What are the benefits of nitro coffee? Why is nitro coffee sweet? How does nitro coffee achieve a creamy texture?

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Yum China's Second KPRO Concept Restaurant

On August 13th, the second KPRO concept restaurant under Yum China officially opened in Beijing, at Chaoyang Joy City.

KPRO features a green decorative style and an open storefront design that is minimalist and shifts with the seasons. The restaurant serves new dishes that are prepared fresh and sold fresh.

The Fascinating Nitro Coffee

Among the offerings, the most captivating is undoubtedly a cup of nitro coffee.

It has a thick layer of dense foam on top and tiny bubbles that slowly rise like clouds through the middle, and the taste is rich, dense, and smooth.

It has a creamy texture without containing cream, a slightly sweet taste without sugar, and an appearance similar to dark beer but with no alcohol. What a magical cup of coffee.

The Growing Popularity of Nitro Coffee

Why are more and more stores starting to sell nitro coffee? Because people like it — and that answer is not as simplistic as it sounds.

No organization has released specific data yet, but here is a bit of insider information: some analysis suggests that younger generations born after the 90s have had their taste buds dulled by beverages like cola, and they prefer dense, stimulating sensations.

Why Does Nitro Coffee Taste Sweet and Creamy?

1. Nitrogen has very low solubility, while coffee is nearly 98% water. The NITRON cold brew nitro coffee machine uses high pressure to pass nitrogen through a throttle with many fine pores, mixing it with the coffee and allowing the nitrogen to dissolve into it.
2. When the nitrogen-infused coffee is dispensed from the tap, the pressure drops, causing the nitrogen to expand from its dissolved state into tiny bubbles.
3. These small bubbles are what molecular gastronomy calls "sweet foam." The process of the bubbles bursting on the tongue makes the brain perceive "sweetness." Even better, these tiny bubbles make the liquid's texture smoother and denser, creating a cream-like mouthfeel — similar to how frothing milk incorporates air into the liquid to make it dense and smooth.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but a diverse variety of beans, where you can find both famous and lesser-known coffees, along with online services at https://shop104210103.taobao.com

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Nitro coffee is built on cold brew, and the bean you choose for the base matters as much as the nitrogen does. Cold brew amplifies floral and fruity notes while muting woody and roasted flavors, so light-to-medium roasts are usually the best choice. FrontStreet Coffee's sun-dried Huakui is a strong pick: grown in Ethiopia and sun-dried, it absorbs plenty of sweet compounds from the fruit, and in cold brew it shows magnolia, cream strawberry, dried mango, guava, and black tea.

If you want a bean designed for the job, the Strawberry Candy Geisha blend combines Panama Geisha with a Costa Rican honey-processed coffee: one side supplies delicate rose and orange, the other a grape, raisin, and strawberry-gummy sweetness. Cold brewed, it is bright and lively, and if you let it ferment and settle a little, it even takes on a fruit-wine character. For a fuller, juicier cold brew, the Kenya Little Tomato brings cherry tomato, snow pear, black plum, and preserved plum in a bright, low-bitterness cup, and the Colombia Sidra adds passion fruit, grape, and apricot with a soft, layered sweetness.