Nitro cold brew
Vegetarian
Cold brew coffee infused with nitrogen gas and poured through a stout-style tap, so it cascades into a dense, creamy head with no milk. It needs a nitrogen keg or nitro dispenser: without one you can make the cold brew, but not the nitro.
Nitro cold brew is an American cold drink from United States, ready in about 12 hours 15 minutes and made with finely ground coffee. It serves 4 and is rated advanced to cook.
No licensed photograph of this dish yet.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 0 min
- Rest
- 12 h
- Total
- 12 h 15 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Advanced
- Calories
- 5
Steep 12–18 hours in the fridge, then chill in the keg.
Method
Step 1
Stir the coarse coffee into the 800 ml cold water in a large jar until there are no dry clumps. Cover and refrigerate for 12–18 hours.
Step 2
Strain through a fine sieve lined with a paper filter; let it drip rather than squeezing. Then strain once more — any sediment can block the nitro tap.
How it looks · Photo: Katerina Holmes on Pexels Step 3
Dilute the concentrate with the 600 ml cold water. Pour into the nitro keg or dispenser no higher than its maximum fill line.
Step 4
Seal and charge with nitrogen exactly as the manufacturer directs (cartridges or a nitrogen cylinder and regulator), then chill for at least 1–2 hours so the gas dissolves.
Food safety: Pressurised equipment: use only the gas, pressure and fill level the maker specifies and release the pressure before opening.
Step 5
Pour hard through the nitro tap into a glass with no ice. Wait about a minute for the cascade to settle into a creamy head, then drink.
About this dish
- Origin
- United States · Commonly attributedServed on tap in US cafés from the early 2010s; several cafés claim to have been first.Also popular in Canada, United Kingdom, AustraliaMore food from United States
- Dish
- Snack · Brunch · Cold drinks
- Cooking method
- No-cook
- Taste
- creamy, rich, bitter, refreshing
- Diet
- Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Low-carbWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · Paleo-style · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb · Low-fat · Low-sodium · DASH-style - Good for
- Make-ahead
- Cook more with
- Finely ground coffee
Allergens
None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.
Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.
Nutrition
5 kcal per serving
Estimated1 serving ≈ 352 g · recipe makes 4
Where the energy comes from
- Protein 15%
- Carbohydrate 85%
- Fat 0%
| Nutrient | Per serving | Per 100 g* |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 5 kcal | 2 kcal |
| Protein | 0.2 g | 0.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 1.1 g | 0.3 g |
| Net carbohydrate | 1.1 g | 0.3 g |
| Sugars | 0 g | 0 g |
| Added sugars | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fibre | 0 g | 0 g |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Saturated fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Trans fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 8 mg | 2 mg |
| Salt equivalent | 0 g | 0 g |
Vitamins & minerals per serving
- Potassium
- 53 mg
- Calcium
- 37 mg
- Iron
- 0.1 mg
- Magnesium
- 12 mg
- Vitamin A (RAE)
- 0 µg
- Vitamin C
- 0 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0 µg
- Vitamin B12
- 0 µg
- Folate (DFE)
- 0 µg
How these numbers were made
- Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
- *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
- Finely ground coffee: Instant coffee powder used as a stand-in for the soluble part of roasted ground coffee; list the grams actually consumed with consumedGrams.
- “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
- Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.
Good to know
Tips
- No ice: it kills the head. Chill the glass instead.
- Cream whippers with nitrous oxide (N2O) cartridges make a foamy coffee too, but it is a different, slightly sweeter result — not true nitro.
Common mistakes
- Using a CO2 soda machine or CO2 cartridges, which make fizzy, sharp coffee instead of a creamy nitro.
- Kegging the undiluted concentrate, which is far too strong to drink straight.
Food safety
- Steep and store cold brew in the fridge; discard if it smells sour.
- Clean the keg and tap after every batch.
Storage
- Kept cold and sealed under nitrogen, drink within a few days; the plain concentrate keeps up to 7 days in the fridge.
Variations
- Without nitrogen equipment: Serve the diluted cold brew over ice, or shake it hard with ice for a light foam — tasty, but not nitro.
Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated
Recipe DNA
How this dish is built
Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.
Cold brew
- Finely ground coffee, coarsely ground100 g
- Water, cold, filtered800 ml · 800 g
Less sweet, dairy-free, caffeine-free or for more people — the original stays as it is.
Customise in Sip & BlendReviews & corrections
Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.
You might also like
Cold brew coffee
International · 12 h 10 min · 4 kcal · Vegetarian
Iced americano
International · 2 min · 3 kcal · Vegan
Coffee milkshake
American · 5 min · 377 kcal · Vegetarian
Chicken Noodle Soup
International · 55 min · 334 kcal