There are many ways to brew or drink cold coffee, and across the globe, customers have come to expect a range of options when they visit a café.
Under-counter water system and coffee brewing specialist Marco Beverage Systems saw this demand and set out to create a solution that would allow cafés to seamlessly introduce cold coffee options to their menus.
Released in July 2021, Marco Beverage Systems’ POUR’D cold coffee dispense system allows a venue to serve ready-to-drink (RTD) cold coffee and cold coffee concentrate at the point of service from a single font.
Businesses also have the option of adding separate cold or hot water streams to produce anything from chilled drinks and teas to Americanos and hot chocolates.
“The true innovation behind POUR’D is the flexibility it allows,” says Gemma Kiernan, Head of Marketing at Marco Beverage Systems.
Gemma says that Marco Beverage Systems conducted extensive research on cold coffee, such as how it’s brewed and delivered, and found that different sites and roasters had unique needs.
“POUR’D meets all of these, moving cold brew service to front of house, meaning baristas don’t need to go to the fridge or manually mix their concentrate at the start of the day,” she says.
“It also means that one system can deliver cold coffee, a shot of coffee, and hot or cold water so that operators can serve multiple beverages from one system.”
The RTD option can be dispensed straight from a bag-in-box, urn, or container kept in the fridge, and gives the user a choice of push and hold or hands-free operation.
The concentrate version allows operators to pre-program their beverage choices, volumes, and dilution ratio.
Danny Pang, Sales and Technical Manager at Marco Beverage Systems APAC, says roasters are the best people to lead this initiative, as they are responsible for ensuring the raw green coffee is roasted to the degree most suitable for the coffee.
“They would be able to ensure that the coffee is brewed right, at the plant with all the parameters under strict control, along with all the necessary hygiene processes in place for packaging and distribution,” he says.
“Last but not least, they remove the risk of inconsistencies of onsite brewing due to differences in skill levels of the barista.”
An operator can set POUR’D to deliver up to three different types of automated beverages or volumes, so baristas don’t need to take on these tasks.
“It provides the artisanal roasters an ability to manufacture and serve their product straight to the end-consumer, tasting as it was intended by the roasters,” says Danny.
“Imagine roasters incorporating brewing facilities within their plants. They essentially become the wine makers of coffee.”
Due to the time it takes to make cold brew, a challenge many cafés face is brewing too much or too little to meet demand. Instead, sourcing a preprepared cold brew or concentrate from their roaster, and having it on tap with POUR’D, makes this a problem of the past.
“The baristas can focus more on being creative, creating new coffee-based beverages to help the cafés refresh their menus,” Danny says.
“It would also free up the barista to spend more time interacting with the consumer – educating, selling, and developing better relationships with the customers.”
He adds this changing role of the barista will become more prominent in the future, as labour shortages, high wages, and running costs encumber the high-risk food and beverage restaurant retail businesses.
“While roasters become more like wine makers, baristas become more like wine sommeliers, where the communication of knowledge of the product, its origin, sensory and pairing or blending is more important than making coffee on site,” Danny says.
Installation can be customised to the site’s needs, but at its most basic, simply includes a coffee source, counter-top font, and POUR’D control box.
Regular maintenance is as easy as running a cleaning cycle at the end of the day and usage is as simple as pressing a button after programming beverage types, volume, and ratio at install.
After a difficult two years for hospitality, Gemma says businesses need to keep an eye on their expenses and Marco Beverage Systems is seeing a huge demand for its multipurpose systems.
“Marco’s purpose is to re-imagine beverage excellence everywhere. This means any beverage in any site is made in the best possible way, for the roaster, the barista, and the customer,” says Gemma.
“POUR’D enables us to deliver on this purpose by offering consistent, stylish, and flexible beverage solutions that create a better experience for everyone when it comes to cold coffee service.”
For more information, visit www.marcobeveragesystems.com/POURD/.