5 ms·

The emperor really has no clothes when it comes to food fads. And pricing is a completely orthogonal and obtuse concept too. Cold brew is putatively low effort

The emperor really has no clothes when it comes to food fads. And pricing is a completely orthogonal and obtuse concept too. Cold brew is putatively low effort and low cost. Just let coffee grounds soak in water overnight and you have cold brew. But it's often charged more than regular coffee or espresso-based drinks, which a) use more expensive equipment b) need more skilled operation c) more material [milk etc]

fwip 2y ago
Speculation: Cold brew takes more refrigerator space, which is relatively inflexible. Since it brews overnight, you have to put aside enough fridge space for all the cold brew you expect to sell that day. Contrast with regular coffee, which you make largely on-demand, with only the coffee beans to store overnight, on a shelf. So raising the price might be the sensible thing to do, to discourage purchases and/or pay for the extra refrigerator space.
- elevatedastalt 2y ago
  That's a good point. From what I understand, cold brew can be made at room temperature too. So it will need storage but not cold storage. But it's possible I don't have the full picture.
  - Bluecobra 2y ago
    I have found no difference in just using cold water and having it sit on my counter overnight vs. keeping in the fridge. It is nice to still refrigerate it to use less ice or no ice though. In a retail setting, I would think customers would demand a cold product (I would). The Starbucks near me serves Nitro Cold Brew and for some reason it's always warm/room temp, and they purposely do not put any ice in it. Other locations seem to not have this issue so maybe it's broken equipment or training.
    - stephenhuey 2y ago
      Cold brew coffee is by definition not brewed with hot water the way most coffee is (in other words, room temperature is within the range of "cold" when talking about brewing with "cold" water). So, it's not necessary for it to be served cold to enjoy the benefits of the cold brew method--sometimes I like it chilled, but I also enjoy the taste at room temperature or warmer.
    - elevatedastalt 2y ago
      Cold brew is so much more caffeinated that I've seen most shops add tons of ice to create enough drinkable volume without giving you enough caffeine to knock a horse down.
- CTDOCodebases 2y ago
  That's true. Also there are too ways to approach it: 1. Brew as much as you would use on a busy day and price in wastage in case it doesn't all sell. 2. Brew a small amount and price it higher so that only a small amount needs to be sold in order to turn a profit.
tracker1 2y ago
As to C, that applies to cold brew just as well as hot brewed coffee.
- elevatedastalt 2y ago
  Possibly, but I've seen cold brew served mostly just by itself or just some syrup / cream, as opposed to cappuccinos / lattes which need much more milk.
askvictor 2y ago
Cafes often charge more for niche items, mainly because they can. There's also the workflow of the barista to consider - leaving the espresso machine to get ice from the freezer disrupts the flow of constantly pumping out lattes.
ccppurcell 2y ago
Pricing is not at all obtuse! Or no more than any other product on earth. It costs what people are willing to pay. Your estimation of the value takes into consideration what you believe (I'm not saying you're wrong) the costs to be, and good for you. But until people are unwilling to pay, the price will go up.
mns 2y ago
That's not necessarily true. The coffee to water ratio for cold brew can be generally lower, and you end up needing more coffee for 2-3 cups. At home, using something like a Hario cold brew bottle, and depending on how much coffee you use, I would say it's anywhere from 20% to 50% more expensive than a standard V60 brewed coffee. In a coffee shop you need to prepare way more coffee, you need the space to store it cold over night, so I would say the higher price is understandable.
joshfee 2y ago
The mistake here is thinking that cost and price are related beyond determining what the final margin is. The consumer decides the price that is acceptable for the good - the cost of that good being higher or lower just changes the viability of the product and the bottom line from selling it. So it makes tons of sense that given two similar products that consumers will pay a similar price for that companies would prefer to sell the one that costs them less.

fwip 2y ago

Speculation: Cold brew takes more refrigerator space, which is relatively inflexible. Since it brews overnight, you have to put aside enough fridge space for all the cold brew you expect to sell that day. Contrast with regular coffee, which you make largely on-demand, with only the coffee beans to store overnight, on a shelf. So raising the price might be the sensible thing to do, to discourage purchases and/or pay for the extra refrigerator space.

elevatedastalt 2y ago
That's a good point. From what I understand, cold brew can be made at room temperature too. So it will need storage but not cold storage. But it's possible I don't have the full picture.
- Bluecobra 2y ago
  I have found no difference in just using cold water and having it sit on my counter overnight vs. keeping in the fridge. It is nice to still refrigerate it to use less ice or no ice though. In a retail setting, I would think customers would demand a cold product (I would). The Starbucks near me serves Nitro Cold Brew and for some reason it's always warm/room temp, and they purposely do not put any ice in it. Other locations seem to not have this issue so maybe it's broken equipment or training.
  - stephenhuey 2y ago
    Cold brew coffee is by definition not brewed with hot water the way most coffee is (in other words, room temperature is within the range of "cold" when talking about brewing with "cold" water). So, it's not necessary for it to be served cold to enjoy the benefits of the cold brew method--sometimes I like it chilled, but I also enjoy the taste at room temperature or warmer.
  - elevatedastalt 2y ago
    Cold brew is so much more caffeinated that I've seen most shops add tons of ice to create enough drinkable volume without giving you enough caffeine to knock a horse down.
CTDOCodebases 2y ago
That's true. Also there are too ways to approach it: 1. Brew as much as you would use on a busy day and price in wastage in case it doesn't all sell. 2. Brew a small amount and price it higher so that only a small amount needs to be sold in order to turn a profit.

tracker1 2y ago

As to C, that applies to cold brew just as well as hot brewed coffee.

elevatedastalt 2y ago
Possibly, but I've seen cold brew served mostly just by itself or just some syrup / cream, as opposed to cappuccinos / lattes which need much more milk.

askvictor 2y ago

Cafes often charge more for niche items, mainly because they can. There's also the workflow of the barista to consider - leaving the espresso machine to get ice from the freezer disrupts the flow of constantly pumping out lattes.

ccppurcell 2y ago

Pricing is not at all obtuse! Or no more than any other product on earth. It costs what people are willing to pay. Your estimation of the value takes into consideration what you believe (I'm not saying you're wrong) the costs to be, and good for you. But until people are unwilling to pay, the price will go up.

mns 2y ago

That's not necessarily true. The coffee to water ratio for cold brew can be generally lower, and you end up needing more coffee for 2-3 cups. At home, using something like a Hario cold brew bottle, and depending on how much coffee you use, I would say it's anywhere from 20% to 50% more expensive than a standard V60 brewed coffee. In a coffee shop you need to prepare way more coffee, you need the space to store it cold over night, so I would say the higher price is understandable.

joshfee 2y ago

The mistake here is thinking that cost and price are related beyond determining what the final margin is. The consumer decides the price that is acceptable for the good - the cost of that good being higher or lower just changes the viability of the product and the bottom line from selling it. So it makes tons of sense that given two similar products that consumers will pay a similar price for that companies would prefer to sell the one that costs them less.