Dolce Nitro is La Vita Dolce’s nitro cold brewed coffee – or coffee that’s cold brewed, kegged, infused with nitrogen, and served on stout tap. Below we’ll tell you about how we make it, what each step in the process achieves, and how you can make nitro cold brew at home!
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Let’s break it down.
“INSANELY good”
“The nitrogen-infused coffee on tap at La Vita Dolce is INSANELY good. Go try it if you’re near Chapel Hill anytime soon.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Josh L.
How We Make Our Nitro Cold Brew, Dolce Nitro
First, we found coffee that produced a delicious cup when cold brewed. To brew it, we steeped coarsely ground Empire Blend beans (available for purchase any time!) in cool water for 18 hours. Because it uses cooler water, a higher coffee to water ratio, and a longer brew time, cold brewing extracts different flavors from the beans than other brew methods. The final cup has muted acidity, enhanced sweetness, and a thick body. It’s thirst-quenching and, best of all, it’s born and bred to be served cold.
Side Note: Hot brewed coffee that’s then cooled down can become “stale” as it oxidizes (oxidation is BAD for the taste buds and happens more rapidly at higher temperatures). That’s why iced coffee often tastes “old.” Cold brewed coffee, though, is never hot – it’s a brewing process invented to cure ills produced by moving from hot to cold. So that’s how we brew Dolce Nitro.
“Decadence”
“Decadenc is the name oof the game with this drink, and just about very other option at La Vita Dolce”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Chapelboro News
Once we have our cold brewed coffee, we keg it, infuse it with nitrogen, and hook it up to our stout faucet tap. Beer enthusiasts might have an idea of what this does. Nitrogen and stout faucets are used with beers like Guiness, contributing to their creaminess and beautiful frothy head. This set up has a similar effect when applied to our cold brew.
When we serve you a glass of Dolce Nitro, you’ll watch a stream of ice cold coffee pour from our stout faucet. You’ll see waves of tiny bubbles waterfall down the edge of the glass, which will be capped with a creamy froth, much like a Guiness beer.
“Fast & Furious”
“Think fast & furious in a cool cup-of-joe”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
WRAL News
The Result of Cold Brewing and Nitrogen-Infusion
The cup will be relatively sweet, creamy and have a big-mouth feel – all with no added sugar or milk. It’s beyond refreshing, satisfying the simultaneous cravings for coffee and thirst-quenching that come with summertime in North Carolina.
We’re proud to say we were the first cafe to launch a nitro cold brew in this area in early 2015, and it has been a best-selling summer beverage ever since. Stop in any time for a free sample, and keep reading to learn how to make nitro cold brew at home.
“Amazing”
“Try the cold-brewed nitrogen-infused coffee. Amazing!
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Evan C.
How To Make Nitro Cold Brew At Home
While our commercial setup is likely not the best for home use, there are ways to make nitro cold brew at home!
The first step is to find coffee beans or a blend that you enjoy cold brewed – remember, the beans you love as drip brew may or may not be good when cold brewed. We use Victrola Coffee Roasters Empire Blend and absolutely LOVE it cold brewed. It’s one of those blends that gives excellent results whether you make a pour over or cold brew it (or flash brew it for that matter!).
Empire Blend is always available for purchase at La Vita Dolce for the same price (and no shipping cost) that you’d pay when purchasing directly from Victrola Coffee Roasters in Seattle, WA.
To get something that ends up similar to Dolce Nitro, coarsely ground Empire Beans and let then steep for 18 hours to make your cold brew concentrate. We recommend starting with 4 oz of ground Empire Blend and using 24 fl oz oz water, but you could use more like 32 fl oz of water. Stir the coffee with the water to make sure it’s saturated. Then cover and let it sit for 15 to 20 hours (we brew for 18 hours).
The next day, strain the cold brew using a sieve with a cheesecloth or coffee filter. Now you have cold brew concentrate. We add an equal volume of water to get to our final cold brew (so if you have 22 fl oz oz cold brew, add 22 fl oz of water to it) but if you used a lower coffee to water ratio in the brew process, you might add a little less water to go from concentrate to ready-to-drink cold brew. You can experiment with a single batch by splitting the concentrate up into a few batches and adding different amounts of water to each.
Now we have cold brew, and could stop here – cold brew on it’s own is delicious! But if you want that creamy mouthfeel, keep reading.
At La Vita Dolce, we have a keg, kegerator, nitrogen gas tank, and stout tap for the nitrogen-infusion part of the process, but at home, you can get something like a Nitropress to infuse one cup at a time. You’ll just put the cold brew in the NitroPress, add a Notrp cartridge, and dispense!