This article is sponsored by our partner, ColdPerk.
Cold brew coffee is extremely popular, but making it can be time-consuming. Cold brew generally takes hours—even a whole day—to make, either by steeping ground coffee in water or by slow-drip methods where water drips drop by drop through ground coffee.
Cold brew takes so long to make because cold water extracts flavor from the grounds more slowly than hot water. And because it can take a full day to make, coffee shops have to plan and plot their brewing schedules meticulously: if you don’t brew enough cold brew, you can’t simply whip up another batch on the fly.
That’s where the ColdPerk Café 2 comes in. The new brewer, engineered by industry veteran and cold brew consultant Randy Anderson, is the flagship brewer of the new ColdPerk company.
Instead of relying on time to extract flavor from coffee, the brewer uses continuous water flow through coffee grounds to produce an espresso-strength concentrate in 10–15 minutes. The brewer requires no electricity or plumbing and is said to produce a concentrate with roughly the same strength as a shot of espresso.
To serve it as cold brew, all an operator needs to do is add water to dilute. Users can brew anywhere from .5 to 2 liters of concentrate at a time, and play with variables like grind size, brew time, and volume of water used.
The ColdPerk is an ambitious machine—one that requires some explanation of the science behind it.
We spoke with John Green, CEO of ColdPerk, to understand how the new cold brewer works, what makes it different from similar products on the market, and what the machine can bring to cafes and roasters.
There are hundreds of commercial cold brew coffee makers available—why create ColdPerk? How is this different and why does it belong in a crowded market?
Most commercial cold brew systems are built around long immersion times, large batches, and brewing out of sight in the back of the shop. That approach works, but it limits flexibility and often leads to waste and inconsistency.
ColdPerk was designed to make cold brew faster, more efficient, and more intentional. Instead of brewing overnight and hoping demand lines up, cafes can brew espresso-strength concentrate on demand, right when needed. It turns cold brew into an active, controllable process rather than a set-it-and-forget-it one.
ColdPerk is said to make “espresso-strength concentrate.” How concentrated are we talking?
A typical ColdPerk Café 2 brew produces concentrate in the 8–15% TDS range [total dissolved solids, the percentage of coffee solubles that have dissolved into the cup of coffee], depending on the coffee and recipe. For reference, traditional espresso typically measures 8–12% TDS, with stronger shots pushing slightly higher.
That puts ColdPerk’s output in the same strength category as espresso—just extracted cold and designed to be diluted. In practice, that concentration works well as the coffee base for lattes, iced coffee beverages, nitro, and RTD applications.
Cold brew typically takes hours. How does the ColdPerk brew such concentrated coffee in minutes without electricity?
Traditional cold brew relies on time. Once brewing water becomes saturated with dissolved coffee solids, extraction slows dramatically, which is why immersion systems take 12–24 hours.
ColdPerk uses controlled water flow to keep extraction active from start to finish. Fresh water continuously passes through the coffee bed, allowing efficient extraction in minutes instead of hours. Because of this approach, the system requires no pumps, heat, or electronics—gravity and water flow do the work.
You say this device uses about 30% less coffee than traditional immersion brewers—can you explain that?
Immersion brewing becomes inefficient once the coffee grounds are fully saturated. At that point, extraction slows dramatically, but the coffee continues to sit in water for hours.
ColdPerk avoids this by keeping fresh water moving through the coffee bed, so extraction stays active throughout the brew. In practice, this means operators get more usable coffee per pound, less waste, and more consistent results compared to traditional immersion systems.
Can you explain how the ColdPerk works so quickly?
Traditional immersion brewers soak coffee until the grounds are fully saturated, then wait hours for extraction to slowly continue. ColdPerk takes a different approach by keeping extraction active the entire time.
By controlling how water flows through the coffee bed, fresh brewing water is continuously interacting with the grounds instead of sitting still. This allows ColdPerk to extract coffee efficiently in minutes rather than hours—without heat, pressure, or electricity.
The speed doesn’t come from forcing extraction. It comes from not wasting time once extraction is already happening.
How are coffee shops and roasters using the ColdPerk?
ColdPerk is typically placed on the bar, back bar, or nearby. Not hidden in the back of the shop.
Shops often start a brewing cycle before open, and then again as needed throughout the day. If demand increases, they brew more. If it slows down, they avoid over-producing. This flexibility is a major shift from once-per-day immersion brewing and changes how cold brew fits into daily service.
What kind of filter does the ColdPerk use?
ColdPerk does not use paper or disposable filters. Instead, it uses a single, integrated stainless-steel filter built directly into the brewer.
The coffee bed itself plays a role in filtration, while the stainless-steel filter is designed to keep grounds contained as brewed coffee passes through. This produces a clean, consistent concentrate without the need for paper filters, replacements, or added waste.
Using a fixed stainless-steel filter keeps operating costs low and simplifies daily use and cleanup.
Can you tell me about the customer experience? Does this alter what they experience on the receiving end?
When the brewer is visible, it signals intention. Cold brew feels freshly made, not like something produced the day before.
Sponsored by COLDPERK
ColdPerk is a gravity-flow cold brew system that produces espresso-strength concentrate in 10-15 minutes without electricity or plumbing.
