The recent spate of 90-degree days on the Front Range may have you making a change to your morning ritual: swapping hot coffee for a cold cup of joe. Of course, you can just plop a few ice cubes into chilled java (aka iced coffee) but you can also up the ante with a glass of cold brew, a more-caffeinated concoction made from grounds steeped in water overnight. It’s easy to make at home, sure, but for an even simpler solution, two Colorado-based companies, Wild Barn Coffee (formerly Backcountry Nitro) and Sati Cold Brew Coffee, offer canned cold brews that are perfect for these summer days. 

“The majority of our friends are athletes, filmmakers, and adventures, so we wanted to provide something for them that would actually make them feel good and provide energy,” says Jennifer Verrochi, who founded Wild Barn with her friend Alyssa Evans. “We wanted to create an alternative to all the disgusting sugary coffees and energy drinks out there.”

Verrochi, whose parents own Red Barn Coffee Roasters in Massachusetts, developed Wild Barn’s unique cold brew recipe, while Evans tackled the branding. The brew infuses fair-trade, organic coffee with cacao nibs, goji berries, and nitrogen. The result is smooth, delicious, and just slightly sweet straight from the can, with the nitrogen adding a creamy head. Wild Barn’s production process supports three small, female-owned businesses, from the sustainable, solar-powered farm in Honduras where the beans are grown, to her parent’s Red Barn Coffee where the beans are roasted, to Boulder, where the coffee is brewed and canned.

Denver-based Sati likewise offers a nitrogen-infused cold brew with a clean, straightforward coffee flavor, as well as 32-ounce growlers of cold brew concentrate (about five servings when diluted with water, milk, or cream). In addition to its traditional cold brew, the company sells cans of Honey & Vanilla (perfect for those who like their coffee sweet) and Honey & Lavender (slightly floral and not cloying), as well as two espresso blends, Cinnamon & Maple Oat Latte and Peanut Butter & Cacao Mocha (which tastes better than it sounds). 

Sati sources fair-trade, organic beans from Yepocapa, Guatemala, and has them roasted at Jubilee Roasting Co. in Aurora. As part of its mindful mission, Sati donates a portion of the profits from every order to a school in Yepocapa, which co-founders Brandon Harrier and Daniel Zoetewey visit annually. The company also provides its leftover coffee grounds to fertilize local gardens and only uses recyclable and compostable packaging.

“By using premium coffee beans, purified water, and multiple levels of filtration—then also being intentionally mindful about the energy we are putting into and creating from each batch—(we) create a blissful cup, which tastes incredible and feels good, too,” Harrier said, in an email.

You can find Sati online, in a few select Colorado stores, and at the South Pearl, Parker, Southlands, Castle Rock, and Old Colorado City farmers’ markets. As for Wild Barn, you can order a 12-pack online (shipping is $6) or pick some up from a local purveyor.