For over a decade, our cold brew program relied on the tried-and-true method: a mesh bag of coffee steeping in a 5-gallon bucket for 16 to 20 hours. It was simple, repeatable, and gave us a cold brew that customers loved. But as health departments began cracking down on room-temperature steeping—especially for cafes without complete HACCP plans or commercial kitchens—it was time to rethink the system.
Why We Made the Switch
The shift started with a routine health department inspection. Our process—steeping sealed buckets at room temperature—had always produced a safe, delicious product. But the standards had changed. We were given time to comply and bring our method within code, which meant getting our cold brew under 41°F within four hours or steeping it in the refrigerator.
Like most small shops, we don’t have a walk-in. So, we reconfigured one of our fridges to fit the steeping buckets, wedging them in with careful spacing and airflow considerations. It worked—barely. But with summer on the horizon and cold brew volume increasing, we knew it wouldn’t hold.
That’s when the Marco Cold Bru moved from “interesting” to essential. It offered a path forward: precise room-temperature brewing that could be immediately chilled and fully compliant—without re-engineering our café layout every morning.
What Is the Marco Cold Bru?
The Marco Cold Bru is a streamlined brewing system designed for batch cold brew using a controlled, gravity-fed drip over a bed of ground coffee. It’s not immersion. Instead, cold water is metered slowly through the bed of coffee, allowing for even extraction over a 2.5 to 3-hour window. It does see the grounds rise to the top as the cold water and coffee start to come together (like a giant bloom).
It uses a removable stainless steel screen, not paper filters. The result is a cleaner brew without waste and without the need to fuss over filters.
Importantly, it steeps at room temperature—which is allowed under health codes as long as the coffee is chilled to 41°F or below within 4 hours. That’s a huge plus for shops that don’t have the refrigeration space to steep or chill full buckets for 12–18 hours.
Dialing It In: Taste, Yield, and Consistency
Our first few Marco batches were a little disappointing—flat, lacking structure, and missing the round, syrupy body we were used to from immersion-style brewing. But with a few smart tweaks, things turned around fast.
Here’s what worked:
- Cone filter grind, rather than immersion or coarse ground coffee.
- Packing the coffee evenly and applying a light tamp (comes with tamper)
- Layering roast levels: medium roasts on the bottom, dark roasts on top
- Brew time between 2.5 and 3 hours, depending on roast and density
Those changes produced a brew that was clean, structured, and strikingly close to our old method—while using less coffee, producing consistent yields, and solving our cold storage issue.
Our Final Recipe
After many test batches, here’s the process we landed on for max yield:
Coffee Dose: 3.5 lbs
Water Volume: 10,500 ml (10.5 L)
Grind: Cone filter grind
Brew Time: up to 3 hours
Layering: Medium roast on the bottom, dark roast on top
Tamp: Light tamp for mild resistance
Yield: ~18.5 lbs of concentrate (≈2.25 gallons)
Dilution for Ready-to-Drink: 72 oz concentrate to 56 oz water (about 4+ gallons).
Chill Time: Into refrigeration immediately after brewing; under 41°F by the 4-hour mark. Note: it uses very cold water to brew so that speeds it up.
The taste? Clean, round, balanced with chocolate and smoky tones—with enough body to match our long-standing immersion version.
Repeatable: You can make 3 (or more) batches a day or smaller batches depending on your needs. Storing concentrate in the fridge takes up less space and we can always brew smaller and shorter batches to get great cold brew fast.
Final Thoughts
The Marco Cold Bru isn’t a magic button. It took some serious dialing in, and it’s definitely a different workflow than steeping buckets overnight. But for shops looking to stay compliant without compromising flavor or efficiency, this system is worth a serious look. The customization is endless and you can expirement on tastes, which you couldn't do in a Toddy.
It brews in under 3 hours, eliminates food safety gray zones, and gives you total control over yield and taste. If you’re out of fridge space, don’t have a walk-in, or just need to stop babysitting buckets all day, this might be your answer.
Just take your time getting to know it. Like any good relationship, the results get better the more you listen.