Cold brew has taken the world by storm since its inception, and even in the USA it has increased by 300% from 2016 to 2023 according to Food & Beverage Insider! At Higher Ground, we started selling cold brew the same year that we opened in 2007, and in 2015 we moved the cold brew production to our Vantage Coffee Roastery in Union City. Around this same time we also began to serve nitro[genated] cold brew! Initially, cold brew wasn’t well known and we were only selling 2-3 gallons a week, but now we sell anywhere from 100-120 gallons a week between four separate stores. What may come as a surprise to some is that cold brew has actually been around since at least the 1600! It’s historically been associated with the Dutch and Kyoto, Japan known as Kyoto-style coffee, but is for sure founded in Kyoto as sort of the genesis of this style of coffee. Cold brew has been around for many centuries but really is a kind of recent phenomenon in terms of how the world has traditionally consumed coffee. So, the rise of cold brew over the last decade raises questions that many people want to know such as: What is cold brew? How is it made? Why is it suddenly so popular and on demand?

All of this to say, it was very rewarding to see all of our hard work pay off, and to see the people I work with thrive. Our time at First Crack was inspiring, informative, and practical. Coffee is a world all on its own that has impacted history for hundreds of years, and we just happen to be alive at a time when it really seems like it’s at its peak. However, as we continue to see, the coffee world is always transforming and improving and we, along with you, thankfully, get to be a part of this journey.