Last year, we thought cold brew in kegs was awesome. (Make no mistake—it absolutely still is.) We were also falling head over heels for cold brew cocktails. In the 12 months since then, Northwest cold brew producers haven’t been slacking off—rather, they’ve been coming up with all sorts of equally awesome, intriguing ideas. From miniature champagne bottles of single-origin chilled coffee to nitrogen-infused cans of it, as we start into summer all over again here are three more exciting things to look for this season.
1. Single-Origin Cold Brew: The Champagne of Chilled Coffee – At least, that’s what the bottles suggest. Seattle-based Pier Coffee, hardly two-years-old, is already pushing the boundaries of cold brew by highlighting beans’ origins in what the company calls “Mini-Pins.” These petite Champagne-style bottles are filled at the Pier Coffee brewery with brews that showcase a single growing region at a time. “Our mini-pins are our chance to experiment, so we don’t just look for unique regions to spotlight but really anything that catches our fancy,” says Erin Williamson, who founded Pier with friends Joe Traverso and Will Logan in 2013. “Right now, we are also using our mini-pins to work with a specialty tea company on a cold brew version of quality Yuanyang, a blend of three parts coffee and seven parts tea.” Each variety enjoys a limited run, so if you’re interested in trying some, contact Pier Coffee directly. And when the mini-pins run out, Pier offers its standard coldbrew in cans as well as a delectable growlette of coldbrew concentrate.
2. Nitro Cold Brew: In Cans! –Portland cold brew giant Stumptown Coffee made waves on National Cold Brew Day (April 20) this year by introducing its cold brew coffee on nitro in retro-hip, brown-white-and-gold cans. Inside, the coffee is infused with miniscule bubbles of nitrogen, which makes for an impressive microfoamy pour and an ultra-smooth mouthfeel that elevates the Stumptown elixir that has become such a classic. Find it on Stumptown’s new satellite website dedicated solely to its cold brew (complete with the best cold brew video I’ve seen to date).
3. Hopped Coldbrew: Like Coffee Beer, Without the Beer – Hops have found their way into a lot of different drinks and eats locally and globally—there’s even a winemaker in New Zealand dry-hopping his Sauvignon Blanc. Closer to home, Mike Steiner and Jake Paulson of Anchorhead Coffee in Duvall, Washington have brought Citra hops to their rich, aromatic cold brew. The result, bottled and ready to drink, is surprisingly smoother and lighter than the rich dark standard, with floral elements that allude to a lighter roast while being hard to pinpoint directly as hops. Woodsy and barky with a hint of acidity reminiscent more of hot coffee than most cold brews, this version is less chocolatey than the original but delivers an equally smooth finish.
