After 10 years, thousands of customers, and millions of printed drinks, we’re still hearing many of the same myths and misconceptions about the Ripple Maker drink printer. Here are ten questions people are still asking.
Does the Ripple Maker make drinks?
The Ripple Maker doesn’t make drinks. It personalizes them. Some people confuse the Ripple Maker with automated beverage systems that mix and dispense drinks from flavor cartridges. The Ripple Maker doesn’t do that. It prints a picture on top of the drink. If you’re picturing a machine that replaces a barista or bartender, that’s not what the Ripple Maker was designed for.
Does the Ripple Maker drink printer need a dedicated electrical circuit or special plumbing?
The Ripple Maker runs on a standard outlet, connects to Wi-Fi, and doesn’t need a water hookup. It was designed to sit on your countertop and ships to you with the appropriate plug and power connection for the destination country.
Do I need a subscription to use the Ripple Maker?
No subscription required.
We spend a lot of time talking about the designs and content management tools included with the Advanced Design Plan. But is it required? No.
Without a subscription, you can upload your own designs, store artwork in the cloud, and let guests upload selfies, text, and images in real time. Depending on your operation, that could be all you need.
Does the Ripple Maker take a lot of time to maintain? Are there complicated shutdown tasks?
Daily maintenance tasks take just a few minutes. Wipe down the machine and empty the drink tray. Then keep the Ripple Maker plugged in overnight and the system will automatically keep the print nozzle clear and run any software or design updates. Some other drink printers require you to remove, clean, and store the print cartridge manually every day. The Ripple Maker stays ready to print.
How much time will printing take during service?
Printing takes about 10 seconds. Place the drink on the tray, select the design, and the printer handles the rest. The self-rising tray means staff don’t need to stand around waiting for the print to finish.
What does the Ripple Maker print with? Does it use artificial food coloring?
Ripples has always used natural, plant-based ink, and our team develops and manufactures our Ripples Pods (print cartridges) in-house. Our philosophy has always been simple: what’s in your drink should be what’s on your drink. That’s why we print with ingredients like coffee extract and black carrot, and will never use artificial food dyes.
Will a drink print make my drink taste weird?
The print doesn’t affect the taste of your drink. All of the Ripple Pod options are flavourless, and they are all odorless with the exception of the coffee extract (which smells faintly of coffee).
Does the Ripple Maker only print on coffee?
The Ripple Maker can print on a wide range of foods and drinks. Customers use it on beer, foam-topped cocktails, macarons, tiramisu, cake pop discs, and even cheese.
Will my guests get tired of it after a few weeks?
Your guests will only get tired of the Ripple Maker if you print the same thing over and over again. If the plan is to print the same logo on every drink forever, you might be better off buying a stencil. What keeps people engaged isn’t the printer, it’s the ability to change what’s on the drink. One guest gets a latte topped with a photo of their new baby. Later that night, your bartender decides to serve someone a cocktail featuring Justin Timberlake’s mugshot.
After their first visit, guests stop reacting to the technology. They’re reacting to what your team decides to print.
Why would I buy a Ripple Maker for my third wave specialty coffee shop?
We’ve seen the comments. A coffee printer defeats the purpose of latte art, covers up a barista’s best pours, and has no place in a café built around craft. But third-wave coffee has never just been about sourcing, extraction, and latte art. For cafés that choose to use it, the Ripple Maker adds “an experience layer, something that sits on top of quality,” to every intentionally crafted drink. Third-wave specialty coffee and drink printing aren’t nearly as incompatible as some people make them out to be.
Last thoughts
Thousands of operators have bought the Ripple Maker and found real returns in brand recall, repeat visits, and higher check averages. If you’re ready for next steps, connect with a rep or order yours today.
