressure of about +40 psi.
To make this as quick as possible, make sure that the keg is at serving temperature (as cold as possible) because liquids generally absorb gases better at lower temperatures.
B. Quick Pre-infusion
You can use a Cascade Keg Led that nitrogenates your coffee from the bottom-up, thus significantly shortening the required time from a few days to a few minutes.
A helpful tip to get an even faster and better outcome is to shake the keg, aggregating its contents for faster results
C. On-demand Infusion
In this method, you put the beverage inside the keg but nitrogenated as it goes to the tap. You can use a NitroTower for this purpose.
This method has the advantage of consistency: by using on-demand infusion, you’ll rest assured that the consistency of the bubbles is the same not only in the whole keg but also if you swapped kegs.
6. Pour the Brew Into the Right Glassware
Last but not least, you need to pour the nitro brew into the cup while it lays flatly on the table or tray. Don’t pour the beverage while holding the cup or tilting it. These steps are to preserve the precious nitrogen micro-bubbles.
Also, use a transparent glass instead of a cup so the gorgeous presentation of the cascading effect will be visible.
What Makes a Perfect Nitro Cold Brew?
Now that you’ve picked up the essentials of making a good nitro cold brew, we’ll talk about the little secrets that take you to the next level. Evaluate your nitro brew according to these criteria and apply the following tips to get the tips of your dreams. It’s a great place to start when learning how to pour nitro cold brew.
Cascading Effect / Visual Appeal
Author Note: The cascading effect is the characterizing feature of the nitro cold brew. It’s a mesmerizing view that looks like a waterfall of bubbles falling down inside the glass.
A good nitro cold brew has a cascading effect that lasts for more than 2 minutes. The cascading effect happens because of the infusion of nitrogen. Thus, the cascading effect should depend on the pressure and amount of infused nitrogen.
Q: Why is my nitro cold brew not cascading?
A: Common reasons include poor nitrogen infusion and blockage of the draft system (faucet) due to unfiltered coffee grains.
Micro Bubbles
Microbubbles indicate nitrogen being properly infused. To test if your beverage has microbubbles, roll the glass back and forth in your hand. If you see tiny bubbles forming and running along with the beverage, then you’re all set!
Also, note that microbubbles should still form in a coffee that’s served flat but kept under pressure for a few days. Not necessarily will the microbubbles cascade and twirl around as if nitrogenated, but they should at least be visible.
Q: Why doesn’t my nitro cold brew have any microbubbles?
A: Common reasons include not properly nitrogenating the coffee due to low pressure or short exposure time.
Frothy Head
The frothy head is the foam layer formed on top of the beverage. As a rule of thumb, an excellent nitro cold brew has half an inch of frothy head. Unlike carbonated drinks like soda, nitrogenated drinks can’t form a large head.
On the positive side, the head of nitrogenated beverages like the one we’re discussing is denser, richer, and creamier. Also, once you’re done with the mustache-awarding layer, you’re left with a light fuzzy dark coffee.
Q: Why doesn’t my nitro cold brew have a half an inch frothy head?
A: Common reasons include poor infusion of nitrogen and the lack of microbubbles.
Creamy Mouthfeel
Although there’s no denying the importance of the visual appeal of the beverage, the taste of coffee is what makes the transition from “I’ll give it a shot.” to “This is my new favorite to-go coffee.”
Tip– Be careful as some new nitro cold brew machines claim to have built-in nitrogen suppliers, which are just compressed ambient air tanks. This ambient air includes many gases such as CO2.
So, it’s essential to ensure that your nitro cold brew tastes sweet and feels creamy by double-checking the quality of the nitrogen: any mixed gases that include CO2 can ruin the taste of the beverage by making it more bitter like carbonated water.
Q: Why doesn’t my nitro cold brew have a creamy mouthfeel?
A: Common reasons include using other gases in addition to nitrogen, especially CO2.
Conclusion
Author Note: In conclusion, it’s essential to mention that nitro cold brew is a low-cal unsweetened beverage that’s top-notch in terms of both look and taste. It’s served cold, without ice, and in a glass rather than a plastic cup.
To make a good nitro cold brew, infuse the nitrogen into the filtered water and coarse coffee brew mixture after purging the oxygen out. Wait for the nitrogen to be absorbed for a few days or use a Quick Cascade Keg Led to shorten the process.
The criteria that determine whether the nitro cold brew is well-made or not include a cascading effect of more than 2 minutes, microbubbles, half an inch of frothy head, and a nice creamy mouthfeel. we hope you found this guide on how to pour nitro cold brew useful!
Stay caffeinated friends!