With the influx of boutique and craft coffee available on every corner, customer tastes have been expanding into a slew of ever more adventurous options for their daily caffeine fix. Coffee drinkers have been seeking cold espresso drinks and brews. Whether for convenience or for the super power energy charge, the cold brew satisfies those morning cravings. No longer does one have to pull over for a coffee on a road trip expecting the weak, translucent, tasteless sludge that classically makes itself available at any gas station across the country. Instead, they can look forward to tasty, strong, and refreshing cold coffee straight out of the fridge, brought to you in an aluminum can!
Blue Bottle Coffee
A San Francisco Bay Area coffee company, Blue Bottle Coffee began in Oakland, California in the early 2000s. Known for its fresh roasted responsibly sourced beans (the coffee is never sold more 48 hours out of the roaster), the company is about to release its second ready-to-drink canned coffee. Blue Bottle first debuted their New Orleans Iced Coffee in an aluminum can in 2014.
The new aptly named Cold Brew will be available at Blue Bottle coffee shops right away as well as at Whole Foods markets this spring 2019. The portable, pocket sized Cold Brew is packed in a compact 8-oz aluminum can that can be easily carried around — for example, in the car cup-holder or in a cooler to a tailgate party. The can itself retains a polished aluminum-silver color with a simple trademark blue bottle on the front center.
“Other cold brews or iced coffees in stores can seem very dark, intimidating, almost ominous,” said Yu-Sung Huang, manager of consumer packaged goods at Blue Bottle. “We wanted something cute and approachable at a size that also extends this feeling that this drink is just for you, for the same reason that we make every cup of coffee individually in our cafes.”
Blue Bottle’s Cold Brew will be sold individually for those needing a quick picker-upper, and in four packs for the long-haul. The company is also canning its beans, think coffee cans like Folger’s ground coffee, but Blue Bottle is selling whole beans in small six oz aluminum cans that can be popped open and then ground at home for the freshest brew possible.
Why Aluminum?
There are many benefits to housing coffee in an aluminum can. Pressure sealed aluminum cans keep oxygen out, so the lifespan of the coffee lasts longer than it would in a bottle, which lets in more light. Compact cans are sleek and portable, ready to be thrown into a lunchbox, or conveniently taken along on a daily commute. Aluminum cans are also recyclable, making them a more environmentally friendly option than typical lidded, to-go coffee cups.