Starbucks’ new nitro cold brew
Ever wanted your coffee to look like a Guinness?
It’s not quite beer for breakfast, but Starbucks actually does tap a keg to make its latest concoction, nitro cold brew, which the chain launched in Toronto’s financial district Thursday.
Nitrogen — yes, the gas — is used to amp up the coffee behemoth’s hot-selling cold brew, which is essentially coffee that is steeped rather than heated.
The nitro trend has taken off this year, with independent coffee houses including Pilot Coffee Roasters, Station Cold Brew and Balzac’s getting on board.
But Starbucks is the biggest chain so far to get in on the gas guzzling.
The chain already has it in hundreds of U.S. stores and the company says nitro will also be sold in select locations in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver by year’s end.
Starbucks uses a two-tap system: one for its regular Narino 70 Cold Brew and one for the nitro version. The kegs are right next to each other in the store, though one is infused with nitrogen gas as it cascades out of the tap.
“It appears with the same kind of theatre and whimsy one experiences while watching a Guinness stout being poured,” gushes coffeetalk.com.
As the barista fills the glass from the tap, the froth quickly expands upward and finishes with a foamy white head in contrast to the rich black coffee, leaving what staff describes as a “creamy mouth-feel.”
The drink is served minus ice and unsweetened to highlight the flavour the cold brewing process brings out in the coffee.
October may seem like an odd time to pump out a new cold bevvy, but Starbucks estimates that one in two beverages sold in Canada are cold year-round, and expects to more than double the size of its cold-beverage business within five years.
Starbucks Canada enjoyed a 30per-cent jump in iced-beverage sales over the two years and the category represents one of the fastest-growing areas of the business, the company says.
“Nothing will compare to the pace of flavour, craft and brewing innovation we will see in the next few years,” said Starbucks Canada president Rossann Williams.