Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Triglycerides with your coffee?

Best of San Diego cold brews

Added flavors include coconut milk and simple syrup, and one coffee is aged in rum barrels.
Added flavors include coconut milk and simple syrup, and one coffee is aged in rum barrels.

At the end of September, a new coffee roaster opened shop in Imperial Beach. However, customers won’t find an espresso machine, pour-over gear, or even a drip coffeemaker. Trident Coffee specializes in one type of coffee: nitro cold brew.

Place

Trident Coffee

536 13th Street, Suite 6, Imperial Beach

Navy vet and San Diego native Eric Johnson started Trident, roasting beans on-site and brewing coffee in stainless steel vessels. Each 30-gallon batch steeps for 18 to 20 hours, and as he points out, the cold-brew coffee benefits from bolder flavor, more caffeine, and less acidity than other coffee-preparation methods.

By early December, Johnson featured 12 cold brews on tap, with plans to expand the selection to 16 in the new year. Most of the coffees represent different countries of origin, including well-known coffee-producing nations such as Guatemala, Ethiopia, and direct-trade beans from Mexico. Each is infused with nitrous oxide, the tiny bubbles of the gas instilling the coffee with exceptionally creamy texture.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Some, like an organic coffee from Papua New Guinea, are served straight. However, several feature mild flavorings, such as a Vietnamese robusto coffee inspired by Thai ice coffee, made with coconut milk and simple syrup; and a coffee sourced from Tanzania that was aged briefly in rum barrels.

Trident has started canning cold brew. While Johnson plans to release different flavors quarterly, year-round cans feature Trident’s direct-trade Brazilian signature coffee, while a second can featuring the same is blended with medium-chain triglycerides, a modified coconut oil sometimes use by athletes to reduce body fat and build lean muscle mass.

Trident is one of the first shops to open in the newly developed Bikeway Village (536 13th Street, Imperial Beach), a commercial development located on the southern tip of the Bayshore Bikeway, the cycling path that circles San Diego Bay. The idea is that the triglycerides-infused coffee may appeal to passing cyclists and other athletes. Similarly, an Indian-sourced coffee blended with coconut water offers them cool refreshment in addition to a caffeine boost.

If discussing cold brew in winter sounds odd, don’t tell the San Diego Coffee Network. The organization hosted its second Cold Brew City event December 16th, bringing local coffee roasters and shops together to compete for a pair of best cold-brew awards.

Place

Steady State Coffee

2562 State St., Suite G, Carlsbad

Place

Campfire

2725 State Street, Carlsbad

The signature cold-brew winner was chosen by popular vote, awarding the best cold coffee embellished with complementary (nonalcoholic) flavors. The winning concoction was produced by Steady State Roasting of Carlsbad Village. Roaster Elliot Reinecke worked with neighboring Campfire Restaurant to cold-smoke Ethiopian-sourced coffee with cherrywood, then added chai concentrate, fresh ginger juice, and almond milk. Asked if he served the drink in his State Street shop, Reinecke responded, “I might have to, now.”

Place

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters

5627 La Jolla Boulevard, San Diego

The best original cold-brew award — using only water and coffee — was chosen by a four-person judging panel of coffee professionals. Bird Rock Coffee Roasters took top honors with a unique brew featuring Panamanian coffee said to be wine-processed, meaning the coffee cherries were allowed to over-ripen before being picked, resulting in a winy fruit character in the finished product. Wine-processed coffee beans from Panama’s Duncan Estates will be offered on an occasional basis at Bird Rock shops into January.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Colorado governor Polis’ days in La Jolla canyons

Why Kamala might not run for Calif. governor
Added flavors include coconut milk and simple syrup, and one coffee is aged in rum barrels.
Added flavors include coconut milk and simple syrup, and one coffee is aged in rum barrels.

At the end of September, a new coffee roaster opened shop in Imperial Beach. However, customers won’t find an espresso machine, pour-over gear, or even a drip coffeemaker. Trident Coffee specializes in one type of coffee: nitro cold brew.

Place

Trident Coffee

536 13th Street, Suite 6, Imperial Beach

Navy vet and San Diego native Eric Johnson started Trident, roasting beans on-site and brewing coffee in stainless steel vessels. Each 30-gallon batch steeps for 18 to 20 hours, and as he points out, the cold-brew coffee benefits from bolder flavor, more caffeine, and less acidity than other coffee-preparation methods.

By early December, Johnson featured 12 cold brews on tap, with plans to expand the selection to 16 in the new year. Most of the coffees represent different countries of origin, including well-known coffee-producing nations such as Guatemala, Ethiopia, and direct-trade beans from Mexico. Each is infused with nitrous oxide, the tiny bubbles of the gas instilling the coffee with exceptionally creamy texture.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Some, like an organic coffee from Papua New Guinea, are served straight. However, several feature mild flavorings, such as a Vietnamese robusto coffee inspired by Thai ice coffee, made with coconut milk and simple syrup; and a coffee sourced from Tanzania that was aged briefly in rum barrels.

Trident has started canning cold brew. While Johnson plans to release different flavors quarterly, year-round cans feature Trident’s direct-trade Brazilian signature coffee, while a second can featuring the same is blended with medium-chain triglycerides, a modified coconut oil sometimes use by athletes to reduce body fat and build lean muscle mass.

Trident is one of the first shops to open in the newly developed Bikeway Village (536 13th Street, Imperial Beach), a commercial development located on the southern tip of the Bayshore Bikeway, the cycling path that circles San Diego Bay. The idea is that the triglycerides-infused coffee may appeal to passing cyclists and other athletes. Similarly, an Indian-sourced coffee blended with coconut water offers them cool refreshment in addition to a caffeine boost.

If discussing cold brew in winter sounds odd, don’t tell the San Diego Coffee Network. The organization hosted its second Cold Brew City event December 16th, bringing local coffee roasters and shops together to compete for a pair of best cold-brew awards.

Place

Steady State Coffee

2562 State St., Suite G, Carlsbad

Place

Campfire

2725 State Street, Carlsbad

The signature cold-brew winner was chosen by popular vote, awarding the best cold coffee embellished with complementary (nonalcoholic) flavors. The winning concoction was produced by Steady State Roasting of Carlsbad Village. Roaster Elliot Reinecke worked with neighboring Campfire Restaurant to cold-smoke Ethiopian-sourced coffee with cherrywood, then added chai concentrate, fresh ginger juice, and almond milk. Asked if he served the drink in his State Street shop, Reinecke responded, “I might have to, now.”

Place

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters

5627 La Jolla Boulevard, San Diego

The best original cold-brew award — using only water and coffee — was chosen by a four-person judging panel of coffee professionals. Bird Rock Coffee Roasters took top honors with a unique brew featuring Panamanian coffee said to be wine-processed, meaning the coffee cherries were allowed to over-ripen before being picked, resulting in a winy fruit character in the finished product. Wine-processed coffee beans from Panama’s Duncan Estates will be offered on an occasional basis at Bird Rock shops into January.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Jazz jam at a private party

A couple of accidental crashes at California English
Next Article

Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg

Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader