nitrogen-charged cold brew

Cold coffee has come a long way since its ice-cream-containing, whipped cream-topped days. Now taking on monikers such as cold brew, cold press or cold drip, cold coffee has now adopted beer-tap techniques so artisan coffee can be served quickly without loss of flavour.

Typically taking 12–24 hours to steep or drip into a sip-ready state, cold coffee is now being served via beer tap contraptions, using nitrogen and argon gases to create a sparkling ice-cold brew. Inspired by Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon, Dax and Nicholas Byrne of NBHD Neanderthal cafe in Melbourne have crafted Australia’s first cold brew on tap.

Stumptown typically steeps its freshly roasted coffee in room temperature water for more than 12 hours, followed by a double filtration process to create the complex, sweet and smooth cold brew. Available in bottles, growlers and kegs, Stumptown’s cold brew also comes on tap. Similarly, the Black & Blue is a nitro pour by Cuvée Coffee in Austin, Texas – you can watch the process here. With the Queensland heat hardly subsiding throughout the year, this might be a technique worth experimenting with in Brisbane cafes.