NEW YORK, U.S. — illy, which transformed coffee in 1935 by inventing the modern espresso machine, today again changed its industry by introducing illy Cold Brew Ariaâ„¢, a tap handle with an embedded adjustable valve that turns cold brew with bubbles, commonly called “nitro cold brew,” into an even richer-tasting and effervescent experience for coffee lovers, and easier for cafes, restaurants, hotels resorts and other on-premise venues to offer.
The tap handle-mounted valve draws in ambient air, requires no bulky gas tanks and is offered exclusively for use with illy cold brew made from the brand’s legendary Classico blend, comprised of nine distinct Arabica coffee beans from different countries, produced and sourced to deliver sustainable quality and a premium profit for farmers meeting illy’s industry-leading standards.
The patent pending valve that is the heart of illy Cold Brew Aria system captures ambient air — already 78% nitrogen-rich, by nature — that is immediately infused at high pressure into illy cold brew coffee as it’s dispensed. The combination creates a beautiful, long cascading effect in the glass and a rich creamy head. illy Cold Brew Aria is the first-ever system that infuses ambient air into coffee to create a “nitro effect” without the use of space-consuming nitrogen tanks or air compressors.
Importantly, the illy Cold Brew Aria valve is adjustable and able to vary the levels of air and effervescence infused into cold brew, all the way down to no bubbles at all. The net result: illy Cold Brew Aria is the only system that can produce either effervescent or regular cold brew with only one tap handle and one coffee source, saving yet more precious real state behind the bar, in the kitchen or wherever else cold brew can be offered on-premise.
New Bag-in-a-Box Adds Consistency, Convenience and Compactness
The ultimate combination for cafes, restaurants, hotels and every place else that aims to delight discerning coffee lovers is the illy Cold Brew Aria system paired with illy’s other new innovation: Bag-in-a-Box. This five-liter soft package, packaged in a compact box, is filled with perfectly-prepared illy cold brew, eliminating the need for baristas and other staff to manage and monitor up to 12 hours of preparation.
Designed for either tap or non-tap dispensing, when paired with a tap, illy Bag-in-a-Box Cold Brew eliminates the need for delivery and storage of heavy, space-consuming kegs. Bag-in-a-Box cold brew remains stable during nine months of ambient storage time and can be served for up to five days once the packaging is opened.
At the core of this innovation is illy’s long history of leveraging technology to enhance and delight coffee lovers with the best quality coffee, which can be seen at many moments in the company’s 86 years history, such as inventing pressurized packing in 1934, and the 1970s, when illy industrialized the single-serve coffee format with ESE paper pods: ideally pre-measured, -ground and -tamped, espresso dose that fit into any espresso machine and produced an optimal beverage without years of barista training, and that remain on the market today.
The Right System at the Right Time
illy Cold Brew Aria arrives at a time when U.S. cold coffee sales are both booming and increasingly the format of choice for today’s younger, tougher to please, more on-the-go coffee consumers. Sixty-six percent of U.S. millennials regularly drink cold coffee on a year-round basis compared to 34 percent of Generation X coffee drinkers, according to Mintel Menu Insights.
The system was designed with minimal internal lines, making maintenance quick and simple. Just a five-minute daily soaking of the spout, and weekly flushing of lines, are required.
The illy Cold Brew Aria Cold Brew system is available for use by qualified illy accounts with certain volume commitments, and is currently operating in all San Francisco illy Caffè locations. The system can also be retrofitted to existing tap systems to immediately enhance product quality.
