Video Overview | NitroPress DS
I'm Ryan from Prima, and this is the NitroPress DS.
NitroPress DS is a game changer for home enthusiasts and professionals who craft small batch nitro cold brew and nitro cocktails. With a 16 ounce capacity, it's perfectly sized for single servings, but the best part is that this system requires no consumable gas cartridges, air tanks, regulators, lines, you name it. Instead, the DS utilizes nitrogen from the air around you, making its operating costs zero.
NitroPress’s first product, the NitroPress, has been around here at Prima for several years now, and essentially what it is is a whipping siphon, like what you'd use in a cafe, but it's been redesigned specifically for use with pure nitrogen. But what makes the NitroPress different from other whipping siphons is its unique patented nozzle. When dispensing the spout functions like a stout faucet, causing a process called cavitation to occur, whereby the foam is broken up and aerated for a more homogenous sort of foamy texture rather than just a stiff head like you get with CO2. NitroPress requires these two gram N2 cartridges, which are around a buck 50 a pop, and that's really the greatest disadvantage of this system is those ongoing costs per drink. And that's really where the DS comes in, right? Instead of utilizing cartridges, the DS is simply pulling ambient air from around the unit, condensing it under pressure inside the whipping siphon.
The NitroPress DS is a great solution for a few scenarios. The first is Nitro at home. The DS has made it incredibly simple to create nitro cold brew without any major hardware or consumable cartridges, though it's more expensive upfront. You'll see savings in the long term compared to the standard Nitro press if you use it enough. I think the DS is awesome for mobile coffee businesses. You can see, I'm set up on a mobile coffee cart here today, and that's because you can do away with regulators, beverage lines, kegs, faucets, all that stuff. It's a six by ten inch footprint, saving you a ton of space. All you need to do is store cold brew and a growler in your fridge. Pour 16oz of it or less into the whipping siphon. Charge it for five seconds and serve. And that whole process only takes about 40 to 45 seconds per drink.
The last use case I want to mention for the DS is cocktails. Anything more viscous than water, like milk, cream, tea, syrupy alcoholic drinks, (even soup!) are ideal with the DS because they can be easily nitrogenated. The DS Offers cocktail bars, a very low commitment entry into nitro, and endless opportunities for experimentation.
But does it measure up to standard pure nitrogen from the NitroPress? The air around us is around 78% N2, which means that the cartridges are providing maybe around 21% more N2 into the mix. So how does this impact nitrogenation, texture, and our overall enjoyment of the drink? Let's find out.
So here's how I want to do this. We're going to measure out half a liter of cold coffee into each of these whipping siphons. We're going to charge each to NitroPress’ recommendations. About 5 to 7 seconds of charging with the DS, one cartridge of pure N2 with the NitroPress. And we're going to just dispense those into these two beer can glasses. First we're going to talk about them visually and then we're going to taste them. Talk about texture overall experience. And I'll tell you just from my perspective what the difference is between these. And here we have both of our nitro samples. So let's go ahead and dispense them. Let's see what happens. Let's do the standard NitroPress first. Okay. And now the NitroPress DS. Okay. So, first observation, definitely some coarser bubbles on the NitroPress DS. The standard NitroPress does have more of a silky foam texture, I do see some sort of coloration differences. The NitroPress does actually look a little lighter. I don't know why that is. There could be more air. Okay, so now let's go ahead and give them a taste. I'm going to taste the DS first. Yeah. The bubbles are a little coarse upfront, but the body of the drink super smooth. Beautiful nitro texture there. You know, I really think it's in the head that you're seeing the difference. I don't taste on my tongue anything different texturally, from the coffee here, But I think what we really need to take into account here is the convenience that this system offers over a full kegerator system, especially on something like a coffee cart or at home. for me. I feel like the DS provides, you know, something like 90% of the results of the NitroPress and you just have to decide whether or not that's good enough for you.
All right, we're back. After we ran that last test, I just felt motivated to figure out what it would take to get that kind of silky textured foam with the DS. Because the manual says that it takes practice and you can get there. I really wanted to try something, so what I did was I filled this with 500ml again. I charged it for 5 to 7 seconds, just like the manual says. What I noticed when I was performing the first test was that this DS unit was dispensing much faster than the standard Nitro press, and whether that's because the cartridge or the N2 cartridge has less pressure and this has more, or something else is going on, I don't know. But what I found was I could get really good results that are very similar to the NitroPress. If I slowed the flow coming out from the spout. Ultimately, what I think we have to learn here is that the DS itself is just a little bit less forgiving overall than the NitroPress itself. Both can get you there. But, this takes a little bit more practice to get right. All right, so here's what it looks like when we go slow. Okay, so, you know, it's not super convenient to spend 10 or 15 seconds filling a glass, but if you are willing to take that time, you definitely can get some great silky texture. Just like 100% N2 can.
So this has been an overview of the Nitro Press DS. Check it out at primacoffee.com. Happy brewing.
