Cold Brew

Lead Engineer

Research | Ideation | Commercialization

Fixing The Process

Teams Concepts | Operations | ID

Tools 3D Printing | Arduino | SolidWorks | Interviews

The Starbucks Cold Brewer is the first Starbucks commercialized product from Tryer (an innovation center).

A new way of working for a Fortune 500 company, the solution to the previously broken process had to be cheap, modular, and use existing tools & recipes. This required a scrappy approach involving the Partners (employees).

Problem

"We have a capacity issue" - Headquarters

"The process is broken" - Partners

Tying a paper filter with a piece of string
Remembering to manually drain after 20 hours
Frequently carrying a bucket well over 35lbs

All part of the daily process in making cold brew. It is like fitting a circle into a rectangle.

Geometry Issues | Strings & Messes

Design

After empathy building in the field, a small team (4) of us began to dissect the problem and prototype solutions for each step.

Iterative sketching, storyboarding, rapid prototyping, and user testing ensued, where we were able to remove the string, simplify the process, and auto-drain cold brew.

Constraints Cost | Size | Recipe | Modularity

Sketching

reduce carrying, automate, and remove grounds

Prototyping

limit mess and remove complexity with filter support

Testing

UI and accessibility with iPhone mount to functional prototype

Solution

Increases capacity by 33%

Decreases labor by 105 min/week

Improves product consistency

A modular auto-draining cold brewer fit for function specifically in Starbucks stores. It features a filter support, simple UI with tactile button, custom fitment to any wire rack, purpose built containers, and self-locking pull out drawer to allow the addition of water with anything stored above on the same rack.

User Interface