The 5 Best Iced Coffees in Brooklyn
Iced Maple Shay from Brooklyn Roasting Company
Our first sip of iced coffee at the start of the season is essentially a point of no return—no matter how many cold or rainy days materialize this spring, we staunchly refuse to switch back over to the hot stuff (or wear socks and closed-toed shoes for that matter). So if, like us, you intend to rely on iced coffee as your sole source of caffeination until the fall, check out our guide to the best cold-brewed, single origin cups in Brooklyn, as opposed to defaulting to yesterdays swill, left to sit in the fridge overnight.
Stumptown’s Nitro Cold Brew: Desperate for a hair of the dog before work? Stumptown’s Nitro is produced in kegs infused with nitrogen (just like draft beer), and dispensed though a tap under a tremendous amount of pressure, resulting in full-bodied joe with a big, creamy mouthfeel and impressively foamy head; it’s iced coffee masquerading as Guinness.
Multiple locations, for more info, visit stumptowncoffee.com
Grady’s Cold Brew: We took a bit of guff a while back for choosing Grady’s cold brew over Blue Bottle’s in a head-to-head Smorgasburg smackdown. And we’re not back-peddling one bit; their New Orleans-style concentrate is a bracing combination of beans, chicory, water and nothing else, as opposed to Blue Bottle’s love it or leave it version, which arrives both pre-milked and pre-sugared.
Multiple locations, for more info, visit gradyscoldbrew.com
Blue Bottle’s Kyota Purosa PNG: Just because we’re not down with Blue Bottle’s New Orleans-style brew doesn’t mean we’ve dismissed the virtuoso roasters completely. We’re just partial to their black-as-night Kyota Purosa, made by dripping water over coffee grounds from way up high for over eight hours, in special Japanese contraptions that cost around 20K—makes a $4.25-cup seem like a steal.
Multiple locations, for more info, visit bluebottlecoffee.com
Coffee Lab’s Nutella Monster: We may be purists when it comes to cold brew, but we’re certainly not above Frappuccinos, and all their corn syrupy cousins. And while every bit as indulgent as one of Starbucks concoctions (it’s thickened with a big, honking scoop of Nutella, after all), Coffee Lab’s dessert-worthy drink is really a cut above, made with single origin beans from Toby’s Estate.
6903 3rd Avenue, Bay Ridge
Brooklyn Roasting Company’s Iced Maple Shay: The spacious café in this sprawling, DUMBO roastery makes an ideal home office for freelancers, with silky cups of Maple Shay—maple syrup-infused shots of single origin Colombian espresso + Battenkill Valley milk—close at hand, to help stoke inspiration.
25 Jay Street, DUMBO
