Cold brew coffee is rapidly growing in popularity and has become a standard menu item in cafés and restaurants around the world. This trend is driven primarily by younger generations who are looking for a convenient, high-quality beverage served the way they want it.
The best way to tap into this growing demand is to prepare it with your own cold brew system. With the right one, you can massively reduce the brew time and serve delicious cold coffee far more reliably.
But how do you identify which one is right for you? Read on to find out what you should look for when choosing the best cold brew system for your business.
brewing time is crucial
The first element to consider is brew time. As traditional methods can take as long as 24 hours, a cold brew system with a shorter lead time will be a major differentiator for your business.
In the past, cold brew has been made by simply steeping coarse ground coffee in room-temperature water, often overnight. This method is imprecise and vulnerable to oxidation – and contamination. It also means coffee shops can usually only produce one batch per day. Once sold out, there is no quick or straightforward way to replenish the stock.
With a fast cold brew system, you can brew batches much more flexibly, based on demand. This means that you can be more agile, avoiding any issues with potential waste or overstock.
Another option is using cold brew concentrate. With a system like Marco’s ColdBRU, you can prepare a concentrate that is versatile and easy to use – either by diluting with water, or for use in cocktails.
Make sure your system is high-quality
We’ve already discussed the importance of speed. However, it is critical that you balance speed with quality. It is not enough simply to offer cold brew; consumers are increasingly looking for high-quality cold coffee as well.
Quality naturally begins with choosing the right coffee. Dark roasts have traditionally been popular for cold brew because of their lower acidity and bitterness.
However, there is growing interest in using lighter roasts as sophisticated cold brew systems can draw out the more nuanced flavours. But getting the best out of both dark and light roasts is challenging.
This is because traditionally cold brew has been prepared using immersion – simply steeping ground coffee in water. While this gives the coffee a mellow sweetness, rich mouthfeel, and general smooth flavour profile, it does eliminate some acidity – which modern specialty coffee consumers are increasingly looking for.
This is why a percolation system (such as the ColdBRU) is more versatile. It works perfectly with a wider range of coffees, no matter the origin or roast profile, and preserves all the characteristics of each – without reducing it to the “traditional” cold brew flavour profile of chocolate and nuts.
Consider barista workflow
The right cold brew system can also streamline workflow behind the bar. Having to leave the counter to pour cold brew from a traditional brewer or storage in a back office can break up a barista’s natural rhythm.
This is why having a dedicated machine that integrates with the rest of your bar is valuable. It can sit alongside your espresso machine or grinder in the same place.
Furthermore, with automated systems that handle the brewing process for you – rather than traditional immersion brewers, which need a lot of fine-tuning to get right – you can save barista time. This gives your team more time to focus on what matters most: customer service.
With the right device – such as Marco’s ColdBRU – you can use preset brewing cycles and parameters to save even more time. This also helps your business save money on staff training and takes the guesswork out of preparing cold coffee.
A final component to consider is cleaning. Many traditional cold brew methods use disposable filters, which doesn’t align with the coffee industry’s growing focus on environmental sustainability.
Many modern machines now use reusable filters, lowering costs and offering a more sustainable alternative.
Cold brew isn’t going anywhere, and it’s crucial that your business keeps up with demand. Choosing the right system, however, can massively affect your brand’s cold coffee operations – and improve both sales and profitability in the long run.
The best cold brew system for your business will ultimately depend on what you need, but three things to focus on are:
- Brew time – shorter is better and allows you to be more flexible
- Quality and versatility – a percolation brewer is likely to work for a range of coffees and roast profiles
- Workflow – will your chosen system save time for your staff, and is it easy to train new team members on?
These were three areas that we kept in mind while developing the ColdBRU. It prepares cold brew concentrate in just three hours, unlike traditional methods, which can take as long as 12 to 24 hours to prepare a batch. It does this while also maintaining extraction levels of around 19%.
Its straightforward, intuitive design makes it easy to use for both new and old team members alike, as well as taking up minimal benchtop space. Finally, it can be used to create a wide range of drinks with just one device, whether that’s coffee cocktails, mocktails, iced lattes and cappuccinos, or just regular black cold brew when diluted with water.