Description
What is cold brew anyways? Well, it’s a method, a beverage, and an ingredient all wrapped up in one buzzword. At its most simple it is ground coffee steeped in room temperature water to produce a lower perceived acidity, as well as producing a creamy texture. This method uses time instead of heat to extract the coffees, which results in a wholly different taste profile over traditional filter brews using hot water and dilution. We utilize cold brewed coffee in our cafes as an ingredient, and we also infuze it with some nitrogen to amplify the creamy texture of our cold brew. The name of the game of cold brewed coffee is versatility and drinkability, making it perfect as a ready to drink option that you can pull out of your fridge, or as a base for a milk beverage. We also hear it can make a pretty great milkshake…
BLEND APPROACH
Our approach to creating blends is a bit different at Onyx. Instead of choosing coffees from specific countries or regions that will, in theory, intertwine well to create complex & cohesive flavors like most, we start from the end and work our way back. This perspective means we choose to create a particular flavor profile first, deciding which acidities, sugars, and fats we want to accentuate for the coffee. Once a flavor profile has been set- in this case, cocoa, dates, stone fruit, and brown sugar for Cold Brew - we then start cupping blind through many coffees to find these specific attributes. For this blend, we use a washed Ethiopia roasted longer than normal to add that complex stone fruit and brown sugar note. Then we use a Colombian coffee to find the cocoa and date, while also adding the creamy texture. The purpose is that once a flavor profile is created, we update the coffees that make up cold brew every 5-6 months.. This allows us to have a year-round blend and flavor profile of high quality while retaining our commitment to seasonal coffees. This vigorous amount of cupping and blending takes a considerable amount of time, but we think it makes the difference and is a system we use for all our blends.
Feel excited that the coffee you are drinking is always in season, and therefore, it is cupping and tasting to its full potential. We will never compromise our commitment to high-quality coffees and blends, whether it’s a single origin release or a blend component. You will not find Onyx buying “blender” coffees to save cost or prolong a good coffee. We also always keep blends to three coffees or less and maintain ratios in the build. This way what you extract is the flavor profile we designed.