Nitro Coffee, Nitrogen-Infused Coffee at StumpTown Coffee Roaster

Tap at Stmptown Coffee Roaster which pours Nitro Coffee

StumpTown Coffee Roasters, Portland OR (3356 SE Belmont Street Portland, OR 97214 Link) was the first to invent the concept of Nitro Coffee (or AKA Nitrogen-Infused Coffee). They introduced the beverage to the public in April 2015; since then, this trend has caught on fire among coffee lovers making some companies such as AC Beverages to start selling nitrogen infusion brewing equipment specifically for coffee called JoeTap (US$4,000-US$5,000).
What is Nitro Coffee? (or AKA Nitrogen-Infused Coffee)

Nitro Coffee served at Stumptown Coffee Roaster
Nitro Coffee is iced coffee infused with bubble of nitrogen air (N2). Infusing nitrogen has actually been common method used for pouring beer for long time.  Beer is usually infused with carbon monoxide (CO2), but infusing with nitrogen makes the taste more "smooth" with creamy feel because nitrogen does not dissolve well in water making the sensation you might be familiar with in beer such as Guinness.   The proportion of carbon monoxide and nitrogen is usually 75% carbon monoxide and 25 % nitrogen. The equipment used to infuse the nitrogen is called restrictor plate also known as "sparkler",  the liquid goes through these tiny holes with pressure of nitrogen air which creates the creamy bubble.  

Nitro Coffee at StumpTown Coffee, Portland
Outside Stumptown Coffee on Division St., Portland
So what is it like to visit SumpTown Coffee to have these original nitro coffee? You can refer our earlier post about StumpTown Coffee; they have 5 locations in Portland, and they also have branches in Seattle, Los Angels and New York. I have tried their coffee first time at Division Street branch.  Division Street branch is located in the middle of residential area in Portland. There are local pubs in few blocks and cozy place to walk around and hang out.

Neighborhood around StumpTown Coffee on Division Street.

The cafe is usually clouded with locals, but I do see some tourists coming in once in a while who wants to try the new coffee sensation.  The cafe has nice local feel to it, and it is a very pleasant place to sit and chat over coffee.  There are some outside seating which is nice during summer time especially with this nitro iced coffee. There are many customers with dogs sitting outside usually in the summer time.

Inside StumpTown Coffee on Division St.
StumpTown Coffee is known for their fine roasting, and you get to see their roaster inside the cafe.
    
Coffee Roaster displayed inside StumpTown Coffee on Divison St.

You can order the nitro coffee "on tap" or there are packaged coffee for you to take out as well.  I have tried the "on tap" method.  The barista was nice, and he let me try a little before I ordered one.  You can choose either 12 oz or 16 oz, and they will pour them on glass, or you can order a cup to go.

How Does Nitro Coffee Taste?

Honestly, I love it. I personally like beer and coffee, so this is like heaven for me.  The creamy sensation of the form is actually very pleasant over the aroma of coffee, almost feel like there are some milk inside, but there isn't any.   As with any other iced coffee, there are some acidity to the taste, but surprisingly less than what you would expect from iced coffee.  This is actually one of the effects of nitrogen not being dissolvable and less contents of oxygen available to bond to oxidize making the drink less acidic.

If you want to try nitro coffee yourself, you can try at any of StumpTown Coffee Roasters, and there are more and more cafes serving nitro coffee now.   I wonder how long it would take for the large coffee giants to catch up, I would imagine it will be very soon simply because it tastes great!


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