Recent years saw a boom in the craft beer segment of the alcoholic beverage category; even in the midst of an overall down beer market in 2010 (sales dipped 1% vs. 2009), sales of craft beers grew a solid 11% by volume and 12% in dollars. This was on top of 7.2% volume and 10.3% dollar sales growth in 2009. With such growth to consider it was only a matter of time before other categories embraced the craftwork approach to brewing.

Case in point, some bottled iced coffee makers are taking up a like challenge: Portland’s Stumptown Coffee Roasters launched a line of cold-brewed coffees in May, followed by the late-summer introductions of La Colombe’s iced coffee in Chicago and Grady’s New Orleans Cold Brew. Now, Oakland’s Blue Bottle Coffee is introducing its takes on the concept, called New Orleans (described as “velvety and sweet”) and Kyoto (“strong and black”). One thing setting the Blue Bottle coffees apart is the bottle: a plastic container, as according to the company, the cold-pasteurization process is not suited to glass. pf