In this article, you’ll learn:
- How a nitro coffee tap minimises ingredient waste
- How it can also save time for your staff
- Why a nitro coffee tap appeals to consumer demands
For coffee shops, manual methods of pouring drinks are wasteful by nature. Especially if you have team members with varying skill levels, spillages and over-pouring can be common. In turn, it means you’re wasting not just your ingredients, but valuable time as well. In high-speed service environments like coffee shops and bars, every second saved equates to more customers served in a day.
With this in mind, investing in a nitro coffee tap can be an effective strategy. With digital dosing technology, they help coffee shops pour exactly the right amount of liquid every time – whether it’s nitro cold brew or other drinks. This means less waste, smoother operations, and a more efficient customer experience.
To understand more about how a nitro coffee tap reduces waste, I spoke to Azul Iglesias, the Director of Marketing at Benoli Hospitality Group, based in Miami, USA. Read on for her insights.
Do nitro coffee taps minimise waste?
Nitro coffee taps reduce waste because they often have digital dosing systems, meaning they dispense a preset amount of liquid. Therefore, you lose fewer ingredients to factors like overpouring and spillage.
After Nate Armbrust first created nitro cold brew back in 2013, the dispensing system of choice for many coffee shops was (and still is) a draught system similar to one used for beer. This setup requires manual operation to push a beverage from a keg through a draught line and out of a stout tap for pouring.
As much as this system still works, one of its shortcomings is a lack of precision and efficiency. With cold brew consumption up by 73% since 2019, the risk of waste is higher when baristas rely on skill to pour drinks. Human error is inevitable with such methods. This challenge is exactly what the advanced alternatives were built to solve.
“Nitro coffee taps definitely reduce waste,” Azul tells me. “With manual prep, you risk spills, over-pouring, and inconsistencies.” This is especially common in set-ups where the storage, nitrogen cylinders, cold brew machine, and tap are separate components.
Even highly trained baristas may take longer to operate this kind of setup, and the business still absorbs the labour costs of training. “With an automatic nitro coffee tap, every pour is precise and controlled,” she explains. This means baristas can serve drinks with far less effort and in a shorter time.
Hygiene also plays a major role in preventing waste. Because cold brew is highly sensitive to microbial growth, any contamination can force a full batch to be discarded. Using a nitro tap with automatic cleaning cycles reduces this risk significantly.
Systems like the Hardtap ensure consistency in portioning using digital dosing technology. This means they dispense a preset amount of liquid based on user input, ensuring each serving is the same size as the last. Equipment with one-touch dispensing also reduces labour costs, since staff require less training to use it.
In setups that require a separate nitrogen gas supply, the result is often extra resource use, higher costs, and additional waste from spent canisters. The Hardtap uses atmospheric nitrogen infusion to pull nitrogen straight from the air, eliminating these burdens entirely.
Streamlining your drinks service with an automatic nitro coffee tap comes with other benefits. For instance, you’ll build a reputation as a convenient stop for nitro cold brew and strengthen relationships with customers who appreciate quality drinks served efficiently. The same consistency applies to tea, cocktails, and other beverages served through the tap, helping you reduce waste across your entire cold drinks menu. When you consistently guarantee them real value for their money, many will return because of the trust they have in your business.
How a nitro coffee tap minimises wasted time
Another key benefit of a nitro coffee tap is how it can boost your service speed, meaning you can serve more customers in a day. Research shows that fast service is key to customer satisfaction, and few innovations capture this shift toward convenience as clearly as nitro coffee taps.
Used alongside cold brew systems that speed up preparation times, using a nitro coffee tap creates an in-line solution to make service faster. For instance, the Hardtap connects directly to Hardtank cold brew systems, so you can prepare and dispense it from the same line.
“Our nitro coffee tap saves our staff time,” Azul explains. “Since the product is already brewed, infused, and ready, our team doesn’t have to prepare each cold brew one by one.” This process saves time that would otherwise be spent transferring cold brew into a kegerator and connecting it to a separate draught system.
In turn, Azul acknowledges that the speed and convenience of in-line nitro coffee taps have a direct impact on the consumer experience. “It ensures every serving tastes exactly the same, giving guests a consistent experience,” she says. Since the drinks are already prepared and the dosing is done automatically, repeatability and quality are assured.
Additionally, a modern nitro coffee tap like the Hardtap also saves time on cleaning and sanitation between uses. There’s no margin for error when it comes to food safety for cold brew. Automated cleaning programmes in systems like your nitro coffee tap will run at set intervals, saving time and minimising the risk of costly human errors.
How does a nitro coffee tap enhance your reputation?
With a nitro coffee tap, you can quickly and efficiently offer a drink that’s becoming more popular than ever. In turn, it boosts your reputation for listening to customer demands and adjusting your menu accordingly.
Nitro cold brew has naturally lower acidity and bitterness, and its inherent sweetness becomes more pronounced as a result, without needing sugar or milk. The result is a healthier, lower-calorie option that still feels indulgent – but this quality can only be achieved consistently through a modern nitro coffee tap.
“As a perk, our customers who appreciate the natural flavour of high-quality coffee love this method,” Azul adds. “The smoothness and low acidity really stand out.” As observed earlier, manual pouring can create inconsistencies that compromise the sweet, creamy taste that nitro cold brew should have.
The resulting nitro cold brew is better than what older systems can create, and in a competitive market, that distinction justifies the investment. “The nitro infusion they achieve is something we simply can’t reproduce in-house with manual methods,” Azul adds.
For outlets that serve more than just cold brew, a nitro coffee tap can also elevate your entire beverage lineup. From cold brew to tea, wine, and cocktails, there are many drinks you can easily nitrogenate for that creaminess and foamy mouthfeel. With the dual taps on the Hardtap, you can pour multiple beverages at once to meet high demand or diverse customer preferences.
According to Azul, the higher output from a nitro coffee tap is valuable not only for meeting demand but also for maintaining optimal food quality and safety. “The system also keeps the product cold and stable, which makes service much smoother during busy hours,” she explains.
Bearing in mind that more people than ever consume this beverage, inconsistent dispensing is something coffee shops can no longer afford. Serving nitro cold brew quickly, efficiently, and hygienically is how you keep up with the increased demand and satisfy consumers.
If you’re evaluating whether a nitro tap can reduce waste in your business, here are the core points to remember.
Nitro cold brew tap: Key takeaways
- A nitro cold brew tap with digital dosing eliminates waste by pouring the exact amount of liquid each time.
- It can also speed up service with one-touch dispensing, allowing baristas to serve more customers during peak hours.
- In-line nitro setups, such as the Hardtank and Hardtap together, streamline cold brew production and dispensing.
Ready to invest in your own nitro coffee tap? Browse the Hardtap product page or get in touch with our team directly.
Nitro cold brew tap FAQ
Why is atmospheric nitrogen infusion better than using external cylinders?
Atmospheric systems pull nitrogen directly from the air, which removes the cost of nitrogen kegs and eliminates waste from empty tanks.
How does a nitro coffee tap reduce product waste?
Due to its digital dosing technology, a nitro coffee tap pours preset volumes every time. This prevents over-pouring and spillage, which are common problems with manual draught systems.
Are nitro taps easy to clean?
Modern systems like the Hardtap have automatic cleaning cycles, saving time for staff and ensuring food safety compliance.
Want to learn more about our nitro cold brew tap?
- Learn more: Visit the Hardtap product page.
- See it in practice: Watch our Hardtap product presentation.
- Speak to the team: Schedule a consultation with our equipment specialists.
