Step 1: The Perfect Bean Blend
The base of any good coffee is the specific blend of beans. That is where all of the flavor and caffeine content come from. At Counterflow Coffee, we went through so many variations of coffee bean blends that we lost count. We were on the hunt for a blend that would give off a strong flavor without being too acidic, had a high level of cold brew caffeine, and didn’t leave an overwhelming aftertaste. We even sampled the cold brew blends from well known coffee shops throughout San Diego and we definitely found a lot of what we didn’t like. None of the blends we were tasting felt like they were made for cold brew. Luckily, we finally discovered a blend that was perfect. Light enough for a cold brew, but flavorful enough to satisfy our taste buds. We found our perfect match!
Step 2: It's Brewin' Time
After we hunted down the perfect blend of coffee beans, it came time for brewing! Typically with cold brew, the beans are coarsely ground and soaked in room temperature water. The soaking period needs to last for a minimum of 12-hours. At Counterflow Coffee we soak our beans for 20 hours to ensure maximum flavor extraction. The longer we soak the beans, the more we can extract the sugars, oils, and caffeine. Our combination of beans and our 20 hour brewing process results in a super smooth, less acidic, and highly caffeinated coffee. Our coffee isn’t just strong and elevating, but also incredibly tasty.
Step 3: Keg it Up
Step 3 is the most important part of the process! It’s time to infuse our delicious cold brew with nitrogen. This is what takes Counterflow Coffee to the next level. Nitro is cold coffee on tap that has been infused with tiny nitrogen bubbles. The nitrogen bubbles give the coffee a foamy texture, kind of like a beer. Nitro cold brew tastes sweeter, thicker, and smoother than regular cold brew coffee. The reason why we nitro is because it tastes much less acidic and provides an added caffeine boost. We feel that this method has the ability to make black coffee taste smoother and sweeter naturally. We love that we can drink nitro cold brew straight from the tap without having to add anything to it in order for it to taste great. The added caffeine boost is definitely an added bonus!
Step 4: Enjoy!
Our final step at Counterflow Coffee is to enjoy! A lot of work has gone into creating the perfect blend and we did it all to create a cold brew coffee that is made to be savored. Our coffee was crafted to taste great and elevate our state of mind. Now it’s time to make it your own and fuel your work day. You can customize Counterflow Coffee however you like, but we are confident that you will enjoy the taste of our nitro cold brew on its own.