Barista Magazine

DEC 2015 -JAN 2016

Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005

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like this, and weren't necessarily seeking it out...but it felt like a fun way to be a part of a big moment in pop culture." As one of the pioneers of bottled cold brew, Stumptown has a lot of insight and credibility among the fast-growing cold-brew market. In the last few years, Stumptown has developed a specific branch of the company dedicated solely to cold brew, and its bottled drinks can be found anywhere from the shelves of their retail stores to almost every Whole Foods on both coasts, as well as Safeway and other stores. Yet for something so marketable and popular, bottled cold brew's beginnings are quite humble, stemming not from an idea to make a sought-after product, but out of necessity. "We started bottling cold brew back in 2011 as a solution for our cafés and baristas," says Diane. At that time, cold brew wasn't mainstream per se, but popular enough for it to be burdensome for baristas to make the quantities needed to supply Stumptown's busy stores. "Doing nightly batches of cold brew in-house in each café was a time suck and low on the baristas' list of favorite things to do. Our team thought if they could centralize the process and make the baristas happier, it would be a win-win." Initially meant to be an in-house way to manage retail demand, Stumptown's wholesale part- ners quickly noticed the bottled cold brew and asked if they could serve it in their stores, as well. This led to the expansion of Stumptown Cold Brew as we know it now. Stumptown has since gone from just the original 11.5-ounce "stubbies"—which are still in circulation, and whose design was modified to create the Col' Brew bottles—to cartons of specialty cold-brew drinks (watch out for Winter Cheer, a blend of cold brew and mulling spices) and cans of Nitro cold brew. If you type in the website www.coldbrew.com, Stumptown's department of Cold Brew comes up and walks you through all the different ways you can take your coffee from the grocery aisle to your refrigerator door. Stumptown may have started the category of gourmet bottled cold-brew coffee, but it's hardly the only game in town anymore. Go to any Whole Foods or specialty grocery store nationwide, and you'll find bottled cold brew from a number of purveyors, from recognized specialty-coffee brands like Blue Bottle and La Colombe, to bottled cold-brew specialists, like Grady's Cold Brew or Chameleon Coffee. For many, bottled cold brew isn't just a throwaway, but a driving force, if not the only force, behind successful coffee companies throughout the United States. PHOTO COURTESY OF OLYMPIA COFFEE ROASTING 78 barista magazine

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