You may be familiar with some of the most common ways to brew coffee: drip, French press, pour over, espresso. But what about cold brew?

If you haven’t had the chance to try cold brew before, A Different Cup serves up fresh coffee with a side of smiles every day. They have two locations: one located within Station Square in Old Town Pocatello, and a recently-opened second location close to ISU on 4th and Terry.

Along with a variety of delicious drinks, they offer their own cold brew on nitro, which no other coffee shop in Pocatello currently offers.

Brandon and Heather Wilcox, owners of A Different Cup, moved to Pocatello from San Diego after the birth of their first child.

“When I had my first son, and when my maternity leave was coming up, I was going to have to go back to work 40-50 hours a week. I was panicking. So my husband and I decided to open our own thing. [We] threw out some ideas and a coffee shop came up,” Heather said.

“There’s a lot more people and a lot more coffee drinkers in San Diego, so when we moved to Pocatello and started a coffee shop, we were surprised how many people don’t drink coffee. But the folks that like coffee, love our coffee,” she added.

They’ve reached out into the community and have partnered with local businesses to get their product out there. Local restaurants such as Abracadabras and Chubbys offer their nitro cold brew.

So what exactly is cold brew?

“Cold brew is a brewing method in which the water is never heated. It results in a smooth cup of coffee that’s low in acidity. So it’s easy on your stomach and easy on your teeth. Just by brewing it like that, it gives a little bit of sweetness to [the coffee],” Heather explained.

A Different Cup takes things a step further by putting their coffee in a keg and serving it through a stout tap with food-grade nitrogen.

“[The cold brew] doesn’t actually carbonate, but it cascades like a Guinness beer or a micro-brew on nitro would. So it will start out all foamy and then settle with a nice creamy head,” Heather said.

When we interviewed A Different Cup, they offered a sample of their cold brew. As it poured from the tap, the coffee developed a smooth froth similar to the froth of a latte. The coffee was smooth and didn’t have the bitter bite you’d expect from black coffee, allowing the natural flavors to come out.

In the fall, they offer a cult classic: the pumpkin spice latte. But A Different Cup takes a unique twist on the drink by making their own pumpkin spice syrup.

“I use nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pumpkin puree, and some sugar. It’s delicious,” Heather said.

When asked what their favorite part of what they do is, Heather answered simply: the personal connections they’ve made. Since they’ve opened their businesses, they’ve developed regulars who would come in four to six times a week.

“They were checking in on us, and we know what’s going on in their lives, what sports their kids are playing, what they have going on at work, where they’re travelling, what they’re gonna do for Christmas,” Heather said.

“[A Different Cup] has given us an avenue to meet like-minded people that we have become friends with,” she added.

Idaho State University’s Continuing Education and Workforce Training (CEWT) is interested in supporting businesses and entrepreneurs with opportunities to get their story out there. For more information, visit cetrain.isu.edu or call 208-282-3372.