5 Reasons Cold Brew Coffee is a No-Brainer

Cold-brewed coffee, an increasingly popular coffee drink among consumers, can now be made available in the workplace. More offices are catching on to the undeniable perks of offering cold brew, such as its higher caffeine content and smoother taste. Many employers are featuring it in break rooms and kitchens as a refreshing energy boost and specialty beverage for staff.

Why is Cold Brew So Popular for the Office?

Interest in office cold brew is growing so rapidly because:

• Higher caffeine levels keep you more focused
• Cold brew can be stored or left to sit for much longer than hot coffee without getting stale
• It’s a great-tasting and low-calorie drink (since less sugar and creamer is typically used due to cold brew’s smoother taste)
• Less acidity also means less heartburn and is easier on the stomach
• Cold brew can be used to make a wide range of other coffee-based drinks, such as cold brew with coconut milk or even ice cream

How Cold Brew Coffee is Made

Cold brew is made by steeping medium-to-coarse ground coffee in room temperature water for 12 hours or longer and then filtering out the grounds. Unlike regular coffee, cold brew is never exposed to heat. Cold brew uses time, rather than heat to extract the coffee’s oils, sugars, and caffeine. For that reason, cold brew coffee is not the same as iced coffee (which is brewed with heat then cooled with ice). The 12-24-hour cold steeping process used in crafting cold brew produces a less acidic, less bitter, and more highly caffeinated coffee drink than hot brewed coffee.

How Cold Brew Gets Its Smooth Flavor

With coffee that is typically brewed with heat, the hot water quickly extracts flavors and oils from the coffee beans. Because some bitter fatty acids and oils are soluble only at high temperatures, brewing coffee at lower temperatures results in a less bitter and more smooth taste.

Higher Caffeine Content - A Drink with a Kick

When it comes to caffeine levels, cold brew packs a heavier punch than hot coffee. Increased caffeine levels are one major reason that cold brew coffee is especially popular among office workers, helping them to stay alert and focused.

How Does Cold Brew Have More Caffeine Than Hot Coffee?

Hot water increases the extraction of caffeine during the brewing process, but cold brew avoids this loss of caffeine with a lack of heat during brewing. Additionally, the coffee-to-water ratio for cold brew is somewhere around 1:4 and 1:8, whereas your traditional drip coffee will come in at a considerably higher ratio of about 1:15 or 1:25. Cold brew caffeine levels can be cut with the addition of water or other liquids and in fact, cold brew coffee is often offered as a concentrate that is meant to be diluted before consumption.

Who Likes Cold Brew for the Office? (Just About Everyone)

Since it’s smoother, less bitter, less acidic, and more caffeinated, cold brew is enjoyed by both coffee enthusiasts and non-coffee enthusiasts alike. Research shows that the cold brew market grew 580% from 2011 to 2016, and that older Millennials aged 21 to 38 are a group most likely to drink cold brew.

Another appealing aspect of cold brew is that while it is delicious on its own, it also serves as a base for an amazing range of drinks. Do a quick internet search for cold brew drinks and you’ll discover many coffee-flavored artisan drink options, such as cold brew with lemonade, coconut milk, condensed milk, ice cream, bitters or tonic.

What is Nitro Cold Brew?

Nitro Cold Brew is a cold brew keg with nitrogen generator. This brand-new keg offering pours two types of cold brew: flat and nitrogenized. One is a straight pour of the cold brew (great over ice, or with creamers) and the other is the nitrogenated cold brew, which is just cold brew coffee with added nitrogen gas to give it a smoother, silkier pour, similar to a stout beer. It brings the gourmet coffee shop experience right into the office.

Getting Cold Brew Coffee for Your Office

Your office might already have some perks like free coffee for the office, team happy hours, or a kitchen stocked with great snacks, but bringing cold brew into the office is another simple way to create a rewarding and even coffee-shop-like atmosphere in your office to make work even more enjoyable for staff.

Aramark has the cold brew solution for any office. From cans for on-the-go, to dispensers for smaller offices, to nitro kegs, we make sure your employees are happy with this exceptional perk!