Starbucks Is Going to Serve Cold Brew on Tap. What Could Go Wrong?

You’ve already gulped craft beer and sipped artisanal pour-over. So naturally you’ve moved on to nitro cold brew. At least, Starbucks hopes you have—or that you will. Later this summer, the coffee giant will start dispensing this slightly sour, vaguely effervescent, nitrogen-infused version of cold coffee at 500 US stores. Selling coffee that’s dispensed like beer might seem like no big deal. But for the world’s biggest coffee chain, it’ll be a logistical feat.

Nitro cold brew actually combines two sets of expertise—coffee made slowly with cold water, and then run through a nitrogen-powered tap. In a sense, it’s a combination of coffee nerdery and obscure craft beer snobbery, powered by local, artisanal-aspiring coffeehouses. Sales jumped 338.9 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to Starbucks’ market research, largely spearheaded by Portland-based Stumptown Coffee Roasters (owned by Starbucks rival Peet’s Coffee and Tea). So it’s no surprise that the world’s largest coffee chain would want to get in on the action. But the big question is how Starbucks will manage to scale so much fizz.