The New Howard Schultz-Backed Nitro Cold Brew Machine Is A $700 Gas – CoffeeTalk

The air we breathe contains about 78% nitrogen, which is essential for the production of cold brew coffee. However, to get a cup of coffee infused with the stuff, customers need to pay a serious premium. At Starbucks in Brooklyn, the smallest iced coffee costs $4.25, and making it a cold brew costs $4.75. Infusing that cold brew with nitrogen can cost up to $5.75. Cold-brewing coffee typically takes upwards of 24 hours, and adding nitrogen to the finished product requires a piece of gear like the $290 uKeg Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Maker, which needs a new $3 capsule of the inert gas for every 50-ounce batch.

The easy option for those who want their nitrogen fix at home is to buy it canned. But even that comes at a cost: An eight-pack of Starbucks’ own (in 9.6-ounce cans) sells for $27, or $3.38 per can. A 12-pack of La Colombe nitro cold brew (in 9-ounce cans) sells for $34, or about $2.80 per can.

For those determined to bring their nitro fix home, the $695 Cumulus cold coffee machine has hit the market. Insert a proprietary aluminum capsule of cold brew concentrate (from about $2.50), press a button, and seconds later your glass is filling with ice cold coffee, cascading like a pint of plain at the best pub in Dublin (Grogan’s, if you ask). The machine is the brainchild of Mesh Gelman, a Starbucks veteran whose last post there was senior vice president of Siren Ideas, the in-house innovation group. Behind Gelman is his old boss, Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ former chief executive officer, who had enough faith in the venture to participate in a $20.3 million seed funding round with Maveron, Starbucks-backed Valor Siren Ventures and Valor Equity Partners.

Stylus, a London-based global trends intelligence company, found that 26% of US consumers drink iced coffee throughout the year. World Coffee Portal’s Project Café USA 2024 report found that 79% of respondents under the age of 35 typically purchased an iced beverage at least once a week, while 24% of consumers surveyed reported consuming iced coffee daily, up from 17% in 2022. Coffee brands and kitchen appliance manufacturers are making it easier to make these drinks at home, alongside traditional hot options.

The Cumulus cold coffee machine is available in “carbon” black and “cream” off-white, is clean-lined, tall and slender, and has a 40-ounce water tank that is front-loading. Interaction is completely analog, with no app, screen, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi. The capsule-loading crown has a dial with three settings: one for nitro cold brew (10 ounces is the only size), one for a double shot of cold espresso, and a third for cold brew coffee without the nitrogen. The machine is also unique in its process by which it makes the 20ml of coffee that’s in each capsule. It’s steeped in a traditional cold brew method, then concentrated by a vacuum distillation, similar to the one used to produce drinking water from sweat and urine aboard the International Space Station.

For committed consumers of cold brew coffee, the machine is a dream come true. Its brews are better than the canned competition, more convenient and consistent than going to a coffee shop. And watching the cascade of tiny bubbles first thing in the morning? It’s a gas.

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