A system for the production of a beverage, comprising a cartridge which has areservoir filled with a beverage substance, and a beverage preparation unithaving acartridge receptacle, and a cartridge discharge device which causes at leastpartialtransfer of the beverage substance from the reservoir into a mixing chamber.Thebeverage preparation unit furthermore comprises a liquid supply which opensinto themixing chamber. The cartridge receptacle comprises an upper form-fittingelementwhich holds the cartridge in the region of its input side, and a lower form-fittingelement which holds the cartridge in the region of the output side and/or themixingchamber. The cartridge receptacle is configured in such a way that thecartridge hasbetween the upper form-fitting element and the lower form-fitting element adiameterwhich is greater than or smaller than the diameter in the region of the upperandlower form-fitting elements.
