SEATTLE – Starbucks is jumping on the nitro cold-brew bandwagon, with plans to introduce nitrogen-infused cold-brew coffee on tap in certain cities across the U.S. this summer.
Cold-brew coffee – coffee steeped for hours, using no heat – has been gaining popularity, championed by the likes of Stumptown Roasters and Caffe Vita.
Its taste is supposed to be sweeter, smoother and less acidic than traditional hot coffee.
Then, nitro cold brews, in which nitrogen is infused into cold-brew coffee to create a drink that’s been compared to dark beer, began taking off.
Starbucks introduced its cold-brew coffee last year. Unlike its iced espresso drinks, in which hot espresso is poured over ice, its cold-brew coffee is steeped with no heat for 20 hours.
This summer, Starbucks plans to roll out its nitro cold brew in company-owned cafes in major U.S. cities, starting with Seattle, Portland, New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
At Starbucks’ Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle, which features higher-end coffees and coffee drinks, its nitro cold brew is the second-highest-selling beverage, the company said in a news release.
Starbucks is also introducing a vanilla sweet-cream cold brew to its “cold bar” menu starting this summer.
The popularity of cold-brew coffee in the U.S. exploded last year, according to research firm Mintel. Sales of cold brew reached $7.9 million, a 115 percent jump from 2014 to 2015. From 2010 to 2015, sales increased 339 percent.
Mintel noted, though, that cold-brew sales were still only 0.4 percent of the overall ready-to-drink coffee market last year.
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