Coffee drink to shake up summer drinking

MELBOURNE’S love affair with coffee has gone next level. Carbonated coffee, for the times when people want their caffeine cold and fizzy, is creating a buzz.

THERE’S a new beverage creating a buzz in coffee-obsessed Melbourne.

But never mind the hot varieties mixed with milk in any number of styles.

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Coffee lover Troy Smith was a regular at a cafe in Kew owned by John and Stephanie Vroom when he came up with the idea of developing a carbonated coffee product.

“We thought it was a good idea and from there we just played around with the product,” Ms Vroom said.

“It was a hobby-style development exercise.”

After experimenting with processes to carbonate the beverage, the trio launched a product they have been serving at the Vroom’s coffee roasters and cafe, Maker Fine Coffee, at North St in Richmond.

“It is a really refreshing drink when you don’t feel like another coffee,” Ms Vroom said.

They have been selling that beverage, called North St, by the glass from kegs for several years. Lightly sweetened, North St is served over ice.

Its creators eventually pondered how they could bottle it to tap into a broader market through the food service, wholesale and retail industries.

The key was to ensure the product could be bottled without losing its quality. They launched a crowd-funding campaign on the Kickstarter platform a year ago, aiming to raise money for developing and marketing the product.

Stephanie and John Vroom with North St carbonated coffee. Picture: Jay Town

The trio soon raised more than $12,000 from 82 backers.

Ms Vroom said it took some work to find a way to bottle the beverage that ensured it was consistent, with the right flavour, level of carbonation and shelf life.

They worked with a bottling company in Dandenong, which was able to process the 275ml twist-top bottles.

“We had to ensure that the product was the same as it was in the keg,” she said.

John Vroom with North St carbonated coffee at Maker cafe, Richmond. Picture: Jay Town

A bottle of the drink, made from single-origin Colombian beans, is equivalent to a regular filtered coffee and sells for about $5.

“We have received a wonderful response to the bottled product,” Ms Vroom said.

Consumers have surprised the trio by coming up with other applications for the coffee, such as using it as a mixer with gin, vodka, ouzo or Cointreau, and as a spritz.

The group expects to expand the product into a range, featuring decaffeinated and chocolate varieties.

Melbourne has long been a hotbed for innovation in the coffee market.

Among other creations on the boil is a portable, battery-powered coffee pod machine called NowPresso — the brainchild of entrepreneur John Rochecouste.

Another popular creation of recent years is an insulated, re-usable coffee cup, called Uppercup, that has been widely praised for its stylish design. That product was designed by a young Victorian entrepreneur, James McKay.

northstreet.com.au