The days of pouring hot coffee over ice, or putting leftover coffee in the refrigerator to have cold the following day, are gone. The latest coffee on tap (both literally and figuratively) for cold-brewed coffee aficionados is nitro coffee.
Nitro-brewed coffee is cold-brew coffee that is kegged, pressurized, and poured from a tap. The result is a coffee that looks more like a Guinness than a traditional cup o’ joe. There’s the same foamy head, and the taste is “a different and creamier mouth-feel than regular coffee,” says John Demeo, the founder and roaster of Yonkers’ BPM Roasters, which supplies the coffee to Exit 4 Food Hall’s X4 on Tap in Mount Kisco. Trying a shot of both nitro coffee and cold brew, I could drink the nitro without any milk, and it definitely had a mellower taste.
Nitro coffee is prepared the same way as cold brew, with coarse beans that are steeped for 12 to 20 hours. The kegs and nitrogen lines however require an investment. Demeo notes that Exit 4 is an excellent venue to serve nitro coffee, as it has the equipment at the ready. “Nitro is perfect for the coffee drinker who wants to discover a different taste,” he says. Exit 4’s owner, Isi Albanese, says many of their customers have been reading about nitro coffee and have been “excited” to see it behind the bar. Tarrytown’s Coffee Labs Roasters introduced nitro coffee to its customers in June; Market North in Armonk also serves the trendy drink.
