Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/609699
IN SEPTEMBER, beloved late-night personality Stephen Colbert emerged from his television hiatus to claim the reins of The Late Show , previously hosted by David Letterman. To celebrate the launch, the show distributed thousands of bottles of Stumptown cold brew, which they cheekily called "Col' Brew," all over New York City to help fans stay up late and ring in the new host's transition into the Late Night seat. All around the city, fans could grab a bottle of cold- brewed coffee emblazoned with Stephen's smiling face, and either chug their drink on the spot, or squirrel it away to take home, stick in the fridge, and crack open just in time for the show. Bottled cold brew is everywhere—not just in cafés, but literally everywhere. From grocery-store shelves (gour- met and mainstream), to online subscription services, to your favorite late-night TV show studio, cold-brew coffee has entered a new stratosphere of popularity due to the simple fact that it can be bottled and stored. Those who enjoy exceptional coffee but don't care for the effort of the exacting process required to make it at home, can now look to any number of quality coffee roasters offering great coffee in a bottle. From Fringe to Mainstream Stumptown's Col' Brew bottles themselves would seem to demonstrate just how ubiquitous cold brew has become, but their inception takes it one step further. "[Stephen Colbert's] team reached out to us to see if we could do something special for the premier of the show," says Diane Aylsworth, director of cold brew for Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Stumptown and The Late Show only released the bottles for a day, but the promotion garnered a ton of press and spoke to the acceptance of cold-brew coffee in the main- stream consuming culture. "We had never done anything Bottling Your Own NEW ADVENTURES IN COLD BREW: By Ashley Rodriguez 76 barista magazine