Make a Strawberry Rhubarb Iced Latte from Nitro Bar

The phrase viral is overused (I’m responsible), however in the case of the internet-iconic Rhode Island espresso store The Nitro Bar, there’s no higher solution to describe the phenomenon. The Nitro Bar has three areas throughout the tiny state of Rhode Island, and all of them have an ever-growing line out the door always. Their TikTok and Instagram rack up loopy impression numbers, which has meals companies in all places copying their advertising ways. The genius behind all of it: Audrey Finocchiaro, the co-owner and co-founder of the profitable store(s), which began as a humble little cart serving chilly brew.

The movies and social media content material that carry out so properly just about all showcase a Nitro Bar drink being made, with a specialty espresso syrup or some kind of flavored twist. Proper now, their summer time syrups embrace strawberry and caramelized banana (yum), whereas some low season favorites embrace orange chocolate, black raspberry, and cherry vanilla. Clients wait in lengthy traces year-round for something and the whole lot Nitro Bar— together with me. Once I lived in Boston a number of years in the past, I’d hop on the commuter rail practice to Windfall and get their chocolate wafer iced latte and spend a wet day sipping and snacking with mates. I’ve been a follower of Audrey and the Nitro Bar’s work for some time now, and was so comfortable to get her into the Food52 workplace.

Audrey and I made a strawberry rhubarb syrup collectively, from scratch, and talked about all issues espresso and Nitro Bar. Right here’s how we made the syrup:

That is your pleasant reminder that making a syrup (which I’ve finished a number of instances beginning at Food52) is extremely straightforward. All you need to bear in mind is the 1:1 ratio that may stability taste and sweetness, and you may customise it to be kind of candy, flavored, and so on.

First, we chopped up a complete carton of recent and juicy strawberries. I like to chop them earlier than including them to the pot to launch extra taste, however you do not have to. It’s also possible to use frozen strawberries right here. It was kind of a cup of strawberries. Then, we chopped up a couple of half cup value of rhubarb (to make the syrup just a bit additional particular).

We tossed the strawberries, rhubarb, a couple of cup of white sugar, and a cup or so of water right into a pot and set it over the warmth. Convey it to a gentle boil, then let it simmer—it should slowly begin to thicken. If you need it even thicker, you may add a little bit of cornstarch. It took about 10 minutes; we let it cool, then transferred it to somewhat jar. Whereas it would make each floor of the kitchen sticky, it additionally makes the entire area scent scrumptious.

That is when the magic occurs: assembling an iced latte, Nitro Bar-style. In accordance with Audrey, the order of operations is designed to optimize the visible look of the iced lattes, so the movies look as fairly as attainable. We crammed our tall glasses with tons of ice, a beneficiant serving to of the brilliant crimson syrup, then added the milk. Audrey feels very strongly about utilizing complete milk for the very best taste in an iced latte. Add milk to the cup till it feels nearly too full, then high it off with a double shot of espresso. Combine, and luxuriate in!

Whereas it might’t evaluate to a real Nitro Bar expertise, it was a superb latte. Strawberry and rhubarb is a severely underrated taste combo when added to espresso.

What different trending recipes do you need to know extra about? Let me know beneath!