Nitro Cold Brew (Starbucks Copycat Recipe)

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It’s the coolest cold brew you can find! In recent years, Nitro Cold Brew has become an incredibly popular item at coffee shops and grocery stores. This unique kind of coffee is infused with nitrogen, which helps to improve its taste and texture. Nitro coffee is a menu item at Starbucks, but it can be easily recreated at home.

It’s the coolest cold brew you can find! In recent years, Nitro Cold Brew has become an incredibly popular item at coffee shops and grocery stores. This unique kind of coffee is infused with nitrogen, which helps to improve its taste and texture. Nitro coffee is a menu item at Starbucks, but it can be easily recreated at home.
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Taking inspiration from draft beer, nitro coffee is charged with nitrogen, giving it a smooth, creamy texture with a thick layer of foam. Adding nitrogen to coffee reduces its bitter taste, allowing you to use less sweetener. Nitro cold brew is served chilled and usually without ice, which would damage that coveted foam.

What Is Nitro Cold Brew?

Nitro cold brew is a special type of coffee that is served chilled. To make it, baristas take regular cold-brewed coffee and add a blast of nitrogen gas, which creates a sweeter tasting coffee with a smoother texture and a decadent layer of foam on top. This technique is similar to the one used by makers of draft beer, which has a similarly smooth top layer of foam.

What’s the Difference Between Nitro Cold Brew vs Cold Brew?

Regular cold brew coffee is prepared using a method of cold water extraction, where coffee grounds are steeped over an extended period, up to 24 hours. Cold brew coffee is often used for iced coffee drinks such as lattes or macchiatos. Nitro cold brew takes it a step further by using special equipment to infuse regular cold brew coffee with nitrogen to improve its taste and texture. 

It’s the coolest cold brew you can find! In recent years, Nitro Cold Brew has become an incredibly popular item at coffee shops and grocery stores. This unique kind of coffee is infused with nitrogen, which helps to improve its taste and texture. Nitro coffee is a menu item at Starbucks, but it can be easily recreated at home.

Ingredients You’ll Need

  • Medium-roast Coffee Beans: We recommend using coffee beans instead of ground coffee for this recipe. You can use a food processor or Nutribullet to coarsely grind your coffee.
  • Filtered Water: Filtered water is always best for making coffee. Filtering removes chlorine for a better tasting cold brew.

How to Make Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew

  1. Following the nitro brewer manufacturer’s instructions, fill two of the filter bags with the coffee. The ratio is about 1 ½ cups per filter. Then place it into the brewer.
  2. Add water to the fill line and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Remove the bags and add water to fill. Charge the cap with the manufacturers’ nitro cartridges. Then set to infuse and shake mode for one minute or as directed.
  4. Set to pour and dispense the nitro cold brew into serving glasses, leaving ½-inch room at the top.
  5. To make the sweet cream, blend the heavy cream and simple syrup in a small blender until slightly thickened, about 30 seconds.
  6. Spoon the sweet cream onto the cold brew to cover. Serve immediately.
It’s the coolest cold brew you can find! In recent years, Nitro Cold Brew has become an incredibly popular item at coffee shops and grocery stores. This unique kind of coffee is infused with nitrogen, which helps to improve its taste and texture. Nitro coffee is a menu item at Starbucks, but it can be easily recreated at home.

Tips for Making the Perfect Nitro Cold Brew at Home

  • Ensure the beans are coarsely ground: The size of your grind really makes a difference when making nitro cold brew. This allows for better steeping and a better taste. Finely ground coffee can lead to a bitter brew.
  • Use filtered water: Tap water contains chlorine and other contaminants that can affect the taste of your coffee. Use filtered water for a cleaner brew.
  • Adjust the concentration of your cold brew coffee: By adjusting the ratio of coffee to water, you can control the intensity of your coffee. A ratio of 1:8 (coffee to water) will produce a brew that most people will enjoy, but you can reduce the water content if you prefer it stronger or weaker.
  • Make a big batch in advance to save time: Making cold brew is a time-consuming process. How about making a week’s worth of coffee on Sunday so you can have your cold brew ready when you need it?
  • Steep for at least 12 hours: Cold brew coffee needs to be steeped for at least 12 hours to extract the flavor from the grounds. You can increase steeping time up to 24 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s Special About Nitro Cold Brew?

Nitro cold brew is unique because of the way it’s prepared. By taking a regular cold brew and infusing it with nitrogen, you’re creating an incredibly smooth texture. Nitrogen bubbles are much smaller than carbon dioxide bubbles, which is what helps to give the nitro cold brew its velvety mouthfeel.

This technique is also what’s used to give draft beer its signature smooth taste and top layer of foam.

How Much Caffeine is in Nitro Cold Brew?

At Starbucks, nitro cold brew coffee contains 17.5mg of caffeine per fluid ounce. Since you’ll be making your cold brew at home, you can adjust the caffeine by reducing the amount of water used for steeping. This creates a more concentrated brew.

Is Nitro Cold Brew Bad for You?

Nitro cold brew is often considered a great alternative to sweet coffee drinks such as iced lattes or caramel macchiato. Because the nitrogen infusion process reduces the bitterness of the coffee, it can be enjoyed without the addition of too many sweeteners or additional ingredients. This makes nitro cold brew a Godsend for coffee lovers looking to reduce their sugar intake.

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It’s the coolest cold brew you can find! In recent years, Nitro Cold Brew has become an incredibly popular item at coffee shops and grocery stores. This unique kind of coffee is infused with nitrogen, which helps to improve its taste and texture. Nitro coffee is a menu item at Starbucks, but it can be easily recreated at home.

Nitro Cold Brew Recipe

By: Izzy
It’s the coolest cold brew you can find! In recent years, Nitro Cold Brew has become an incredibly popular item at coffee shops and grocery stores. This unique kind of coffee is infused with nitrogen, which helps to improve its taste and texture. Nitro coffee is a menu item at Starbucks, but it can be easily recreated at home.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 12 hours
Total: 12 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients 

Nitro Cold Brew

  • 9 oz medium-roast coffee beans, coarse grind (3 1/2 cups)
  • cups filtered water

Sweet Cream

  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons simple syrup

Instructions 

  • Following the nitro brewer manufacturer’s instructions, fill two of the filter bags with the coffee. The ratio will usually be about 1 ½ cups per filter. Then place it into the brewer.
  • Add water to the fill line and refrigerate overnight.
  • Remove the bags and add water to fill. Charge the cap with the manufacturers’ nitro cartridges. Then set to infuse and shake mode for one minute or as directed.
  • Set to pour and dispense the nitro cold brew into serving glasses, leaving ½-inch room at the top.
  • To make the sweet cream, blend the heavy cream and simple syrup in a small blender until slightly thickened, about 30 seconds. (You can also whisk them together vigorously in a small mixing bowl, although it takes longer.)
  • Spoon the sweet cream onto the cold brew to cover. Serve immediately.

Notes

  • Water: We recommend using room temperature filtered water, but always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Nutrition information provided is an estimate only and will vary based on ingredient brands and cooking methods used.

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About Izzy

I'm Izzy, a food lover and photographer. Here you’ll find a collection of simple recipes that are perfect for busy people. My blog aims to help you make and enjoy delicious and healthy food at home.

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