Urnex Launches 1-2-Cold Brew Kit for Cleaning and Sanitizing

Urnex 1-2-Cold Brew kit. Images courtesy of Urnex.

As the expanse of differently brewed cold coffee products continues to widen, one decidedly unromantic question in the background is, how do people keep all these different setups clean?

Just as there is no one-size-fits-all method for making a cold coffee product, there also to this point have been no universally agreed-upon methods for keeping the brewing equipment clean and safe, which is of particular importance in addressing the germ-generating potential of equipment that holds liquids for extended periods of time.

Urnex Brands, which just celebrated its 80th year in operation, recently announced the release of a cleaning product designed specifically for professional cold coffee brewing equipment. The product, called 1-2-Cold Brew, is comprised of a liquid cleaner called Clearly Cold and a liquid sanitizer called Complete Café. The aim is to address the growing need particularly in cafe and industrial settings for a convenient and thorough method for keeping cold coffee brewing equipment clean and safe, in the midst of booming growth in the multifaceted cold coffee segment.

“The demand for cold-brewed coffee has certainly surpassed initial expectations. We see this both domestically and internationally,” Urnex marketing VP Isaac Cohen told Daily Coffee News. “While there is a general awareness that cold brew poses unique hygiene challenges due to the fact that it’s brewed at ambient temperatures, there is also a lack of consistency in adopting an industry-wide cleaning protocol.”

Cohen attributes the lack of standard practice to a couple likely factors, including the introduction of new equipment into the coffee sphere such as taps and keg systems, and the sheer variety of different methods and brewers that exist, including informal, home-spun methods. “You can make cold brew in almost any container,” he said, adding that the objective of 1-2-Cold Brew is therefore to provide one straightforward cleaning and sanitizing solution that works on a variety of different pieces of equipment.

The cleanser and the sanitizer are both liquids individually packed in HDPE recyclable bottles, eliminating the need to dissolve powders in additional containers and then cool a hot solution for introduction into a system that may not be designed to handle hot liquids.

“Powders are can be difficult to dissolve in cold water, and if not thoroughly dissolved in equipment can cause damage,” said Cohen. “The liquid formulation of Clearly Cold was developed for this application in order to eliminate all solubility concerns.”

The EPA-registered acid-based sanitizer has proven effective in tests to eliminate 99.99 percent of bacteria, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica and Staphylococcus aureus within one minute of contact, according to the company. Cohen also said it should take no more than half an hour to complete a full cleaning/sanitizing job using the kit.

“It depends on the specific equipment being cleaned,” Cohen said. “Nitro units will typically take 20-30 minutes while a Toddy system will take 15-20 minutes.”

1-2- Cold Brew is currently available for ordering and shipping throughout the U.S.