I have found no difference in just using cold water and having it sit on my counter overnight vs. keeping in the fridge. It is nice to still refrigerate it to use less ice or no ice though. In a retail setting, I would think customers would demand a cold product (I would). The Starbucks near me serves Nitro Cold Brew and for some reason it's always warm/room temp, and they purposely do not put any ice in it. Other locations seem to not have this issue so maybe it's broken equipment or training.