Iced
coffee, hot coffee, frozen coffee, instant coffee – never have I ever had any
trouble ingesting more than enough of this stuff. On the contrary, most of my
waking hours particularly in the evening are spent fighting myself from having
a fifth, sixth, seventh cup. It’s only a matter of time before Dunkin’ Donuts
starts offering direct deposit for my paychecks anyhow. One less transaction in
my life.
You
can only imagine my curiosity when I read about Nitrogen Coffee in the news one
day. Talk about reinventing the wheel here. Nitrogen Coffee is described as an
iced coffee which is served on tap. From what I have read, this beverage is
treated with nitrogen and/or carbon dioxide and kept under high pressure. Normally
I get about five or six cups in a day, so this sounded like a welcome addition.
Searching my area, I was only able to find this drink available in Manhattan
and surprisingly, I only head down there a handful of times per year. Hearing
news that this was also available in Pittsburgh, PA where I was lucky enough to
visit this past weekend was music to my ears.
Yesterday
morning before our return trip home, my Sister and Brother In Law went with me
to 21st Street Coffee in the Strip District of Pittsburgh. The neighborhood
was really cool, industrial yet full of food. Walking into the coffee shop, it
had high ceilings, local art and nothing but beverages. Admittedly, I had no
idea what to expect. The drink came in two sizes and as it was my first cup of
the day I went straight for the large.
As
the barista poured my coffee like it was actually a beer, I noted that there
was a foamy head on top to mirror the real thing. I got a serving of 2% milk on
the side because the place didn’t carry skim. It should be mentioned that I had
really high expectations for this Nitrogen Coffee, but I actually didn’t even
end up drinking 25% of it. Between the creamy foam and the abundance of
bubbles, I found the drink to be off putting. Adding as much milk as I could,
even that didn’t seem to help. This was way closer to tasting like a Guinness
than a regular cup of Joe.
It
seems to be a really trendy drink and it was certainly on the smoother side as
opposed to acidic. This drink is something to try if you like beer in the
morning or to say you did it, but I don’t think I’d advise anyone to try this
first thing in the morning. Ultimately I left and went down the road to get
myself the real thing. I don’t want to rag on a new trend that I was
particularly excited to try, but even if it was free I would pass up drinking
another glass of this stuff.
