How Do You Make Nitro Cold Brew Coffee From Coffee Powder?

Nitro cold brew can be recreated at home by steeping coffee powder in cold water, then infusing the finished concentrate with nitrogen. The process starts with medium-light roast beans chosen for floral or fruity notes, ground to a fine setting and steeped at low temperature, which extracts slowly and leaves a smooth, sweet cup rather than a bitter one.

A typical starting ratio is 50 grams of ground coffee to cold water, steeped roughly 12 to 18 hours and then filtered. The resulting cold brew concentrate is chilled and pushed through a nitrogen source, either a whipped-cream charger with nitrogen capsules or a small keg system, which creates the dense, creamy foam layer associated with the drink.

On a scorching summer day, a glass of icy coffee always refreshes the spirit. Starbucks' Nitro Cold Brew, launched in North America years ago, quickly won the hearts of many coffee lovers with its dense foam and creamy smoothness brought by nitrogen infusion. So, can this unique coffee experience be replicated at home? This article will detail the method for making cold brew coffee, breaking down everything from bean selection and grind ratio to cold extraction steps, and share two practical ways to make nitro cold brew at home, letting you easily enjoy the refreshing flavor where bubbles and cold brew intertwine.

As temperatures climb, all kinds of iced beverages return to the public eye. Carbonated sparkling drinks have always had a large loyal following. If coffee could also have "fizz," many people would find it absurd at first hearing. In fact, Starbucks led the way in the North American market years ago by launching Nitro Cold Brew, which has earned considerable praise in coffee circles.

What makes Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew special is a unique processing method used during production—injecting nitrogen into cold brew coffee, that is, the combination of nitrogen and cold brew. This creates a fine, soft foam layer in the cup, smooth as cream on the palate, with an overall flavor that is sweeter and more refreshing.

So here's the question: can we recreate this unique flavor at home? Actually, when it comes to pairing cold brew with bubbles, it is no longer uncommon today. As long as you have cold brew equipment at home, you can easily replicate it.

How to Make Cold Brew Coffee

Cold brew coffee has a very low barrier to entry, because it uses low-temperature steeping, the extraction speed is slow, and many parameters are not strictly limited. The final flavor mainly depends on the coffee beans themselves, pursuing that refreshing or mellow taste.

When Front Street makes this kind of low-temperature extracted coffee, it prioritizes medium-light roast beans with floral and fruity notes. For those who prefer floral aromas, you can choose Front Street Huakui Coffee (strawberry, guava), Front Street Red Cherry Coffee (citrus, fine tea), Front Street Fruit Dingding Coffee (jasmine, green tea);

If you prefer a pronounced juice-like quality, we recommend beans with rich fruity notes such as Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee (rose, fruit candy), Front Street Cherry Tomato Coffee (berry, cherry tomato), and Front Street Mozart Coffee (raisin, pineapple).

We use Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee beans, weigh out 50 grams, and grind to a fineness like fine granulated sugar. The grind size for the coffee powder is based on an 85% pass rate through a No. 20 standard sieve.

Put the coffee powder into a glass bottle, pour in 400 ml of room-temperature water and 200 g of hard ice cubes (totaling 600 g of ice-water mixture), with a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:12. Then use a stirring rod to mix the coffee powder and water evenly, seal it, and place it in the refrigerator.

After letting it sit in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours, filter out the coffee grounds with filter paper to obtain a clean coffee liquid. Then put the coffee liquid into a clean sealed bottle and refrigerate for about 4 hours before drinking.

The characteristics of cold brew coffee are that it is not bitter, has low acidity, a mild flavor, and at the same time carries the fermented feel brought by "low-temperature aging."

There are two ways to replicate Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew:

1. Take a coffee cup, add 80 g of ice cubes, pour in 120 ml of sparkling water, then pour in 100 g of cold brew coffee liquid, stir well, and drink. This allows you to taste the purer coffee aroma of Front Street Strawberry Candy, with a refreshing and pleasant mouthfeel, especially suitable for summer;

2. Prepare a milk frothing pitcher, pour in 100 g of cold brew, and froth with a steam wand at low speed until it approaches room temperature. Then take a coffee cup, add 80 g of ice cubes and 120 ml of sparkling water, add the coffee liquid, and a glass of sparkling cold brew with a layered effect is complete.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.