For decades, coffee businesses have used the traditional immersion method to make cold brew, which involves steeping grounds in a large brew receptacle.
Significant development has been made in cold brew equipment and technology recently, moving the industry away from slower methods towards faster, more advanced ones, driving cold brew quality forward.
As cold brew demand continues to grow, more coffee brands are investing in advanced commercial cold brew machines that offer faster brewing times, better safety, improved efficiency, and, ultimately, better cold brew.
We spoke to Virginia Lee, food and beverage consultant and contributing writer for The Food Institute, to explore how commercial cold brew machines have evolved and why coffee businesses should use them.

Cold brew preparation: then and now
As professional coffee knowledge has grown through the Second and Third Waves of coffee culture, the limitations of traditional cold brew brewing methods have become more exposed.
Immersion-brewing cold brew coffee is slow – it takes at least 12 hours to prepare a batch – and once prepared, it has a short shelf life, even in refrigerated conditions. The potential for spoiling and microbial contamination was high as the traditional ‘bucket-brewing’ approach does not enable stringent safety control.
Preparing cold brew in a coffee shop environment also posed a financial risk because of the unpredictability of foot traffic: Brew too much cold brew, and waste and spoiling would increase; brew too little, and your customers would leave unhappy and look somewhere else for their fix.
“Cold brew preparation methods have evolved beyond immersion brewing to incorporate faster brewing methods, slow-drip brewing methods, as well as the use of cold brew concentrates,” says Virginia.
She’s seen a variety of new brewing systems using innovative technology, such as cold extraction, pulse brewing, and percolation and recirculation.
For example, at Hardtank, we use our patented accelerated cold extraction technology to prepare large volumes of cold brew in under an hour. Constant recirculation moves the water through the coffee basket for a higher extraction yield and a cleaner cup.
Today, many commercial cold brew machines, like the Hardtank 1T and 2T, even have built-in tap systems to serve nitro cold brew directly from hygienic storage containers under the counter.

The impact of the cold brew boom on coffee brands
The global cold coffee market is predicted to be valued at over $1.4 billion by 2027, growing at 22% year-over-year for the next four years.
Younger consumers – Gen Z and Millenials – continue to drive growth and innovation in the cold coffee segment.
“Cold brew meets younger consumers’ demand for all-day caffeine – it typically has a higher caffeine content than traditional iced coffee due to the brewing methods – and energy, but in a healthier, ‘clean label’ format compared to sugary energy drinks, which can have a long list of unfamiliar, unpronounceable ingredients,” explains Virginia.
The ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage market is also showing healthy growth – it is expected to grow at 6.8% year over year to 2032 – and canned cold brew coffee is ideally suited to play a part in this growth.
“Busy consumers want different coffee beverages based on the time of day and location,” says Virginia. “Developing RTD cold brew products allows coffee brands and roasters to leverage their brand equity and provide more convenience to consumers.”
Nitro cold brew cans fit in well with these consumer demands and trends; an innovative, indulgent and healthy RTD coffee beverage that offers texture and flavour variety.
“Nitro cold brew’s smoother taste lends itself well to being consumed black or with creamer only, minus the need for sweeteners,” adds Virginia.
Coffee brands looking to expand into the cold brew and RTD coffee markets require the proper cold brew equipment. Without it, consistency, quality, and safety challenges arise.

Why use a commercial cold brew machine?
“As consumer demand for cold brew grew, specialty coffee shops had difficulty making enough cold brew as traditional immersion cold brewing takes a lot of time and refrigerator space,” explains Virginia.
“The use of faster cold brewing methods, such as percolation, allows coffee shops to produce cold brew in less space quickly.”
For instance, the Baby Hardtank is a compact commercial cold brew machine that can make up to 60 litres of cold brew daily, as well as cascara, tea, and infused spirits. This versatility offers cafés more menu variety and possibilities to explore.
Meanwhile, the larger Hardtank 20 can brew up to 250 litres of cold brew per day and automatically drain it into a keg for storage. It can also be fitted with a nitro-tap for easy, nitro-infused serving.
These advanced machines automate each step of the process, reducing labour costs and brewing times. Staff don’t need to filter out all the grounds, transfer the liquid to another container, or manually clean the system between batches.
Automation also ensures consistency and quality across every batch produced, and our clients can save extraction recipes and re-use them once they’ve found their perfect setup.
Additionally, modern commercial cold brew machines have automatic self-cleaning and sanitation functions to improve cleanliness and health and safety standards while streamlining workflow.

Choose Hardtank for your commercial cold brew needs
When purchasing a commercial cold brew machine, you should consider several variables:
- What is the volume of cold brew your business needs daily?
- How much counter space do you have to dedicate to your machine?
- Do you want a multi-purpose brewer to prepare other beverages – not just cold brew, but cold tea, cascara or cocktails and mocktails?
- Do you want to make your cold brew extraction more efficient in order to save overall costs and improve profitability?
- Do you want to cut down on labour costs by streamlining cold brew brewing and cleaning processes?
At Hardtank, we offer various commercial cold brew machines to suit different needs:
- Baby Hardtank: perfect for smaller boutique operators with limited space
- Hardtank 20: a commercial cold brew machine for high-quality, high-volume production
- Hardtank 1T & 2T: Hardtank 20 with one or two nitro taps for built-in nitro-pouring
No matter which Hardtank device you choose, it uses the same cutting-edge technology to brew exceptional-quality cold brew in a fraction of the time.
Visit our website or contact us directly to learn more about which Hardtank commercial cold brew machine is suitable for your coffee business.
Have you missed our latest Cold Brew Masterclass? Don’t worry; you can still watch the recording by following the link.
Commercial cold brew machine