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Keurig's cold drink maker was a wildly complicated, multi-million dollar piece of tech — and that's why it flopped (GMCR)

Keurig Kold Facebook/Keurig

Keurig Green Mountain once hoped the next big thing would be its cold-drink maker. Less than a year after it launched, the brand is discontinuing the machine. Consumers who already purchased a Keurig Kold — a $370 machine that creates carbonated, chilled beverages — can get a full refund from the company.

The Kold's ability to deliver a carbonated, chilled beverage in 90 seconds without using a CO2 canister was intended to give it an edge over rivals like SodaStream.

There was lot of technology – and money – behind the device. Keurig filed more than 50 patents over the course of five years as it developed the system. The company invested about $100 million in the device in fiscal 2015, and said in September it planned to spend a similar amount in 2016.

But critics of the Kold were been quick to point out some big flaws in the device: it's expensive, large, needs to get warmed up, and isn't any more convenient than popping open a soda, according to complaints on Keurig's website and Facebook page.

Business Insider took a closer look at the device in December to see just how complex the Kold is. A look back also helps explain why it cost so much, and why Keurig was never able to fully solve the problems that plagued the product.

It starts with a chiller.

Keuirg

While much of the press surrounding Keurig Kold has focused on the machine's carbonation features, the process starts with chilling — a complex process in and of itself.

"There are a lot of ways to make something hot quickly, but there are few options to make something cold quickly," Keurig spokesperson Suzanne DuLong told Business Insider in December.

As soon as users insert a pod with the flavor of soda they are after, and start the machine, water is drawn into a chiller from the external water tank. The chilling process begins as an impeller spins, cooling the water.

If the water isn't cold enough, it will not absorb carbonation as well. Plus, the changing temperature of the water is responsible for setting off the chain of events that follows in the next 90 seconds.

The cold water then flows into the pod.

US Patent and Trademark Department

As the chiller does its job, a small amount of water is brought to the cartridge chamber, where the flavor pod is located.

The drawings in this August, 2014 patent by Keurig's Thomas Novak, Ross Packard, Peter Peterson and Shawn Gulla for a "Method and apparatus for cartridge-based carbonation of beverages" are not the exact schematics for the Keurig Kold machine. However, they do show the tech that underpins it, as water moves from one chamber to another.

The carbonation comes from "beads" in the upper chamber.

Keurig

The flavor pod is divided into the two chambers. One contains beads that are made with a blend of minerals – primarily aluminum silicate – with tiny porous spaces that hold carbon dioxide captive until they're exposed to water. Keurig calls them "Karbonator" beads.

The second chamber contains the beverage syrup, which comes into play later.

Once the system registers the water in the chiller has reached the optimum temperature of approximately 37 degrees, the Keurig Kold releases the small amount of water into the top of the pod, wetting the beads and releasing the carbon dioxide.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider