Guides

Everything about canning at your café.

The numbers, the food safety rules, and the playbook, written for coffee shop owners. No fluff, real prices.

Guide · cold brew

Canned cold brew, made behind your own bar.

How cafés can their own cold brew: what equipment you need, how long canned cold brew lasts, food safety basics, and the margin math on a $6 grab-and-go can.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · the math

What canning actually costs, line by line.

The full startup math for café canning: the countertop seamer at $1,799, cans from 70 cents, about $1,900 all-in to start, per-can margins on a $6.50 drink, and a payback calculator.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · food safety

Can sealing safety, in plain language.

The food safety rules for canning drinks at a café: why refrigeration matters more than the seal, how long sealed drinks keep, dating cans, and when to talk to your health department.

7 min readRead it →
Guide · shop economics

Coffee shop margins, and where the ceiling actually is.

Typical coffee shop profit margins: 75 to 85 percent gross on drinks but only 2 to 7 percent net. Why throughput is the bottleneck and how grab-and-go canned drinks add sales without adding labor.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · formats

Crowler vs growler (and what cafés use instead).

Crowler vs growler explained: sizes, shelf life, equipment costs, and which to-go format fits taprooms, and what cafés use instead: sealed clear PET cans in four sizes.

5 min readRead it →
Guide · reference

Beverage can sizes, all in one chart.

Every common beverage can size with dimensions and typical uses: 8.4oz slim, 12oz standard and sleek, 16oz pint, 19.2oz stovepipe, 32oz crowler, plus the four clear PET sizes cafés can in house.

5 min readRead it →
Guide · buying

The café can seamer buying guide.

How to choose a can sealer machine for coffee and café drinks: manual seamers vs one-button automatics vs production lines compared on price, speed, footprint, and can compatibility.

8 min readRead it →
Guide · equipment

The spacer problem, explained.

Why many automatic can seamers secretly need spacer discs for each can size, how spacer stacks cause loose and crushed seams, and how to tell if a machine truly raises the can itself before you buy.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · equipment

Manual vs automatic can seamers.

Manual vs automatic can seamers compared: how each seals a can, cans per hour, seam failure risk, staff training, market price ranges, and when each one makes sense for a café.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · materials

Clear PET vs aluminum, for the café fridge.

Clear PET cans vs aluminum cans compared for cafés: drink visibility, seam and lid compatibility, oxygen and light, shelf life, recyclability, cost per can, and printing options.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · matcha

Canned matcha, whisked behind your own bar.

How cafés can their own matcha lattes: the equipment, shelf life for dairy and alt-milk matcha, food safety basics, and the margin math on a $6.50 to $7 grab-and-go can.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · water

Canned water, branded and bottled behind your own counter.

Why cafés, event venues, gyms, and retreat hosts are canning their own still water: the equipment, infused water handling, and the margin on a $2 to $4 branded can that replaces the plastic bottle.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · lemonade

Canned lemonade, squeezed behind your own bar.

How cafés can their own lemonade: the recipes that move (strawberry, lavender, matcha lemonade), how long fresh canned lemonade lasts, and the margin math on a $5.50 to $6.50 can.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · iced tea

Canned iced tea, brewed behind your own bar.

How cafés can their own iced tea: brewing for a clear can, sweet vs unsweetened shelf life, hibiscus and fruit tisanes as the color play, and the margin math on the cheapest ingredient cost on the menu.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · boba tea

Canned boba, shaken behind your own counter.

How boba shops can their own milk tea: the equipment, what happens to pearls in the fridge, the toppings that hold their texture, and the margin math on a $6.50 to $7.50 grab-and-go can.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · fresh juice

Canned juice, pressed behind your own bar.

How juice bars can fresh cold-pressed juice to sell: what canning does and does not do for shelf life, the color merchandising play, and the margin math on an $8 to $12 can versus a plastic bottle.

6 min readRead it →
Guide · wine

Canned wine, for the small producer.

How small wine businesses approach canning: which still wines work in a can, the licensing and label rules that make wine different from coffee, serving sizes, and the tasting-room margin math.

7 min readRead it →