Trend Watch: Caribou Coffee Offers New Heated Cold Brew Coffee

In an odd twist, Caribou Coffee is serving a new steamed version of cold brew coffee that they've taken to calling "Hot Crafted Press."

Introduced back in January, the drink features coffee that has been brewed by steeping in cold or room temperature (hence the name "cold brew") for a long period of time (8-to-24 hours is not usual; in this case, they do it for 12 hours).

In taste, cold brew tends to be smooth and less acidic when compared to regular drip coffee and is generally served over ice.

Caribou seems to be trying to keep the smooth and low acidity profile by steaming the coffee until hot and serving it with some cream and sugar. As far as I know, it's not something that has been done commercially at least not by a major coffee chain but isn't unheard of either. It's easy enough for a coffee cafe to pick up as you can either just add hot water to cold brew concentrate or use the steam wand on an espresso machine.

Photo via Caribou Coffee.