For more than a decade, cafés have used Ripples to create drinks customers want to share and come back for. The best operators use it to get attention and repeat visits.
Here are five ways cafés are using the Ripple Maker coffee printer right now:
- A specialty café using viral drinks to drive orders
- A West Hollywood café built for brand takeovers
- A seasonal menu that brings regulars back
- A photo-friendly latte program customers love to share
- A live art collaboration that extends to the drinks
1. How Honey Greens Café Uses Drink Prints to Capitalize on Internet Trends
Honey Greens Café is a specialty coffee shop with a strong social media following, known for trend-driven drink experiences that consistently go viral. “We LOVE Ripples,” says co-owner Melissa Murgia. “Once we took our focus from food to coffee, we knew exactly what to do with the machine.”
Every month, Honey Greens drops limited-time drink designs tied directly to whatever the internet is talking about. When Bad Bunny headlined the Super Bowl halftime show, they launched the Benito Espressito, available only through the end of February. The response was immediate and, at this point expected, with hundreds of thousands of TikTok views and thousands of drink prints.
Honey Greens prints thousands of drinks every month and charges a $2 premium per print. They know what people are talking about, and they use that instinct to turn pop culture moments into real monthly revenue. The result is steady demand and lines out the door.
2. How Carrera Café Turns Drink Printing Into Entertainment Partnerships
Located in West Hollywood, Carrera Café has become a go-to partner for brand events looking for visibility and social media reach. They recently hosted Amazon Prime Video for a takeover celebrating the launch of the miniseries 56 Days. The two-week activation included a themed mural, cast appearances, and of course custom latte art.
As co-founder Kia Illulian explains, “Normally, these studios would close us down for private influencer events. But they realized they were missing the real audience. By letting the public inside to experience it, every customer becomes the influencer.” This means the campaign spreads even further through customer posts and word of mouth.
You don’t need a West Hollywood address to make an idea like this work. Every community has local partners looking for buzz, whether that’s a new brewery opening, a non-profit fundraiser, or the date of the big homecoming game. Printed latte art is an easy and impactful way to spread any message, and excited customers will happily post photos of their drinks and help you and your community partners spread the word.
3. How Café Georgetown Uses Seasonal Menus to Drive Repeat Visits
Café Georgetown is a charming café in Washington, D.C., with a social feed that looks as polished as its drinks. Their rotating seasonal menu is built around house-made syrups and natural ingredients like butterfly pea powder that they use to create beautifully layered drinks tailor-made for Instagram, especially when topped with a Ripples drink print.
Their pale pink cherry blossom latte is set off perfectly with a cherry blossom illustration from their Ripple Maker. And when those drinks hit Instagram, the foot traffic follows. “It went viral online,” says Marketing Manager Sena Cundioglu. “Everyone wanted to have that experience.” This annual spring favorite is gorgeous, timely, and gives people a clear reason to stop in.
That same approach shows up throughout the calendar. For Mother’s Day, the café offered a “Mom & Me” special with a curated coffee box that came with flowers, and two Ripples-printed coffees. Each release has a clear identity, a built-in audience, and its own moment in the year.
Café Georgetown uses seasonal drinks topped with Ripples prints to give regulars a reason to come back sooner. Limited-time offers like theirs keep menus feeling fresh and give customers something new to look forward to throughout the year.
4. How Red Maple Café Built a Following Around “Celebralattes”
Red Maple Café has become famous locally for its “Celebrallates.” Created with the Ripple Maker coffee printer, customers can request one of 30+ flavored lattes, each named for a different celebrity and printed with that person’s face on the foam. Or they can upload their own picture to be printed.
The café uses Ripples’ natural black carrot extract because the red prints perfectly fit the brand’s look. The entire experience is playful, personalized, and easy from the moment someone orders.
As reported by myBurbank, the concept draws visitors from across Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. It has also caught celebrity attention: when Chris Hemsworth stopped in during Avengers press, the baristas handed him a latte with his own face on it, and he posted it immediately.
For operators, the real value isn’t the celebrity cameo. It’s that the Ripples platform makes personalization fast and repeatable. Any guest can get something that feels made specifically for them, while baristas can produce the same experience consistently across every order.
5. How BlackL!ne Social Uses the Ripple Maker for Live Artist Collaborations
BlackL!ne Social is a hybrid café, art clubhouse, and community space in Harvard Heights, Los Angeles, where coffee and culture meet.
During live art events, the drinks become part of the show. Local artists sketch designs on tablets, which are then printed right on the latte foam. The results are genuinely exciting, with guests watching the artwork come to life in real time.For independent cafés, events like these pull customers into the experience and create the kind of atmosphere people make a point to visit. It gives shops a seamless way to collaborate with local artists to create something highly interactive, hyper-local, and memorable.
Build Your Own Strategy and Drive Real Revenue
These five cafés run completely different businesses, but they point to the same opportunity. As Kia Illulian at Carrera Café explains, you are not reinventing your coffee shop. “We serve food and we serve coffee,” Illulian says. “The little pivot that we did was that we added a technology component to it… And that was enough to separate us from the masses.”
Here is what a premium coffee printer delivers when it becomes part of your daily operations.
- Build premium pricing into everyday drink orders
- Give customers something they actually want to post about
- Launch seasonal specials and local collaborations quickly
- Give regulars a reason to stop in before the menu changes
- Turn simple drink service into a memorable experience
Ready to turn your drinks into daily revenue? Contact our team to find the right Ripple Maker setup for your space.
FAQ
A coffee printer (also known as a latte art printer, drink printer, or edible ink printer) is a commercial device that prints high-resolution images, logos, or text directly onto the foam of lattes, beers, cocktails or desserts.
Yes. Many cafes use their Ripple Maker as a highly effective, viral organic marketing engine, cancelling their need to rely on paid ads. Some cafes also create higher-priced menu items or charge a premium for printed latte art.
A coffee printer enhances your hospitality without interfering with the taste or craft of your coffee. Specialty shops use the Ripple Maker to foster a curated experience for every guest to build an atmosphere and connection that matches the quality of the drinks.
See our full comparison guide for the detailed breakdown. The short version: reliability, ingredients, and content management built for commercial volume rather than occasional experimentation.
