Are Kitchen Faucets That Double As Beverage Dispensers Worth The Hefty Price Tag?
Are you looking for the perfect faucet to add that wow factor to your kitchen? At the Las Vegas 2023 KBIS, Kraus — a popular brand that designs sinks and faucets — announced the launch of a new kitchen 2-in-1 beverage faucet that not only releases water, like traditional faucets, but also provides drinkable beverages including beer and nitro coffee. This product will add high-tech flair to even the most otherwise minimalistic kitchens, potentially making guests believe in magic. Yes, you can still use these faucets as classic sinks to wash your hands and perform other kitchen duties — but since they have a divorced water line, all you have to do is press a button to make charged beverages come out of the special faucet, thanks to a connected hidden keg.
While this Kraus faucet is hyper-contemporary, it's not the only beverage dispenser faucet in town, even though it is the most versatile. Beverage dispenser faucets, in general, are a growing market. For instance, some models are designed so that rather than pressing a button on the faucet, you can control them with an app on your phone, having the fancy faucet release your drink of choice (say, a sweet hot chocolate) while you're not even in the kitchen. Moreover, some beverage faucet options can produce juice if you prefer fruit drinks over coffee and beer. However, before you jump to an instant decision of whether or not these high-tech faucets are for you, it's crucial to weigh the pros and cons: while some will find the defects worth the benefits, others might balk at a few key factors.
The benefits of these beverage dispensers are clear
Buying such a high-tech faucet has some clear advantages — and we're not just talking about impressing your guests. For example, do you have a small kitchen with minimal countertop or wall space, but love coffee and juice? At-home DIY coffee bars can take up a lot of space in the kitchen, and if you also add a kitchen juice bar, you'll definitely find yourself with an overcrowded kitchen. So, opting for the conveniently contemporary beverage dispenser faucet instead of buying a coffee maker or juicer will save you a lot of space, allowing for a more open-looking kitchen. That goes double for Kraus' special 2-in-1 model.
Also, consider that these tech-savvy coffee-serving faucets are ideal for kitchens with already-modern aesthetics. For instance, if your kitchen has contemporary features such as a sleek island, high-tech appliances, and a stylish backsplash, a beverage-serving faucet will match perfectly. However, don't get too excited about these seemingly magical faucets, either, because there are some disadvantages you should think about in advance.
Beware the downsides of beverage dispenser faucets
After admiring the benefits of these glamorous beverage dispensing faucets, it's time to address the elephant in the room — or, more accurately, in the kitchen: the price. For a luxurious model like the TopBrewer coffee dispenser, expect to pay $15,000. Most homeowners will likely agree that's a brutally expensive investment. After all, most at-home espresso bars shouldn't cost much more than $3,000, while high-end traditional faucets typically cost around $360, so you'll need to do some hard thinking to determine whether you truly have the budget to spend over $10,000 on having coffee coming from your faucet.
That said, it's unlikely that all beverage dispensing faucets will hit such a dramatic price point, as the market expands. What will be a factor, no matter what, is the cleaning process. Cleaning regular beer faucets typically requires tools such as a faucet brush and spanner wrench, along with the knowledge on how to take it apart and put it back together — so these beer and coffee serving faucets likely require similar cleaning processes. Are you up for all that? Plus, while the extravagant faucet will probably impress most guests, seeing the brown or tan drinks come out of a faucet might seem unappealing to other visitors, so don't expect everyone to fall in love with the feature. Thus, unless you're 100% sure you'd love this head-turning kitchen upgrade for years to come, it's worth questioning if it's a good choice for your home kitchen.