Dave Dussault loves coffee iced, but not watered-down. He also doesn't like cold brew, which he says eliminates complex flavors.
So a few years ago, the thermal engineer and MIT grad committed himself to making his coffee better. He launched his Watertown company, Snapchill, in 2019 after three months of trial and error to find the best of both hot and cold brew.
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The technology entails brewing the coffee hot, then dropping the temperature in a matter of seconds from more than 200 degrees to just above freezing. It's done using what Dussault said is essentially the same technology used in a refrigerator.
"I just engineered it to have a lot of surface area for the heat transfer so it can all happen fast," Dussault said.
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After four years, Snapchill still isn't a household name among coffee drinkers. That’s because it's sold under the brand names of Boston-area roasters like George Howell Coffee, Fazenda Coffee Roasters and Broadsheet Coffee Roasters. The Snapchill name is a footnote compared to the 300 roasters it works with.
But that could soon change. The company reached a breakthrough this year with a deal with Walmart to use its technology for an exclusive brand called "In a Snap!" soon to be sold in 2,200 Walmart stores.
