Coffee to try: Cold brew from Lokal

Sam Ryo wanted a way to bring his two homes-Columbus and Indonesia-together. Coffee was the obvious answer. He teamed up with three fellow Indonesian expats to launch standout cold-brew coffee line Lokal. Working with roasters Rost and Backroom to craft single-origin brews from Indonesia, they're on chart to sell more than 2,000 hand-brewed bottles this year. Ryo shares insight into how the idea came about.lokalcoldbrew.com

Why cold-brew coffee? Single-origin flavors come through very well [in cold brew]. The beans that we use, if you hot brew them they taste completely different. I'm really enamored with the idea of different flavors and nuances of beans from different parts of the world, coupled with different ways you process coffee. There's a cultural side that I think sometimes gets overlooked in coffee.

How did you settle on two coffee styles? The Sumatra Mandheling, people have a concept of what that is; it's an easy entry point. (Think guava, citrus and caramel.) With the Java, it's a chance to introduce people to a new drink. (Think berry notes with a chocolate finish.) That's the fun, you get to explore different regions of Indonesia.

Why Lokal with a "k"? It's the Indonesian word for local. We want our product and our story to be layered and nuanced like that. [For example], batik is a traditional, textile-based art form in Indonesia. We have different styles of batik that reflect different regions on each label, representing where the beans are from.

Find Lokal at The Roosevelt Coffeehouse, Little Eater, Philco, Skillet and Weiland's Market.