Nitrogen-Infused Rise Coffee
Less acidic, naturally sweeter, organic and sustainable with 1.5 times the caffeine
Rise Coffee does more than cold brew organic, fair-trade Peruvian coffee beans in filtered water. They also infuse it with nitrogen and serve it out of kegs—and now cans with a widget much like Guinness. The coffee itself is roughly 80% less acidic than most other coffees (a product of their cold brewing process) and the natural flavor truly shines through. When pouring a cup, a cascading effect much like beer sets into motion. There’s no dairy or additives here, just a naturally sweeter cup—with 1.5 times more caffeine than regular coffee.
“We started brewing in my apartment two years ago,” explains Jarrett McGovern, who developed the coffee and is Rise’s co-founder. “We just started cold brewing and began looking for ways to brew more and more. We started looking at home brew blogs. We bought mini kegs and then went through different methods until we found an ideal profile.” McGovern’s background was actually water filtration. As coffee is 98% water, it was a beneficial skill set. The brand launched in earnest last May, at Brooklyn’s Colonie restaurant, and they stake claim to the title of first nitro-cold brew on tap in NYC. Finally, their dedicated Lower East Side pop-up cafe opened last December and continues to run now.
When visiting the pop-up, one is caught off guard by the fact that the coffee is poured from a tap. In fact, kegs are Rise’s primary means of distribution. Beyond restaurants and their pop-up, offices and even homes now use their coffee kegs. And with a reasonable cost to serving ratio with the kegs, it’s also highly economical. Their beer-like model is evident in a myriad of ways. The Connecticut coffee brewery looks much like a beer brewery. “A good friend of ours is a beer brewer in Colorado and he taught us how to nitro-infuse coffee,” McGovern explains. For their recent canning, which they helmed themselves, the process was much the same as beer. But of course this isn’t beer; it’s very good coffee from high-altitude beans with a medium roast and an extra kick.
The NYC Rise Coffee pop-up cafe is located at 85 Stanton St, and open from 7:30AM to 4PM six days a week. They will begin stocking the Rise Coffee cans (which will retail for $4.49) on Wednesday 20 July.
Images by Cool Hunting
