Cold coffee is hot, hot, hot right now. And nothing is hotter than adding nitrogen to cold brewed coffee.
What? Nitrogen in coffee? You mean beer, right? No. Coffee.
Like beer, nitro coffee comes out of a tap. The cold brew coffee combined with the nitrogen forms tiny bubbles in the bottom of the glass and a crema at the top resulting in a luscious, velvety mouthfeel that coats your mouth, much like beer. The coffee tastes rich and decadent and you're sure to feel plenty caffeinated after one glass.
Starbucks announced Tuesday that the new nitro coffee will roll out in the corporate behemoths' stores this summer beginning with select locations in Seattle, Portland, New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
What's missing from that list? Dallas and Fort Worth.
But don't fret. The Texas coffee heavyweights at Cuvée Coffee down in Austin have been adding nitrogen to coffee for years and they call it Black & Blue.
"Cold coffee has been around for a long time and even coffee on tap is not original," Cuvée Coffee Founder and CEO Mike McKim told The Texas Standard. "The inspiration for nitrogen came the first time I experienced Lefthand [Brewing] Milkstout on nitro in a bottle."
Dallasites can hit up Oddfellows in Bishop Arts for a Black & Blue from the tap, but Cuvée will do you one better — it comes in cans. Find the retail location closet to you here.
Pro-tip: If you're looking for something sweeter, order your Black & Blue with a little vanilla syrup and a tiny bit of cream — it tastes like coffee ice cream.
Also announced and available now from Starbucks is the Cold Brew with Vanilla Sweet Cream, which they describe as "Starbucks slow-steeped Cold Brew topped with a float of house-made vanilla sweet cream."
