It’s the most wonderful time of the year: iced coffee season. As temperatures creep up, our favorite caffeinated treats are mixed with ice and served with a straw. Just in time, the coffee bar at River North restaurant Beatrix (519 N. Clark St. 312-284-1377) recently added a can’t-miss drink to their menu: nitro coffee.
The cold-brew beverage involves a keg and a lot of science. Brewed coffee is blast-chilled, poured into a keg, infused with nitrogen for 48 hours and dispensed through a tap—kind of like a Guinness stout. That’s not the only thing it has in common with the brewski; nitro coffee boasts a foamy head, creamy taste and lots of tiny bubbles.
The nitro coffee trend is bubbling up in other cities around the country, but hasn’t yet caught on in Chicago. Heritage Bicycles, a bike and coffee shop in Lakeview, served nitro coffee for a short time more than a year ago. “We did it for a few months, but we couldn’t get the right recipe down. It’s tricky,” said owner Michael Salvatore. “It’s a great drink—so smooth. [I had it at] Stumptown’s cafe in New York and I immediately knew I wanted it at my cafe.” Salvatore continues to experiment and plans to put it back on the menu when he lands on a recipe he’s happy with, he said.
“Our coffee program has always been a big part of what we’ve done at Beatrix since day one,” said Beatrix manager John Economos. “When we heard that places were doing nitro coffee, we didn’t really know of any places in Chicago that were doing it and we wanted to be able to bring it to Chicago and use one of the local roasters.”
Beatrix teamed up with MicroMatic, a company that specializes in draft keg beer-dispensing equipment, to outfit its River North coffee bar. MicroMatic built the kegerator that houses and dispenses the specialty blend. Economos said they keep five or six kegs on hand at all times to meet demand.
Unlike beer, nitro coffee packs a caffeine punch—like, TKO-style. Economos said Beatrix’s kegged concoction has three times as much caffeine as a regular drip coffee. The secret? They use Intelligentsia’s Black Cat espresso beans to make the drink in-house.
“Being able to have the flavors of Black Cat espresso chilled in a keg with this creamy head of foam is one of the coolest things ever,” Economos said. “I’d say it’s very similar to drinking a cold-brew ice coffee because the cold brew is usually a little bit stronger anyway.”
Economos added that nitro coffee is best enjoyed three to five minutes after it’s poured, when the bubbles settle and the flavors are most prominent. His additives of choice are simple syrup and a splash of almond milk, but nitro can be enjoyed plain, too.
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VERDICT
I was more than a little nervous about the triple-the-caffeine warning label that came with nitro coffee, but then a dreary Thursday rolled around and I couldn’t wait to pump my body full of coffee.
First, a few things you should know about Beatrix: It opens at 6 a.m. every morning, has a laidback coffee bar and offers a boatload of drool-worthy pastries (i.e. angel food cake muffins dipped in chocolate). What I’m saying is you can totally pop in before work just like you would at Starbucks.
Back to the nitro. When I ordered the specialty coffee, my barista turned to a draught tower with one spigot. Just like a bartender pouring a Guinness, she slowly filled my cup with a super-dark liquid that came with an impressive amount of foam. Unlike most chilled coffee drinks, this one is served sans ice. While that may seem strange, the drink came out ice-cold and stayed that way throughout my six-block walk to work.
But here’s the coolest thing about it: You really don’t need cream or sugar. To put this into perspective for you, I typically like my coffee to be the same color as Christina Aguilera’s skin circa 2000. I won’t go into details, but there’s a lot of cream and sugar involved. Because of all the tiny bubbles, nitro coffee tastes sweeter, less acidic and almost creamy. Yay, science!
I got halfway through the 12-ounce serving ($4.25) before I had to pump the brakes and call it quits. The caffeine and full-body flavor filled me up faster than I expected. Though I wish I could order a smaller size, I’ll certainly be back for a cup o’ jolt in the near future.
Additional reporting by Eat & Drink editor Lisa Arnett.