Coffee is one of those things that will probably never go away.  As long as people need caffeine, coffee will be near the top of the list.  However, what is popular with coffee is always changing.

Nitrogen has been finding its way into lots of drinks lately.  With the craft beer trend taking off a decade ago, nitro beer has found a permanent audience.  Coffee is just now getting into the craft coffee phase (third wave coffee is what industry people are starting to refer to it as) and it seems nitro is a part of that.  Infusing nitrogen into your drink is almost like carbonating it, but the bubbles are so small that it tastes and feels more smooth than anything else.  Nitro gives this creamy flavor and feel even without additional flavoring.

And nitro coffees are served cold so that you can swish it around in your mouth without worrying about burns.  And that leads right into the next new coffee trends nicely…

Iced coffee has been around for a bit, but it was almost never a permanent part of the coffeehouse’s menu until recent years.  Even the big chains not known for their coffee are offering iced coffee.  Now that coffee comes with so many options, people are realizing they can really have a drink that is customized to them and their environment.  And, a fact of the world is that sometimes it is really hot and you do not want a hot drink.  Now people no longer have to worry about feeling weird getting their necessary caffeine through a 190 degree drink when it is 100 degrees outside.

Some people confused cold brewed coffee and iced coffee.  Cold brewing refers to the process that creates the coffee, and it is quite difficult to make properly.  Although cold brewed coffees are served cold, it is the lengthy process of their brewing that makes them stand out.  When using hot water to extract the caffeine and other elements from coffee beans, it is a rather quick process.  This process can damage some of the molecular components of the coffee bean, however.  When you cold brew, this is not an issue.  However, cold brewing takes hours upon hours.  This is why coffeehouses have a limited supply and usually sell out, because they have to start the process the night before, and cannot just brew more for you on the spot.

Are there any other new coffee trends that we missed that you enjoy?  Having a huge variety of coffee creamers and coffee syrup options is on the rise as well.

How do you guys take your coffee?  And how has that changed over the years?