Dutch Bros Rides the Prevailing Wind into RTD Nitro Cold Brew Cans

Photo courtesy of Dutch Bros.

As stiff winds continue to propel the RTD cold brew segment, 25-year-old Oregon-based Dutch Bros is throwing a new product into the fray, offering 11.5-ounce cans of nitrogen-infused cold brew throughout its hundreds of drive-through locations.

The company — which has amassed a cultish following since its 1992 founding with large, colorfully named drinks like The Annihilator (a chocolate macadamia nut breve concoction ranging from 450-820 calories) and Double Torture (a quad-shot vanilla mocha) — plans to roll out the cold brew to all its locations this Friday, May 19.

Dutch Bros cold brew boasts only coffee and water as its ingredients, incorporating a blend of coffees from Brazil, Colombia and El Salvador. In an announcement of the product launch, Dutch Bros makes some sweeping generalizations about cold brew while zeroing in caffeine content as a prime differentiator for this particular product.

“Dutch Bros Cold Brew Coffee is amped up with more caffeine than a typical quad shot of espresso,” Dutch Bros said. “This is due to the Cold Brew process, coffee being steeped with cold water over a long period of time, instead of the typical hot water steep, which dilutes the caffeine content in espresso.”

Given the “fanciness” one might associate with such purity of ingredients, this is turning out to be a big Spring for Dutch Bros in a “fancy” coffee context. Just last month, espresso equipment manufacturer La Marzocco announced that it was planning to host the company as part of its ongoing guest roaster series at its café and showroom in Seattle. Dutch Bros month-long appearance will be sandwiched by appearances from names such as Kickapoo Coffee, Onyx Coffee Lab and George Howell Coffee.